“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” May be Worth the Wait

Do not let Wolverine disguised as an indy rocker deter you.

As the only person currently writing for this blog who has seen a movie by Gavin Hood, the director of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” I feel more qualified to write about his talents as a storyteller than Gayle. Hood directed the superior 2005 film, “Tsotsi,” which told the story of a young thug attempting to become better than a simple street hooligan. It had a point of view on its violence and an honest tale of redemption to justify the story and material it presented. You should check it out if you haven’t seen it already.

It’s interesting to me that the “X-Men” movies were as popular as they were, considering that there were 3 of them and most sequels produce diminishing returns. I even liked 2 and 3, for what they were. I’ve heard the first two “X-Men” movies compared to “Spider-Man” and “Batman Begins”, and I don’t think that they quite deserve that praise. They’re both pretty decent, don’t get me wrong, but they’re certainly not on the storytelling level of “Spider-Man” (2 in particular), “Batman Begins”, or “Iron Man”. One could argue that there are simply too many characters to have a decent story with any sort of strong character development. There may be too many “X-Men” in general [there are six current X-Men titles in comics stores, if that gives you any idea –Gayle].

I’m rambling a little bit here. What all this means is a couple of things; this first “X-Men Origins” movie is probably a litmus test for the rest of the series from here on out. It’s exciting to see that the people in charge chose to have a hip, up-and-coming director (and an Oscar winner, to boot) as their first effort. It speaks for them believing in this venture, instead of giving it a half-assed approach. The “Magneto” movie will reportedly be written and directed by David S. Goyer, who helped write both of the newest Batman movies and helped with the “Blade” trilogy.

Having a title that blatently sets up a new franchise like “X-Men Origins” will always run the risk of sounding like they’re being churned out of the Hollywood crap factory. But from the way things are shaping up, this might be a franchise to watch. As soon as we can find a trailer that isn’t a bootleg from Comic Con, we’ll be sure to post it here.