Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Another comic book movie has been released on the big screen, so it’s time for another review!

This time around, it’s the first of at least two planned prequels to the X-Men movie franchise: X-Men Origins: Wolverine.


Ever since Hugh Jackman graced the screens with his first major movie role as Wolverine in 1999’s X-Men, his star has kept on rising in Hollywood. Could it only have been a mere ten years since he made his big screen debut as arguably the most popular character in comic books today?

What a performance Hugh delivered. Not only did Jackman look exactly like what most fanboys thought Wolverine would look like (albeit an extremely taller version) in a movie version of the X-Men, he pulled off Wolverine’s angst, berserker rage and had a certain gravitas and gruff style about him: Jackman didn’t PLAY the role of Wolverine, he WAS Wolverine!

There was no doubting that Jackman was the star of X-Men the movie. Which is something considering the company he was in: Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan...but this unknown Aussie actor was THE breakout star of the movie?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was certainly hyped up worldwide; with Jackman being the obvious star attraction from what were essentially three ensemble movies, surely he could do no wrong in a standalone movie!

The movie was hyped up more in Australia, what with Jackman being the hometown hero and most of the movie being shot in New South Wales; in fact, some of the actors appearing in the movie were Aussies who most people would find familiar, because they were recently on our TV screens in one of the most-watched productions of all time. But more on that later.

And there was even that whole thing where the movie was leaked onto the internet where people could download copies illegally and watch the movie weeks before it made its theatrical debut in cinemas. Yes, that certainly “stole” profits away from the creators of the movie, but more press, even the bad stuff, is good press, hey?

We’ve been treated to two other X movies since the first X-Men movie, with X2 being the best of the bunch and X3, while having heaps of cameos and some great battle scenes, best left forgotten from the X-franchise. X-Men Origins: Magneto will be out in the next year or so and who knows what other spin-off movies will emerge from the X-franchise. But first, the Wolverine standalone movie.

So, was the movie any good? Did it live up to all the hype? Let’s just say that, given the chance, I would have watched the version that was circulating on the internet, simply because I wouldn’t have needed to pay to watch this movie.

Once again, the obligatory spoiler warning.

I'll be revealing some plot points from the movie so if you haven't watched the movie or don't want to find out what happened, stop reading from here onwards!

It’s not that the movie was bad. It just wasn’t very good.

The script was not strong at all. Even if I could look at the movie from a non-fanboy’s perspective, the script was still pretty weak in places. There was quite a lot of action and some good action sequences, and quite a bit of dialogue that fleshed out the character and his supporting cast. But it seemed like the action and drama bits were just jammed together in a random mishmash and out came a script.

No doubting that this movie will do well at the box office regardless; it’s Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman after all! But surely it will also be one of those forgettable comic book movies. Certainly not a classic like X2, Spider-man 2 or Batman Begins; more in the vein of The Punisher and Daredevil and, dare I say it, Ang Lee’s Hulk. Ok, not quite as bad as Ang Lee’s Hulk.

As usual, I’ll review the good and the bad parts of the movie, in my opinion. First, the good.


Casting
The casting of characters was exactly like the recent Watchmen movie: spot on!

In recent comic book movies, they have fantastic eclectic casts where the actors chosen seem to embody the very best of the character, from looks, to portrayal of that character to all the little fine nuances that one would come to expect of that character.

We’ve seen that in Watchmen, the two latest Batman movies, Iron Man, and now X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A lot of thought was put into choosing the perfect actors to play the characters. A pat on the back for the casting crew!

Which leads directly to:


Deadpool
My favourite part of the movie is seeing Ryan Reynolds bring my favourite Marvel character to life on the big screen. What an inspired choice in choosing Reynolds, who has a knack for playing smart-alecky characters in his movies, to play the merc-with-a-mouth!

Sure, we see Wade Wilson BEFORE he’s hideously scarred due to his cancer, but in the short five minutes where he’s running off his mouth, he steals the show. It’s unfortunate that Deadpool doesn’t break the fourth wall as he so usually does in his comics, but hey...this IS his first big screen outing after all.

Deadpool seems even more of a badass than Wolverine is in this movie. Reynolds shows there are two sides to this character: the lippy merc who lives a carefree life and shows no fear, and the stone-cold psychotic killer. Bravo!

The major disappointment is that Deadpool is pretty much a bit player in the movie...well, the Deadpool at the start of the movie anyway, more on that later. I would have loved to see more of my favourite Marvel character in action on the big screen. Hell, just having him chat up a storm for half an hour without any other sort of action sequences and I would have been happy!


Gambit
Finally we see Gambit in a movie! Where was he in the other three movies? Ok, sure, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be in the first movie. Perhaps it would have been premature for him to be in X2. But in X3 where there are so many cameos, they couldn’t squeeze Gambit in?

The wait for Gambit to finally appear on the big screen pays handsome dividends though. Taylor Kitsch is the perfect choice to play the raging Cajun. He certainly looks very much the part; suave, charming, but physically nimble and agile and ready to rumble at the drop of a hat.

Perhaps Kitsch’s southern Cajun drawl isn’t great, but he does try and he more than makes up for it by oozing “cool”. As expected, we first see Gambit at a poker table, showing off his card skills and tricks to the ladies (and other gamblers).

We see Gambit’s famed agility and fighting skills with his quarterstaff in a brief fight scene with Wolverine. And we also see his kinetic-charge powers in action, though his cards don’t explode like they do in the comics, but it makes perfect sense in the movie...the powers are kinetic based, not explosions anyway!

The one disappointment here, like Deadpool, is that Gambit doesn’t have a lot of screen time and you could just about get any other mutant-of-the-week and throw him in the plot in place of Gambit’s character. We also don’t see enough of Gambit’s kinetic-charge powers; the only things he throws during the movie are his playing cards, albeit a very cool sequence when we see him do that.


Sabretooth
Liev Schreiber is great in anything he’s in, movie or TV program, and there’s no exception here. Just like Jackman is Wolverine, Schreiber IS Sabretooth! Though we never hear him being called that at all in the entire movie: he’s just known simply as Victor.

Schreiber bulked up for this role and he is an imposing and fearful figure. His Victor Creed has a fearsome snarl and he fights dirty. Victor has no compassion for human life at all and his relationship with his brother, Wolverine, is tenuous at best. Wolverine has to keep restraining Victor from giving into his blood lust and becoming the efficient killing machine that he is.

Thank goodness for Schreiber’s performance as he made me forget the atrocity that was Sabretooth in the first movie, played by the very stiff former pro wrestler Tyler Mane!


Great cameos
Such as the one from Professor Charles Xavier at the end of the movie, though he looks very feminine and looks like he’s wearing tons of make-up!

Professor X travels in his helicopter and he rescues the mutants captured by William Stryker at the end of the movie, thus heralding the birth of his X-Men with his first encounter with Cyclops. And what’s really awesome is that THIS Professor X still has the use of his legs and isn’t confined to a wheelchair!

Scott Summers and Emma Frost also make nice cameos in the movie. Scott has a “larger” role when he’s captured by Sabretooth and Stryker and we see him use his destructive optic blasts for the first time. We then see his qualities as the future X-Men leader when he guides his fellow captive mutants out of the Weapon Plus facility, though with a lot of help from Charles Xavier talking to him telepathically.

Emma Frost aka the White Queen also has a nice cameo where we see her changing her skin to diamond when the captive mutants are trying to escape. Wish they had chosen a more bimbo-blondish character to portray Emma Frost though as this one doesn’t look like her at all...perhaps my only gripe with the casting of the characters in this movie.

It was a really nice touch having Scott and Emma interact with each other as they try to escape. After all, these two form a relationship in the comics after Jean Grey dies for the umpteenth time. The two future leaders of the next generation of the X-Men, interacting with each other and then coming into contact with the X-Men’s founder, Professor X! Fanboy geekgasm all around.

Fred Dukes as the Blob...all I can say is HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!


A nod to Wolverine’s comic book origins
In this case, I’m referring to the 2001 Origin mini-series by Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert, and the Weapon X saga by Barry Windsor-Smith that was featured in Marvel Comics Presents back in 1991.

We get to see Wolvie pop his bone claws for the very first time! And we also see the adamantium bonding process that made Wolvie pretty much indestructible.

We also see Team X in action for the very first time, which is a nice nod to the comics once again. The comic version only consisted of Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick (who is actually Agent Zero in the movie), but it makes sense for more characters to be part of the movie team.


William Stryker is a badass!

While I would have loved seeing Brian Cox reprise his role from X2, Danny Huston does a great job portraying a younger Stryker. This Stryker is a master manipulator, playing both sides and also playing his former Team X members against each other.

His evil machinations nearly come to fruition and it's revealed why he hates the mutant population so much, but is not above actually using them for his own sinister purposes. Not many people would come face to face with Wolvie and Sabretooth and just stare them down without blinking.


The opening sequence
After the origin, we see Victor and Logan fight together in the major American wars: the Civil War, World Wars I and II and the Vietnam war. These two have built a bond since they escaped from the Howlett household together in the 19th century and we see how their camaraderie changes oh-so-slightly, with Sabretooth slowly giving into his bloodlust and Wolvie trying to pull his brother away from the dark side.


Australian actor “cameos”
Two that I noticed: Asher Keddie, who plays a doctor assisting William Stryker with his Weapon Plus experiments, and Peter O’Brien who plays John Howlett, Wolverine’s supposed father.

Both actors were familiar to me because they are both in the Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities TV series that is currently showing on Australian free-to-air TV. Keddie plays the role of Victorian police officer Liz Cruickshank while O’Brien plays Sydney underworld figure, George Freeman.

I’m sure there were more Aussie actors in the movie since the movie was filmed in NSW!

Unfortunately, there was also a whole heap of bad. As mentioned earlier in this review, the script wasn't very strong and it wasn't a good mix of action sequences and character-building sequences at all. But I won't critique the plot too much, except for when it really gets my goat.


The main villain, Weapon XI

The "X" for Weapon X is the roman numeral for the number ten, as William Stryker so eloquently puts (a nice nod to Grant Morrison's "Weapon Plus" storyline from the New X-Men comics in the 00s) and so Weapon XI is actually Weapon 11.

Since the adamantium bonding experiment on Wolverine was a success, Stryker decides to experiment once more with the next incarnation of the Weapon Plus program and creates Weapon XI, who has a fusion of powers from some of the mutants that was captured by Stryker. Paper thin plot here!

Anyway, what really annoys me is the fact that Deadpool is Weapon XI! What the?!

There's a really nice scene where Stryker explains how Deadpool got his name, but it goes downhill from there. Basically Weapon XI/Deadpool has the teleporting powers of Wraith, the optic blasts of Cyclops, the healing powers of Sabretooth, and his twin katanas, now coated with adamantium, have been embedded into his arms a la Wolverine's claws. Weapon XI is a monster who has his lips sewn shut so we don't get the traditional Deadpool banter.

I don't like this final protagonist at all. Surely we didn't need a villain like this Frankenstein creature! Plus, it sort of kills off any hope of a Deadpool standalone movie. Now that Deadpool has all these extra powers and is seemingly killed at the end of the movie, even if he's brought back, how does one "remove" these powers? Boooooo...what were you thinking, scriptwriters!


Sabretooth wussing out

I think Sabretooth should have been Wolvie's final adversary. But he acts too much like a big brother for the entire movie; he's looking out for Logan, then he has this intense hatred for him (sibling rivalry perhaps!), then he wusses out and refuses to deliver the killing blow. And right at the end, he walks away (or rather, jumps away) without engaging Wolvie in a final fight!

These two are eternal enemies. While I don't like the fact that they are blood brothers in the movie (I think they are half brothers in the comics), it's certainly something that works for the movie. But this Sabretooth is a wuss when it comes to fighting Wolvie! Sure, he gets in a few good licks, but then becomes all chummy and acts like a proper big brother should; protecting his little brother. Yuck.


Maverick/Agent Zero

The David North character in the movie, Agent Zero, is nothing like the character in the comics. Which is alright...but surely you would have thought that they would at the very least pay some homage to the original character, who was a hero, not a villain.

Agent Zero is a sharpshooting mercernary in the movie and his powers seem to be deadeye-dick accuracy a la Bullseye from the Daredevil comics and movie and increased speed and agility. So not like the Maverick from the comics who has the power to absorb kinetic energy generated by impact without any harm to himself.
Sure, this is a power that's kinda hard to "show off" in the movie without it coming off as him being some sort of invulnerable mutant. But really, if they wanted a character to be an evil protagonist who's loyal to Styker, surely they could have chosen other mutants from Marvel's pantheon of characters.


Wolverine's more "human" moments

Ugh. I wanted to see Wolvie unleashing his berserker rage (which we don't really get to see at all in the movie), not his tender, touching side!

I understand that they needed to build up between Logan and Silver Fox so that when she is "killed", he will seek his revenge on Sabretooth. But there was no necessity for that whole "moon" story in that intimate scene between the two. Lynn Collins as Silver Fox though...roooowr! What a hottie.

And who really wants to see Wolvie working as a lumberjack? Yeah, that builds up the backstory, but the lumberjack job scenes took too long. I don't really want to see or know about Wolvie interacting with his job buddies making fun of him for kissing Silver Fox in full view of them!

There's also a nice tender "Ma and Pa Kent" moment when Wolvie, freshly escaped from the Weapon Plus facility, comes across this elderly couple who helps him get back on his feet. Yeah, if I wanted to watch Wolvie being mollycoddled by two old folks, I'd go watch old episodes of Smallville. Thankfully, "Ma and Pa Kent" are killed after taking up about 15 minutes of screen time.

While the boxing match between Logan and the Blob was extremely funny, it made no sense whatsoever. Why would Logan even willingly take part in a boxing match against the Blob so that he can win and extract information from Fred Dukes? Wouldn't he just pop his claws and threaten the hell out of the Blob until he reveals that secret information?

So so out of character. Speaking of which...


Wolverine acting out of character

Logan goes to fight Stryker and Sabretooth and after a simple conversation where they discuss Silver Fox's staged death and how everything was just meant to get Wolvie to volunteer for the adamantium process, Wolvie decides to walk away without a fight?

What the?! Sure, he comes back after he hears Silver Fox's screams where Sabretooth is about to gut her, but the fact that he walks away in the first place just left a really bad taste in my mouth.

The fact that they would just stand around to have a conversation is just plain silly as well. Oh, I've come here to kill you for ruining my life but I'll just stand here and listen to you reveal your evil master plan first and then decide not to kill you anyway because I've changed my mind. Ugh.


No Magneto!

Just a small nitpick, but I think they've missed out on a great opportunity to introduce the next X-Men Origins flick based on Magneto.

It would have been so apt and perfect if there was a Magneto cameo, notable in the scene where Professor X shows up to rescue the other mutants. Magneto and Professor X were friends after all, and since Professor X still has the use of his legs in this movie, that means that they haven't had their falling out yet and Magnus hasn't yet crippled Charles intentionally.

Ah well.


The two extra scenes during and after the end credits

I wish they had done more with these extra scenes. I remembering watching an interview with Hugh Jackman where he urges the audience to stay until the credits have ended because fans would be treated to more footage. So here I thought it was going to be GOOD footage.

Not long after the credits have started rolling, we see the Army picking up William Stryker, wanted for murder. Pfah, how boring. Why didn't you show perhaps the first generation of mutants taught by Professor X instead? Or what happens to Gambit or Sabretooth after the movie? Or even Wolvie making the trek up to Canada up to the point where we first see him in the first X-Men movie fighting in a cage match?

The last scene showed Wolvie in Japan, drinking to try and remember his life as his memories were scrambled after being shot in the head twice with adamantium bullets by Stryker.

I would certainly have preferred to see that same scene in a bar where Wolvie is drinking, but not in Japan, rather, when he's in the Canadian bar and Rogue approaches him for the first time. It would have been a perfect lead-in to the X-Men movie.

But they showed this instead. Wolvie has a huge backstory in the comics based in Japan...maybe this is a lead-in to a possible Origins sequel for him? Here's hoping!



All in all, a good movie, but not great. Certainly not one of my favourites, though I'd be happy to keep watching footage of Deadpool!

Not quite sure if they'll do a Deadpool movie now, with the events of this movie transpiring the way it has. I'll be happy if they still do it though, and I'll settle for a Gambit standalone movie as well.

And a Liev Schreiber standalone Sabretooth movie would be the icing on the cake.

Review: Wanted movie

Went to watch the Wanted movie today. I knew going in it was going to be significantly different from the Wanted six-issue mini-series by Mark Millar and J.G Jones (which I had reviewed two blog entries down...talk about continuity, wahey!) so I expected to see less big screen supervillain action and more "realistic" movie action.

Before you read on, here's the obligatory spoiler warning.

If you don't want to find out what happened in the movie, stop reading HERE as there may be some plot points revealed!

The movie starts off almost exactly the same way the comic does. Wesley Gibson (played brilliantly by James McAvoy) is delivering a soliloquy about how shit his life is. His best friend Bobby (who also happens to be his colleague and shares the same cubicle at his workplace) is constantly having sex with Wesley's girlfriend behind Wesley's back. Wesley keeps taking shit from his bully boss...a little more politically correct in the movie being portrayed as a rather obese white female who is, get this, ANOREXIC! Haha!

Wesley then meets Fox (played by Angelina Jolie), who apparently saves him from an assassin, Cross, who had gone rogue from The Fraternity, a league of assassins that had been in existence for over 1000 years. Wesley is asked to shoot off the wings off flies, mirroring the comic book, and then he freaks out, going back to his old life.

But he finds, having had a taste of the adrenaline rush and power that came with wielding a gun in his hand, he could not just walk back into his own life. But instead of yelling a huge "FUCK YOU!" in the comics, he actually pays out his boss in front of all his other colleagues before storming out of the office. Wesley also takes his keyboard with him and to be honest, I was perplexed. Why take the keyboard with him? Was it his? If it wasn't, why not take something else?

As Wesley approaches the exit, Bobby blocks his path and tells Wesley that he did what no one else had the balls to do...tell off the boss that they all hated. Bobby starts telling Wesley that he's "the man", only to get smashed in the face with the aforementioned keyboard...cue one of the funniest and most awesome scenes in the movie.

We see Bobby's face turn towards the camera in slow motion, with blood flying from the mouth. But that's not the only things that are flying. Some characters fly off the keyboard and they careen beautifully in the air in this order, from left to right: F, U, C, K, Y, O. But there aren't TWO "u"s on a keyboard! So we also see a tooth fly out of Bobby's mouth, complete with the roots and with that tooth looks like...is it...yes it is! A "u". Hilarious!

Some of the dialogue in the movie I recognised immediately since it was verbatim from the comic book. I laughed when Wesley tells us that Bobby is "shtupping" his unfaithful girlfriend on "an Ikea table I picked up for a really good price". As Wesley complains about his pathetic life and the fact that his father abandoned him when he was seven, he suggests that his father perhaps realised "that he'd just fathered one of the most insignificant assholes of the 21st century". In fact, when that line was being delivered, I actually mouthed it out in the cinema, word for word, since it's one of those lines that I just remember from the comic!

There are some major differences in the plot points between the comic and the movie. In the comics, The Fraternity is the league of supervillains that have taken over the world. In the movie, it's a league of assassins that had been in existence for 1000 years. As there are no supervillains in the movie, we don't see Mr Rictus, Solomon Seltzer or any of the other villains that we've read about and loved. In fact, the only two main characters that have made the transition from the comics to the movie are Wesley and Fox.

The Fraternity in the movie is headed by Sloan (played by Morgan Freeman...who swears twice during the movie! Absolutely awesome! Can you just imagine the regal driver from "Driving Miss Daisy" saying "motherfucker"? No? Then you've got to see this to believe it!) and gets his team of assassins to train Wesley to become the cold-blooded killer they know he will eventually become. Because of the lack of supervillains in the movie, they've got able-bodied replacements assassins to conduct Wesley's training.

We find out that Wesley's Dad in the comics is The Killer, who faked his own death so that Wesley can step into his shoes and stop being the pussy that he is in life. In the movie, we find out that the assassin who gets killed at the start of the movie isn't The Killer, who I'm sure most people think is, but is instead just another assassin, Mr X. In fact, Cross, the guy who's out to kill all the rest of the assassins in The Fratenity, is actually Wesley's father!

Cross found out that Sloan had actually been manipulating The Fraternity into doing his dirty work to for power and political reasons and wants to kill Sloan and anyone loyal to him. Slowly but surely, Cross is whittling down The Fraternity's numbers so Sloan concocts this story to dupe Wesley into pursuing Cross, knowing that Wesley, Cross' son, is the only person Cross will not kill.

Of course, Wesley finds out that he has been betrayed and wants vengeance against Sloan and the rest of The Fraternity. I'll leave it at that...you'll need to catch the rest of the movie to find out what happened!

One of the most controversial things from the Wanted series was the ending which some readers thought was Mark Millar taking a pot-shot at them and saying they had no lives or mind of their own. What that ending did was challenge the reader to get out there and do something with their life.

While the movie doesn't have an ending that was as strongly worded as "this is my face while I'm fucking you in the ass", like the comics, there's a message at the end that's directed straight to the movie goer. Wesley starts delivering a soliloquy again, saying how his life has changed and he's made the most of it, and asks the viewer:

"What have you done in your life lately?"

"Why do you wanna kill me?"

Got this from Theo's blog, which he got off YouTube.

Absolutely brilliant...more of Batman's growling, which I really hated in the movie!

Reviews: Batman: The Dark Knight

Went to watch "The Dark Knight" today at Forest Hill. As one might imagine, there is more than a healthy interest in this movie here in Australia as it was Heath Ledger's final movie before he died. And at least a third of the audience (maybe two fifths) who were watching the same session of "The Dark Knight" as me were people who I think normally wouldn't go to watch a movie like that. There were old aunties watching the movie, for crying out loud. Old aunties! And there was even this older gentleman, who's dressing (he wore a beret that he kept on the entire movie!) screamed out: "I'm a sophisticated gentleman, so who knows what the hell I'm actually doing in this grungy cinema watching this!"

But anyway, yes, there were quite a number of people watching The Dark Knight. But was it any good?

Before you read on, here's the obligatory spoiler warning.

If you don't want to find out what happened in the movie, stop reading HERE as there may be some plot points revealed!

I suppose in order to put this movie in context, one would undoubtedly have to compare it to a few of the Batman movies before this: the successful reboot of the Batman franchise in the 2005 "Batman Begins" movie, as well as the original "Batman" movie which featured Jack Nicholson's classic take on the Joker. I was tempted to compare it to "Batman Forever" which has the first appearance of Two Face on the big screen, but that would be pointless...comparing a movie to a bad movie doesn't make much sense, unless one was trying to decide which movie was crappier.

I preferred "Batman Begins" to "The Dark Knight". I suppose I've always been a fan of the Batman: Year One era when Frank Miller showed, for the very first time, that Batman was human and he always wasn't this all-menacing, no-mistakes vigilante that we all know he is. "Batman Begins" didn't just humanise Batman, it also showed us the flip side of his persona, how he actually managed to work Bruce Wayne nicely as his alter ego. "Batman Begins" was really about Batman and Bruce Wayne.

"The Dark Knight", however, is a tale of Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent. While Batman is still the title character of the movie, he takes a backseat to Joker and Harvey Dent in the movie. Heck, if it wasn't for Heath Ledger's chilling portrayal of Joker, I'd argue that the movie should be titled: Harvey Dent: The Golden Years since Harvey seems to be the shining light of the movie and the focus seems to be always on him as the hero!

The opening scene of a bank robbery sets the tone of the movie, telling audiences that this is going to be a much darker movie than the previous one (which was pretty dark in itself at times). There's a nice "cameo" of William Fichtner ("The Longest Yard", "Black Hawk Down") as the bank manager of the bank that holds money for Gotham's mobs, grabbing out of a shotgun and taking no crap from the bank robbers, who don clown masks to hide their identity.

He shoots two of the bank robbers and tries shooting another one only to find out that he's run out of shells. That bank robber than gets up and unloads with a submachine gun into Fichtner's body. We then see that the hired goons robbing the bank all start shooting each other on the back, thanks to Joker's instructions to shoot the other guy after he's done his part to assist with the bank heist. With one clown remaining, he pulls off his mask to reveal an extremely creepy version of the Joker.

This Joker is nowhere close to the one Jack Nicholson portrays in "Batman". While Nicholson's Joker is cunning and ruthless, he's also actually bwa-ha-ha laugh-out-loud funny. Everything is a joke to him and he trades humourous quips with not just Batman, but with his perceived audience. Ledger's Joker, while also seeing everything as a joke, is much darker and is, for the lack of a better description, an agent of chaos. He sees the funny side of things in a twisted way, acting on his violent impulses and having no qualms or hesitations about killing anyone. Ledger's Joker is a master strategist, as we find out as the movie plods on.

Ledger is brilliant as Joker and quite a number of the Hollywood heavyweights have called for him to be awarded a post-humours Oscar for his role. That might just happen this year! His body language and mannerisms are brilliant, one minute portraying the Joker as this scrawny fiend who is not a physical match for Batman, and the next as a cool and calculated tactical genius who can match Batman in the brains department.

The one thing that I thought was really great about this movie was the fact that they didn't reveal Joker's origins. Who really needs to know why he has the insane mind that he is anyway? It would have added a bit to the plot, but it certainly wasn't necessary. It seemed that they DID reveal Joker's origin during the movie, when Joker tells a mob boss that his father used a knife to cut the grin-scars on his face. But that was a lie as revealed later on when he tells Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhal, who looks very much like Katie Holmes) that he inflicted those wounds on himself.

Ledger's Joker is very simplistic in the sense that he's not motivated by money or revenge or anything like that. He's motivated by anarchy, by spreading chaos to the world around him. He's just insane and he likes the simplistic notion of just blowing things up. And although Joker explains during the movie that he likes the "cheap" stuff like gunpowder, oil and plastic explosives, he also prefers using knives to gut a victim because he can see their emotions close up, slowly. What a loon!

Harvey Dent is the other major part of the movie. The entire movie keeps comparing Batman to Harvey: one's an illegal vigilante who takes down thugs the hard way while the other is a white knight who takes down criminals legally using the justice system. Batman sees Harvey as the hero Gotham City needs as he takes no bull but at the same time, gets results by removing the criminal element off the streets without having to resort to violence or the nifty technology that Batman possesses.

Dent is also dating Rachel, and there's a love triangle that is briefly explored but doesn't deter from the main plot of the movie. If anything, it explains Harvey's quick turn to Two Face later in the movie when he loses Rachel and finds out that, while Joker is ultimately responsible for organising the kill, it was crooked cops that was part of Detective Jim Gordon's (played by Gary Oldman) task force that took her away to a location where she died when a bomb went off. Dent loses everything, including, it seems, his mind.

When the Two Face character first appears on screen, it's like seeing the Two Face character from "Batman: The Animated Series" or from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween series...very similar and a hell of a lot better looking than the Two Face from "Batman Forever". Dent is a broken man and when approached by Joker, he actually buys into Joker's hoopla and actually goes after his former friends, Jim Gordon and Batman, instead of killing the man who was responsible for killing Rachel!

As I said, Batman seems relegated to be the supporting character in this movie. Bruce Wayne seems to have more presence than the caped crusader himself! The one thing that I absolutely hated was Batman's snarl. I know he has to disguise his voice so that people can't tell the difference between Bruce Wayne and Batman, but really...it really was that, a snarl. I'm not sure whether it was Christian Bale's fault or not, but everytime Batman talked, he sounded as if he needed a box of lozenges for that really sore throat that he had! It's great for scaring off crooks and criminals, but when he's talking to Gordon and Dent, it's a bit hard understanding what the hell he's saying.

The movie goes on for 2 hours and 25 minutes (not including the credits), which felt like it was 25 minutes a bit too long. There were some scenes which really could have been cut as they didn't move the movie forward at all. That's my take on it anyway.

Nice to see some other "cameos" from the world of Batman actually making it into the movie. We see Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow again early in the movie when he gets caught by Batman during a drug deal gone wrong. Then there's Salvatore Maroni (played by Eric Roberts) from the Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween series who's appearance in the movie really gives it some continuity, since he's the "replacement" mob boss after Carmine "The Roman" Falcone (played by Tom Wilkinson) went loony in "Batman Begins".

We even get to see the appearance of Tony "Tiny" Lister (the president from "The Fifth Element" and Zeus from the WWF in the late 80s) as a con in the latter part of the movie! Even a Singaporean actor, Ng Chan Han, was in "The Dark Knight" as Lau, the Hong Kong businessman who "steals" the Gotham City mobs' pooled money!

Best line of the movie:

"This city needs a better class of criminal."

All in all, I think while "The Dark Knight" is a good movie, it's not as good as the previous one. Ledger and Eckhart are standouts in this movie. Alfred (played by Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (played by Morgan Freeman) get to develop their characters further and you emphatise with them. Batman, though being the title character of the movie, takes a HUGE back seat and in some of the scenes he's in, I personally thought to myself: "Ok, I'm sick of seeing him. Bring back Joker and Harvey Dent already." And Rachel Dawes brought nothing to the movie except for the plot point of getting killed and "turning" Dent into Two Face.

An Oscar for Heath Ledger? Guess we'll find out in about nine months' time!

Stan Lee reveals his "Iron Man" cameo

To my knowledge, there's only one Marvel movie in which Stan Lee didn't have a cameo in. And I can't remember what it was! Daredevil I think, though I could be wrong. Perhaps Elektra. Curse my lack of useless information!

He WILL appear in the new Iron Man and Hulk movies of course. And they've reported that he will be a Hugh Hefner-like character in Iron Man!


STAN LEE REVEALS HIS ‘IRON MAN’ CAMEO
The legend gabs on his film cameos and Marvel movies in the works

Posted December 20, 2007 1:10 PM

Collider.com interviewed Stan “the Man” Lee on the red carpet at the Jules Verne Film Festival in Los Angeles, where the Marvel mastermind was receiving a lifetime achievement award. Lee revealed that his cameo in “Iron Man” would be Hugh Hefner-esque, featuring Smilin’ Stan with a pipe in his mouth and three girls at his side. The comic book legend also dropped hints that a Power Pack movie might be in the works for the kiddies and that he hadn’t filmed his “Incredible Hulk” cameo yet. For the full interview:

http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp/aid/6405/tcid/1

"G.I. Joe" inks new recruit: Storm Shadow

Two more people have been reportedly cast for the G.I. Joe movie, and in important parts too! Who in the world is Rachel Nichols and Byung-hun Lee though!?


‘G.I. JOE’ INKS NEW RECRUIT:
STORM SHADOW
Rachel Nichols rumored as Scarlett
By Andy Serwin

Posted December 19, 2007 11:30 AM

There’s a new ninja in town.

IESB.com reports that Paramount and director Stephen Sommers have cast the role of Storm Shadow for the upcoming live-action “G.I. Joe” adaptation, tapping South Korean actor Byung-hun Lee (“The Good, the Bad and the Weird”) to play the martial arts master of espionage. The site also alleges that Rachel Nichols (“Alias”) is in contention to play the G.I Joe femme fatale Scarlett, but neither the studios nor the producers have confirmed that.

“G.I. Joe” currently stars Ray Park (“Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace”) as Snake-Eyes and Sienna Miller (“Stardust”) as the Baroness. Adapted from the hit cartoon/comic book/toy line, the film features an international group of peacekeepers battling terrorists led by a maniacal arms dealer.

Keep checking Wizard Universe for more updates, and click here for the full story.

"Watchmen" watch

Here are some teaser images from the Watchmen movie:


‘WATCHMEN’ WATCH
Check out the story hints hidden within the first teasers from the big-screen adaptation
By Rickey Purdin

Posted December 19, 2007 9:20 AM

1.The newsstand (complete with a green-shirted manager and a young man) can be seen heavily throughout Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. Within the 12-issue series, the youngster reads a pirate comic, The Black Freighter. Over the young reader’s left shoulder in the photo from director Zack Snyder’s adaptation is a Black Freighter poster complete with a tiny, retro DC Comics bullet!

2. The bottom of the “Rumrunner” neon sign can be partially seen here. In Watchmen, one of Rorschach’s old enemies, Moloch the Mystic, lives a retired, quiet life in an apartment to the left of the red and yellow relic. In issue #5, Rorschach— framed for the murder of Moloch—is apprehended on the street directly below that sign.

3. Burlesk, one of the seedy adult cinemas in “Watchmen,” hides in the background here flashing a marquee advertising “Enola Gay and the Boys.” The same stag film and theater appear on page 25 of Watchmen issue #2. 42nd Street in Manhattan acts as the hub for the comic series’ action and, if the film stays true to the source material, should see a lot of screen time in the film.

4. In the comic, a concert for a band calling itself Pale Horse (as in Death’s pony) takes place on the same night as the shocking and dramatic events of Watchmen #11-#12. Fliers and posters can be seen for the concert throughout the miniseries, and here, one can be viewed clearly above the subway entrance close to the newsstand.

5. Layout was integral when Moore and Gibbons created Watchmen. If the film follows their original design, the white building the Pale Horse poster hangs on should be the Institute for Extraspatial Studies. It’s that building, in issue #12, where a cataclysmic event changes the world and characters forever.

In the other photos, fans can spy Rorschach walking past a poster of President Richard Nixon, running for a fifth term in the film; the Gunga Diner, where Nite Owl and Silk Spectre begin their affair; and a bus stop around the corner from the newsstand.

From comics to Hollywood

Would you pay to watch a movie which had its script written by your favourite comic book creator? I would. Just see how Sin City turned out!

Wizard Universe interviews five comic book creators who may be making the move to Hollywood!


FROM COMICS TO HOLLYWOOD
A quintet of comics’ biggest creators talk about making the move to Hollywood

By Ben Morse

Posted December 18, 2007 5:00 PM

ROBERT KIRKMAN
The writer of Marvel’s surprise hit Marvel Zombies as well as enduring cult favorite The Walking Dead from Image, Robert Kirkman signed the film rights to his self-created teen superhero comic Invincible to Paramount in 2005 and came on board to write the movie’s screenplay a year later. “Transformers” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has also signed on.

“I have turned in the second draft [of the ‘Invincible’ screenplay] and it’s being looked at right now. I haven’t really had to fight the studio or anything. So far any changes they’ve asked for have been minor things that make sense and that I agree with. It’s been a pretty good experience so far, but the movie hasn’t been made yet, so I’m sure it’s coming. So far, they haven’t wanted any talking dogs—and I already have one in the comic anyway. Either they come back and say, ‘Hey, this is awesome, we’re shooting it,’ or ‘Hey, this is awesome, but we’re getting somebody to rewrite it anyway,’ or even ‘Hey, this is awesome—so awesome we want you to write it again.’

“I think I’m pretty good at writing comics, but writing screenplays is new to me, so there’s definitely a learning curve. I didn’t read any screenplays growing up so it’s a completely alien art form. When I get to page 22, I’m usually done. There’s definitely something difficult psychologically about not being able to believe you just wrote 60 pages and then realizing you’re only halfway through.”

BRYAN HITCH
Best known for his collaborations with writer Mark Millar on Ultimates and their upcoming Fantastic Four run, artist Bryan Hitch has worked quietly behind the scenes in both Hollywood and for his native England’s BBC: He’s a designer for the pending “Star Trek” movie directed by J.J. Abrams and the “Dr. Who” television series, respectively.

“My first real design job was on ‘Dr. Who.’ I was musing with a journalist who had interviewed [series writer/producer] Russell Davies that I’d kill to design the TARDIS set, so I had him e-mail Russell assuming he’d have no idea who I was and then he sent back, ‘The Bryan Hitch? Oh, I love him!’ I had a hand in the redesign of the Daleks, though it was more just scribbling over other people’s designs. The last [‘Dr. Who’] work I did was a two-parter from series two because I owed the [executive producer] a favor after she got me tickets to a BBC concert series.
“[Producer] Damon Lindelof and I started talking about ‘Star Trek’ way back. I was involved in the early discussions and was going to get to do the fun stuff like the Enterprise, then Paramount pulled the plug temporarily. When it came back, there had been a script leak so nobody ‘off the lot’ was allowed to work on sensitive material.

“Mark Millar and I are working with Joe Ahearne, a highly respected writer/director, about developing a new BBC series. Joe would be the lead writer and director with Mark as a writer and me as lead designer. There’s been discussion of me directing as well. Stylistically, working on BBC shows is similar to American TV because stuff like ‘Dr. Who’ is an attempt to replicate what [America] is doing with genre family entertainment. The difference between comics and television or film is that while with comics Mark and I are lucky to be almost completely autonomous, the film stuff is about servicing somebody else’s vision. I can’t see why I can’t do both, do a six-issue comic and then direct some television or make a film. It’s all telling stories, and that’s what I want to do.”

GEOFF JOHNS
Before writing comics like Green Lantern, Geoff Johns earned his college degree in Media Arts with a minor in Film Theory from Michigan State University and spent four years working under legendary director and producer Richard Donner. Johns served as a writer on the “Blade” TV series and currently works alongside “Robot Chicken” creators Seth Green and Matt Seinreich as a producer, writer and director on their upcoming stop animation feature film “Naughty or Nice.” He also has a film based on DC’s Metal Men in development.

“It was a hard decision to leave Donner, but there was so much going on for me in comics. I could have spent another year at the company working in development, but I like being on set. Matt and I sold two pilots to Fox after I left and when the crew from ‘Robot Chicken’ wanted to do a movie, he and I pitched this idea for a Christmas movie we’ve had since 2002 and Dimension bought it. We’re in preproduction, we’ve got test puppets made and in a perfect world we’d like to see this movie out Christmas 2009. It’s a lot easier to get what you want out of a comic book since with a TV show or movie you’re limited by budget and by all the other people working on it. I remember my first episode of ‘Blade,’ I wrote this huge fight scene with vampires literally throwing cars around and being told, ‘You can’t do that.’ I had to cut it way back and even then they went ahead and choreographed their own fight. Donner, even with his status, had to go through that stuff. With movies or TV, there are a lot more people involved, a lot more money involved, and a lot more time involved than with a comic book. But it’s also fun! Hollywood isn’t some huge, crazy maze; it’s just a bunch of people trying to make movies.”

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
A six-year veteran of Amazing Spider-Man and the current writer of Thor, Straczynski made a name for himself in television, most notably creating Emmy-award winning sci-fi series “Babylon 5,” before comic fans had any idea what the initials “JMS” stood for. At present, Straczynski has several film projects ongoing, including: a Silver Surfer feature spinning out of “Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” which he will write the screenplay for; “The Changeling,” a thriller directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie; and “World War Z,” based on Max Brooks’ bestselling novel. He’s also developing a script for Paul Greengrass based on a story the director wrote called “They Marched Into Sunlight.”

“[Film] is a field I’d actually gone out of my way to avoid for 20 years since it’s so much of a crapshoot in terms of what gets made. But thanks to ‘Changeling,’ I’m working with directors and studios at a much higher level than a development deal, and the road to production is much shorter. I have to say there have been very few hurdles or problems. When you’re working with directors like Greengrass or Eastwood, or with Brad Pitt’s company, which is doing ‘World War Z,’ it makes all the difference in the world. The hardest thing for me to get past as far as writing comics was getting used to the fact that the pictures don’t move. Otherwise, consider everything else the same.”

GRANT MORRISON
One of the most well-respected comic book writers of the last 20 years, Grant Morrison’s credits range from seminal tales like Arkham Asylum to current works like All Star Superman. In 2006, New Line optioned We3, Morrison’s quirky miniseries about robotically enhanced killer animals with the creator attached as screenwriter. Paramount recently hired Morrison to adapt the “Area 51” video game into a film.

“I met [‘Transformers’ producer] Don Murphy back in the ’90s because his wife was a good friend of mine from Glasgow. He got me started with my first official work in Hollywood, which was a screenplay for a film called ‘Sleepless Nights,’ which is stuck in development somewhere. When New Line wanted to make ‘We3,’ they asked Don to produce since he knew me and asked me to do the script. I think what I turned in is better than the comic. I’m always the guy who is saying, ‘Don’t change my work, I’ll cut your head off.’ I like listening to people’s suggestions, but if I don’t agree with them, I’m quite boorish about it. They’re currently looking for a director and they’ve got one great name who I think would do a great job. I’m used to comic books that come out three months after you write them so I just want to see this movie now!

“Hollywood is worse than comics—they don’t want you to talk about anything. Comics are all about explanation and exposition. Movies are a lot more direct. They have to play to the audience in middle America as much as in China. I enjoy doing something I can focus on for 120 pages and craft into something great. There are all these rules and everything is very specific. Comics are much more seat-of-the-pants improvisation, which is fun as well. Movies are hardcore.”

Wizard Insider: War Machine

Let's face it: Tony Stark is the one that's always had the coolest armour, out of all the armoured heroes (and villains) in the comics-verse. There has always been one set of armour that I've always thought was more awesome than Stark's customary red and golds though: the War Machine armour, piloted mostly by Stark's best friend, James Rhodes.

Looks like he's going to be in the Iron Man movie too, so here's the Wizard 101 on War Machine!


WIZARD INSIDER: WAR MACHINE
Become a James Rhodes scholar with this primer on Tony Stark’s bust bud!

By Jake Rossen

Posted December 18, 2007 3:40 PM

In panels or on the big screen, comic heroes never stand alone. When Iron Man makes his Hollywood debut next May, he’ll be accompanied by James Rhodes, an ally that fans may know better as War Machine.

Polishing Machine’s armor will be highly respected actor Terrence Howard (“Pride,” “The Brave One”), a self-professed comics fan who says he “jumped” at the chance to involve himself in a Marvel adaptation. Here are the specs on the man in the can, customized just for Wizard.

FORGING A FRIENDSHIP
Rhodes was first introduced in 1979’s Iron Man #118. He and Tony Stark met just as Stark was escaping from the Viet Cong in his prototype armor. Piloting a stolen helicopter, Rhodes helped Stark escape, and the two forged a close bond. The billionaire industrialist hired Rhodes as his personal pilot; the two would frequently go airborne in tandem when Stark was faced with formidable threats like the Dreadnoughts.

IRON WILL
If there’s one thing Tony Stark loves more than money and women, it’s the booze. Unable to control his urges, the recovering alkie allowed himself to devolve into a disgusting lush, depriving the world of an Iron Man. Sensing the need for replacement justice, Rhodes donned the armor, but at a price: because it was configured for Stark’s brain chemistry, the interface turned him paranoid and violent. Wiping the vomit from his shirt, Stark cleaned up in order to oppose him.

ALIEN NATION
Distancing himself from Stark, Rhodes eventually adopted a suit culled from a symbiotic life form, a gift from aliens trying to prepare Earth for a pending invasion courtesy of Kang the Conqueror. Dubbed the Eidolon Warwear, it resembled nothing so much as a porcupine on steroids. While Stark would never approve of the style, the options are considerable: It can heal the wearer’s injuries, “grow” any weapon desired and had a sweet sound system that blared alien battle songs. Rhodes later destroyed it in an attempt to erase Stark’s armor designs before they could be uncovered and appropriated by rival businesses.

MACHINE MAN
With “franchise” the word of the day in Hollywood circles, it makes sense to plan for the future. “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau chose respected thespian Howard to portray Rhodes because he felt the actor would have the necessary gravity to essay the character throughout a planned three-film arc. He’s in good company: The four principals in the film (Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Howard) have all been nominated for an Academy Award.

TEST PILOT
Upon his casting in summer 2006, Howard began chatting up news outlets with his take on the part. “[I’ll] be sitting there waiting—lusting for the opportunity to have my own power,” he told MTV.com of Rhodes’ potential envy over Stark’s duds. “When I create my own War Machine stuff, I put some extra artillery on there.” Howard also believes his role as an ethnic superhero is an important one. “I feel like Jackie Robinson,” he told Crave Online. “Perhaps in the future they’ll green light other characters or other ethnicities will have a chance, based upon how this is accepted.”

METAL MEETING
Because director Favreau wasn’t up for a period piece, Stark’s wartime capture has moved to Afghanistan. What’s more, Howard told Ain’t It Cool News that he and Stark don’t meet under those desperate circumstances. Instead, he’s slotted in as a military liaison between Stark Enterprises and the Air Force. “We went to MIT together,” he explained. “I actually see his (character) change.”

FLIGHT PLANS
This past March, Howard went to visit Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to examine planes like the HH-60G Pave Hawk and the F-22A Raptor. He also chatted up pilots, presumably in an effort to get a handle on their demeanors. This in addition to the physical training, which, he told Wizard, has resulted in an alpha-male showdown between him and Downey. “Robert and his competitive ass. I almost pulled my shoulder trying to keep up with him.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Cognizant of how a rabid online fan base dissects news, both Favreau and his cast have been keeping their cards (and storyboards) close to their vests. While Favreau has hinted that the War Machine armor won’t show up until future installments, Howard told ComingSoon.net that “we start getting into it” in the first film. “War Machine is a very intricate aspect of the future franchise,” he said. Sounds like someone’s taking evasive action.

New "Dark Knight" trailer debuts! Check out the photo gallery!

Would you like to take a look at the new pictures from the sequel to Batman Begins, "The Dark Knight"? Well check this out then! I hope cinemas show the six minutes of trailer footage, not just IMAX!


NEW ‘DARK KNIGHT’ TRAILER DEBUTS!
CHECK OUT THE PHOTO GALLERY!
It’s a monster Batman weekend as new trailer hits, six minutes of footage shown on Imax theaters
By Rickey Purdin

Posted December 17, 2007 12:00 PM

Those of us thirsty for a clear shot of Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker got served a frosty mug of awesomeness over the weekend when a brand new trailer for 2008’s “The Dark Knight” hit theaters attached to prints of the Will Smith film, “I am Legend.”

And now, those of you who couldn’t make it to see the Fresh Prince’s new blockbuster can get in on the tasty action by checking out atastefortehtheatrical.com to see the Bat-tastic trailer online. Named after a quote in the trailer where Lt. Jim Gordon says his new prisoner has “a taste for the theatrical,” the site is just one of many pieces in the online viral marketing campaign for the Christopher Nolan-directed film which swoops into theaters July 18.

But be warned! Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the classic villain will make your skin crawl—in an entirely glorious way!

And to see a photo gallery of images from the awesome new trailer, check out below!





Was it me who said that Heath Ledger would make a bad Joker? Well, the jury is still not out on that one yet, but it's starting to look the perfect fit from the photos.