Week of 5/1/09 reviews

X-men Origins: Wolverine released 5/1/09
Stars – Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber
Director – Gavin Hood
Studio – Fox

This movie is a continuation of the X-men franchise which spawned three previous movies. This movie focuses on the back story of the most loved character from both the movies and the uber popular comic books. Hugh Jackman reprises his role of the mutant Logan who through military experiments has become an invincible man of mystical metal compound adamantiam and becomes the rebellious mutant Wolverine. Liev Schreiber plays Logan’s brother Victor Creed (who later in the comic books becomes Sabertooth). The story starts in early colonial America where James (the boy who would become Wolverine) finds out a secret about his family tree driving him from his home along with his brother Victor. Together the duo fights in every War from the Civil war to the Vietnam. Together they are approached by General William Stryker (Danny Huston) to join an elite team of mutants. When Logan finds that the brutality of these missions and his brothers ever worsening lust for blood Logan decides to leave the team and start a new as a lumberjack in the Canadian Rockies where he creates a home and life with the beautiful school teacher Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). When Victor finds where his brother is hiding out he kills Kayla. Logan is then approached by Stryker to take part in a military experiment that will give him the strength to kill his older and more powerful brother, but when he is betrayed by Stryker he sets out on a mission of revenge aided by John Wraith (Will I Am) and Remy LeBeau aka Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). Before he can exact his revenge he must first defeat the mutant Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) who has been infused with multiple mutant powers.
I was excited about the release of this movie, not only did it signify the beginning of the summer movie season but last year’s season started off with great comic book movie Iron Man. The first thirty minutes of this movie started off with promise showing the brothers trip through all the American wars but after that the movie became a tangled mess of unfinished story lines and horrible special effects. Hugh Jackman did as much as he could but the story just wasn’t there. It seems like all the outline characters where just thrown into the story just to introduce them for possible spinoffs and they had nothing to do with the story.
I wonder if this movie ran out of money for special effects because the effects were everything but special looking more like an Atari game from the 80’s rather than a multiple million dollar production from 2009. There was a point where a naked Hugh Jackman was running through a field after escaping from the military experiment where it looked like the game pitfall jumping on crocodile and swinging on vines.
I left this movie so disappointed that it makes me hesitant to ever see another Marvel comic book movie again.


Ghost of Girlfriends Past released 5/1/09
Stars - Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner
Director - Mark S. Waters
Studio - New Line

Celebrity photographer Connor Mead loves freedom, fun and women...in that order. A committed bachelor who thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple women on a conference call, Connor's mockery of romance proves a real buzz-kill for his kid brother, Paul, and a houseful of well wishers on the eve of Paul's wedding. Just when it looks like Connor may single-handedly ruin the wedding, he is visited by the ghosts of his former jilted girlfriends, who take him on a revealing and hilarious odyssey through his failed relationships--past, present and future. Together they attempt to find out what turned Connor into such an insensitive jerk and whether there is still hope for him to find true love...or if he really is the lost cause everyone thinks he is.

Aw another Matthew McConaugney romantic comedy with little storyline and plug in here characters. With very few laughs to be had you might as well just take the comedy out of the description of this movie. Like Penolope Cruz and Kate Hudson before her Jennifer Garner is another good actress wasted in a poorly written, poorly acted Matthew McConaugney movie. This maybe could be a good first date movie only if after dinner you hope not to have a second one