I thought my initial
opinion came from having the flu when it was released, but later healthy
viewings makes me think the production crew had the flu and I was fine.
My daughter’s overall
views were in line with just about every human being who sat through it:
“Hugh Jackman was good…
and…
not much else.”
Hugh doesn’t even hold
it in that high of a regard, hoping the next film can discount this outing and be, The Wolverine 2.
I think she was more
impressed than I was that she remembered Victor is Sabertooth’s first
name. The whole “brother in the movie
but not in the comics” was a little confusing, however. She did remark that Wolverine
seemed far more mature than his older brother…and that he, “definitely doesn’t
look like a Jimmy.”
She also found his bone
claws to be disturbing, “all gnarled and bleah.”
Until they popped
through the boxing glove in the Blob scene, then they were, “So awesome.” Go
figure.
Once more his “Wolverine
unleashed” scenes were a wonder to behold.
The two sides of the family manifested in our child again as she stated appreciatively,
“Lord he's violent!”
Yet less appreciatively,
“And he needs to fix his hair.”
That other side of the
family would also be why when the call to action was issued in this film…and
really anywhere, “Let’s do this!” she replies with, “The power of The Home
Depot.”
It’s a shame the movie
came out as flawed as it did, since the cast was excellent and all showed how
much better things could have turned out if they were allowed to run in the
right direction.
The military team Jimmy
and Victor were on suffers from severe Predator
syndrome. That is, we see this
awesome band of warriors work together only briefly, before systematically
losing them all. Having the film focus
on them and lead up to their break up would have been much better for everyone
involved.
My daughter enjoys the Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan series,
where he travels to exotic locales to find rare dangerous creatures and poke
them with sticks. She also enjoys Lord of
the Rings but would never admit it while I’m in ear shot. She found Dom as a technopath to be worthy of
many “Whoah!” moments, and yelled for him to, “run Run RUN!” when Victor showed
up at his trailer.
There were many other “Whoahs”
for the other mutants, both starring and cameos.
Cyclops ripping a school
in half. (Pretty much any kid’s reaction.)
Will I. Am’s
teleporting. (But she’d prefer Nightcrawler…that’s my girl!)
Emma turning into
diamond. (And I quote, “That would be AWESOME!”)
Fred’s tank busting
young days. (And big laughs in his Blob days)
Gambit’s appearance,
plus a big smile. (Thank you 90’s cartoon.)
When he appeared to die,
her reaction was measured, controlled and mature:
“Oh Fart Nuggets.”
Fortunately, he was OK, “Oh,
I take it back…YAY!”
The biggest “WHOAH!”s
were, of course, reserved for the brief yet amazing bits with Ryan Reynolds as
Wade, before they damaged Deadpool almost irreparably.
It’s a staggering
display of how clueless studios can be when everyone in the universe, from
comic fans, to film viewers, and the actor himself, could see what a perfect
choice they had made for the role, and then blew it so spectacularly. Good thing Ryan and company got a shot at
redemption.
Available at a video store
near you!!!!
…or it would be, if
there were still video stores.
In other news, I’m still
old.
She had another subdued
reaction to Wade’s transformation:
“Sweet sister of
guacamole!”
Quickly followed - when
she realized his mouth was sewed shut - by,
“That’s just sad.”
And she fully expected
his shushing severed head to give her nightmares.
Lynn Collins was another
actor who should have been in a better film. She brought a great deal of
emotional strength to her scenes, but they were all kind of disjointed and
poorly planned out. Seeing her and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit made me want to give
up on this one and put in John Carter instead.
Kayla inhabited one of
many areas that allowed my daughter to show how well acquainted with the systems
and expectations of these films she’s become.
She spotted Ms.
Silverfox’s mind control abilities immediately.
Greater insight was demonstrated when Kayla made up presented the
legend of the howling wolf wolverine.
“Once you leave the spirit world you can never go back.”
Every subsequent appearance
was marked with my daughter proclaiming, “She’s gonna die.”
Until finally (or
actually, twice-ally)
“Did I not tell you she was
gonna die.”
Wolverine running about naked
is also becoming expected.
She was able to overcome
the “coolness” of the X slash on the door just after his adamantium infusion to
inquire, “He’s naked…and he just jumped in a waterfall. Shouldn’t he sink?”
She did comprehend that
a little old lady saying, “I think there's a naked man in the barn,” is universally
funny.
She also was able to
recognize the use of iconic items in prequel origin stories, or in simpler
terms:
“OOOOH! The jacket!”
And also the use of
iconic scenes of the Action Genre:
“OOOOH! He’s doing the slow walk away from an explosion!”
Though she was upset at
others usage, Jackman’s profanity allowance continued. Using the “s” word before leaping out of a
plane without a chute to skip on the water was judged appropriate:
“Well that one makes
sense.”
Fortunately, even as she
learns the ins and outs of the action and superhero film worlds, my presence
can still be highly educational.
When the, named as a nod
to us comic geeks, James Hudson greets the “naked man in the barn” with “Son...
What in hell are you doing?”
My daughter huffily
proclaimed, “Even the old man swears!”
My response surely gave
her a better understanding of society as a whole:
“Yup, better than anyone.”
2 comments:
Sweet sister of guacamole?
This is a Catholic saying of which I am not aware? I like it.
It may well be. I might have been sick that week in CCD. I think she comes after the Carlin classic, "Our lady of perpetual motion."
thanx for reading!
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