Tag Archives: X-Men

Review: The Wolverine

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How fair is it to review one film while comparing it to another?  It would be easy to simply say that The Wolverine is better than its predecessor (2009’s terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and leave it at that.  But that would be grading on the steepest of curves, and would unfortunately give The Wolverine too much credit.  It’s true that it is a better film than Origins, which wasted an otherwise interesting character in boring backstory surrounded with a mess of jumbled X-Men mythology.  The Wolverine is undoubtedly more interesting and enjoyable, but for me it’s perhaps the final nail in the coffin for X-Men spinoffs.

The Wolverine opens in 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.   Continue reading →

What’s your favorite comic book superhero film?

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In my review of Man of Steel, I talked a bit about the modern phases of comic book superhero movies that began with 1978’s Superman.  I’ve enjoyed some of these phases more than others (I’m not a fan of Nolan’s style), but they’ve all produced good films and bad.  So I thought I’d come up with a list from best to worst of the comic book superhero movies of the modern era.  I kept the list limited to my arbitrarily chosen “major” superheroes, so you won’t see things like Blade or Hellboy on the list (though I love Hellboy).  I’m also not including more indie comic book films, like The Rocketeer or Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, both of which I love.  I tried to just use the films people were most likely to have seen.  (Note: Green Lantern is not included because I actually never saw it.)

Lists are great for discussion, so let me know what you think!  (In other words… BRING IT ON!!! I can’t wait to hear people challenging where I have the Batman Begins saga or Man of Steel.)  If there’s anything obvious that I left off, let me know.  And then vote below as to what is your favorite comic book superhero movie (you can fill in your own choices).  Continue reading →

Review: Man of Steel

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(This was movie #1 of my 4 movie marathon day.)

The superhero movie as we know it was born in 1978 with Superman, starring Christopher Reeve.  The posters claimed “You’ll believe a man can fly” and we were given a movie that seems very dated by today’s standards.  Reeve, clad in spandex, soared on wires in front of a blue screen in many ways seems silly to modern audiences.  Clark Kent was the squeaky-clean all-American, still standing up for “truth, justice and the American way” 40 years after his introduction in the comics.  It was undeniably goofy, but timeless in a way.  It gave us a modern yet dated world, where reporters dressed like they were in the 1930s yet boarded helicopters from the roof of the Daily Planet.

Of course, superhero films have gone through many incarnations since then. Continue reading →