I’m a long time comic book collector and fan. I have every X-Men comic book from 1991 – 2001 (both main series, annuals, spin-offs, etc…). I take my comics seriously, especially when it comes to the X-Men. I liked the first X-Men movie, LOVED the second, and absolutely hated the third. To be honest, because of the third movie, I didn’t have too much hope for X-Men Origins: Wolverine even before I saw it. It seems that even with low expectations, one can still be let down.

I just felt that the people responsible for making Marvel movies, by allowing the obviously horrible  X-Men 3 and Spider-Man 3 movies to even make it to the big screen, have either lost their minds or have completely succumbed to greed and no longer care about quality. So what was the verdict? As you undoubtedly already know by now, the movie is almost completely trash.

The casting was great at times and horrible at others but is probably still one of the best parts of the movie. Hugh Jackman is a no-brainer of course but the choice of Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth is definitely a great one despite the silly 4-legged “pounces” he prefer to simply walking or running.  Perhaps the best choice was Ryan Reynolds playing an incredibly perfect Wade Wilson. Taylor Kitsch looked the part of Gambit but the lack of accent made him an utter casting or directing fail depending on who you prefer to pin the blame on. Other fails include Emma Frost, Scott Summers, William Striker, and Wolverine’s love interest Kayla Silverfox. For the first 3 characters, they just didn’t feel like their comic book equivalents and were all lackluster. As for Kayla, she just couldn’t act

If there’s one more positive point to say it’s that there’s really never a dull moment. Lots of action and always something happening on screen insures that the audience won’t want for more in that department. There are plenty of “I wanna shoot myself in the face” moments however, but those are brought about from bad acting, bad dialog, and overall bad film-making, not from boredom.

Without a doubt, the biggest blasphemy perpetrated by the criminals behind this sorry excuse for a film was Deadpool’s depiction. Deadpool is one of my favorite Marvel characters and a true fan favorite. His insanity combined with his inability to keep his mouth shut and his ability to take an endless amount of punishment make him truly one of the most entertaining characters to follow in comics. What better way to give him the big screen treatment than to take everything we love and hold dear about him and put it in a blender, deep freeze its contents, then launch that into the sun!

Seriously, who okay’s these decision? Why can’t they just get everyone who made a GOOD superhero movie to keep doing it or at least to oversee all of the other superhero movies? I don’t doubt for a second that if the creative minds behind X-Men 2 or Iron Man or the second Hulk movie were given access to this script, they would have torn it to shreds and started anew.

Let me break it down to you SPOILER style. Deadpool is supposed to be funny … it’s a bad idea to make him mute. He’s supposed to be insane … it’s a bad idea to make him remotely controlled through a computer via a standard Logitech keyboard (I kid you not). Deadpool does not have adamatium katanas coming out of his wrists or optic blasts or anything other than a healing factor and incredible fighting abilities. As my friend Brandon said, they could have just named that monstrosity something else and no one would have complained as much! Here’s hoping the upcoming Deadpool movie is a complete reboot on the character. </SPOILER>

Now the final nail in the coffin came in the form of the worst special effects in a non B-Rated movie since the early 90’s. No jokes, Terminator 2’s special effects were FAR superior. Everything from horrible fire effects to silver non-reflective Wolverine trademark claws! This part was an insult to movie-goers. They don’t think we’d notice? Well I for one did, and judging by the sneers I heard the first time Wolverine unsheathed his adamantium claws to examine them, I’d say I wasn’t alone. Far from it, it’s no coincidence the premiere screening of this movie received no claps or cheers or anything of the like.

So there you have it, one disappointment after the next. My predictions? The next Iron Man movie will be spectacular! Then the third will be HORRIBLE. Then the spin-off Warmachine movie will be just as bad as X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I’m trained to see patterns and so I can’t see it happen any other way …

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