New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

After seeing this movie, I'd say no. He was poorly cast and void of Southern charm, and clearly Fox and Marvel aren't here to make art, just money. Luckily they did, thanks in part to the crazy storm of that surrounded the movie leading up to its release. At this point, it's safe to say the "bootleg leak" was planned by Fox, since the culprit couldn't be found. News also surfaced that producers were worried a swine flu outbreak in Mexico City might affect opening weekend revenue, much like the downloaded film. My guess is that these "worries" were just desired extra publicity and a safety net. You'd have to be a blind, deaf, comic book hater to think Wolverine was a good representation of the character (or Gambit or Deadpool). The makers must have known this, so they prepared to justify their softer-than-expected opening with a ton of reasons why the debut might not live up to expectations. What we have now is $85 million, which is enough to deem the movie a success but still low enough that Fox is thrilled they released possible "justifiable" reasons. Everybody wins, right? Well, everyone but the fanboys. Sorry kids. Here's hoping next week's "Star Trek" release lives up to the hype. I have faith in you, J.J. Abrams! You saved the Mission: Impossible franchise and you can definitely save Star Trek.

Luckily, this last month has brought us more than just Wolverine news and updates. There are plenty of other interesting superhero and supernatural news bits floating around to help soften the disappointing blow of Hugh's spin-off/prequel/cash-grab. I'm not sure anyone will care after seeing Wolverine, but another X-Men spin-off/prequel/cash-grab is in the works. X-Men: First Class promises (ha!) to tell the tale of early days with Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Beast, among others, while providing entertainment and exploding buildings out the ears. There are many takes on the first class of mutants, so I'm not expecting the plot to be too true to anything. However, if Fox continues adding too many random mutants (or mutants that never existed in the universe prior to the film) for the sake of special effects and box office receipts, true fanboys may never get to see the saga continue. Wolverine's debut proves people are losing interest in this branch of Marvel. As a fan, I beg Hollywood to stop targeting these movies at children and start doing them justice!

Hoping to reclaim some of that lost shine is the Spider-Man franchise. After two stellar entries and a disappointing third one, the webslinger returns in May 2011 with a vengeance. It will all be for nothing if Kirsten Dunst doesn't get her bum in gear and get on board. I don't think anybody would miss her too much if she didn't make the film but it sure won't help rebuild interest in the series if the cast itself won't return. Luckily, director Sam Raimi is optimistic. While this third sequel is expected to stay in the light-hearted vein of the first three movies, Sam does hope to dive deeper into "who Peter Parker really is." He doesn't dance, Sam, and he doesn't whine like a little sissy.

Continued:       1       2       3