Viewed in
2009
Premise
Hugh Jackman reprises his role as everyone's favorite X-Men in a story that explains how Wolverine was born.
Who should watch
Those who want to get the bad taste of X-Men 3 out of their mouths.
Thoughts
This film fits perfectly between the quality of the first two films and the mediocrity of the third one.
There was quite a lot of Jackman being badass and kicking butt. Speaking of butts, I am sure the ladies will enjoy seeing his posterior in a couple of scenes. I liked the action scenes; the were mostly well-done with a good blend of stunts and computer graphics.
My favorite character was Victor Creed, aka Sabertooth, excellently played by Liev Schreiber. I thought the brother dynamic was complex (for an action flick) and interesting. While I was used to the long haired version from the first film, it made more sense for Sabertooth's makeup to be minimal, as I was able to take him more seriously and seeing more of Schreiber allowed him to portray him equally ruthless and intelligent.
Ryan Reynolds' portrayal of wise-cracking Deadpool was a great blast of comic relief. Too bad his screentime was not enough. In addition, I liked the shout-outs and fan-service, such as interweaving Gambit and Cyclops into the storyline. The cameo by a certain actor was also great.
My biggest problem was the ending, as the climax involved a fight with someone I did not care about. A climax without the emotional 'oomph' is just plain boring.
Overall, I was satisfied with action flick, and I liked it better than the critics.
What I would change
See Spoiler section.
Random
I was very amused to see the actor who played Colonel Dubaku from '24' season 6 in it.
Spoiler!
According to my comic books friends, Deadpool became Weapon XI (the main bad guy in the climax), just like in the film. However, he was not mutated to the point of no recognition. I agree with the assessment that Weapon XI should have been some random dude, because he was a completely different actor.
Reynolds and the writing made Deadpool an instantly likable character. But to see the character lose his identity and charm just to make a formidable monster was deflating. If the film makers insist on Deadpool as Weapon XI, then keep it Reynolds, but now with the recognizable mask from the comics. A recognizable wise-cracking bad guy with super-duper powers would have made the last fight memorable.
