By Josh Crooks
After the admittedly atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the only person keeping positive about the character's future in cinema was Hugh Jackman who, lets face it, wasn't to be trusted after his positivity and hopes for the aforementioned film. However, presumably thanks to the positive reaction to X-Men: First Class, and the once strong creative team trying to bring the original vision of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller to life, The Wolverine will be hitting our shores as early as July 26th. What I am presented with today is a trailer that pales in significance when compared with both the original story as well as what The X Men could stand for in the world of cinema.
After the admittedly atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the only person keeping positive about the character's future in cinema was Hugh Jackman who, lets face it, wasn't to be trusted after his positivity and hopes for the aforementioned film. However, presumably thanks to the positive reaction to X-Men: First Class, and the once strong creative team trying to bring the original vision of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller to life, The Wolverine will be hitting our shores as early as July 26th. What I am presented with today is a trailer that pales in significance when compared with both the original story as well as what The X Men could stand for in the world of cinema.
Firstly, the trailer gives the impression that it will be nothing like the book, instead opting for a storyline based on the loss of Wolverine's powers and the original tale of love, loss and honor. To my knowledge, this was not the original plan, as Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Jack Reacher) and Darren Aronoffsky (Life of Pi, The Wrestler) wanted to stay true to the source material, but it would appear that when Aronoffsky left to pursue Noah (2014) and James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) and Mark Bomback (Total Recall) jumped on, so did the want to further sully the character of Wolverine, as creativity jumped off. The only link between the original four issue mini series (which I got the chance to re-read - thanks Comixology) and the current trailer outside of a few principal characters and the fact that its set in Japan, is a bar that looks reminiscent of a scene from the book's opening chapter. That’s it, the script appears to changed so much that I'm clutching at straws to find a link between it and the book it’s still supposedly based on. The best I found was similar set design.
My only question is... Why? It isn't a particularly comic book story in terms of narrative and structure, it would translate perfectly well to film; and despite its Asian influence it’s still a Western story, i.e. something that Hollywood loves, just ask the Akira remake. It isn't an r-rated tale either, as Miller's original art work proves that you don't need explicit violence to tell a graphic story, the original story isn't one that wouldn't twist the underwear of prospective producers, its almost a PG. Have they not learnt from countless other forays into the genre that the cardinal sin when making a comic book film is straying far and wide from the damn source material. Oh, and FYI, before any Dark Knight fan boys balk and say that Christopher Nolan has already made the perfect comic book film, I'd simply argue that regardless of the film's quality, The Dark Knight Trillogy is as far from a comic book film as Inception was.
Batman rant over.
My only question is... Why? It isn't a particularly comic book story in terms of narrative and structure, it would translate perfectly well to film; and despite its Asian influence it’s still a Western story, i.e. something that Hollywood loves, just ask the Akira remake. It isn't an r-rated tale either, as Miller's original art work proves that you don't need explicit violence to tell a graphic story, the original story isn't one that wouldn't twist the underwear of prospective producers, its almost a PG. Have they not learnt from countless other forays into the genre that the cardinal sin when making a comic book film is straying far and wide from the damn source material. Oh, and FYI, before any Dark Knight fan boys balk and say that Christopher Nolan has already made the perfect comic book film, I'd simply argue that regardless of the film's quality, The Dark Knight Trillogy is as far from a comic book film as Inception was.
Batman rant over.
Secondly, why does Japan look so... Not Japan? If I didn't know better, I'd argue that the film could have been made literally anywhere else, as so far the cinematography has missed everything that made not only the original book, but also the country's history in cinema. I can get over the fact that they've ignored the source material, but to not reveal the natural beauty of a country bathed in Neon as well as incredible vistas is a feat upon itself. You could argue that this has yet to be revealed, they are holding things back for the finished film, but again I find myself asking why? Why choose to show a trailer of Hugh Jackman looking bearded, then looking kempt, then looking angry? Have they not seen Les Miserables? Why hold back on what would be your biggest asset (beautiful cinematography) in terms of a trailer? Are Fox so confident in a franchise they thoroughly fucked from the beginning, that they refuse to show it in a good light? Who here remembers the marketing for First Class? Shoddy poster after shoddy trailer after meaningless set picture. All of which showcased none of the films merit, which leads me to think that it’s too early to fully judge the final product, and maybe try not to get too caught up in Fox's many failures.
However, let's face it, they've given few reasons to be trusted thus far. Check out the trailer below, my particular highlight/lowlight is the train sequence... Because lets face it, nothing says quality like terrible CGI... Isn't that right, Fantastic Four? X-Men Origins? Ghost Rider...?
However, let's face it, they've given few reasons to be trusted thus far. Check out the trailer below, my particular highlight/lowlight is the train sequence... Because lets face it, nothing says quality like terrible CGI... Isn't that right, Fantastic Four? X-Men Origins? Ghost Rider...?
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