By Sorraya Brashear-Evans
Staff Writer
The phrase “the book is always better” definitely applies to James Mangold’s “The Wolverine.” The Marvel franchise has produced six X-Men movies in total, which range from exciting and witty (“X-2” in 2003) to decent (“X-Men,” “X-Men: First Class”) and finally downright disappointing (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”). The only way to stay interested in the X-Men films nowadays is to tell yourself that the next movie will be better. Screenwriters include an almost mandatory cliffhanger in hopes of keeping their audience interested.
Although better than its “Origins” predecessor, “The Wolverine” was still a rushed piece of work that relied heavily on the unconditional devotion of comic “super geeks.” I have never felt more bored during a comic book movie. Everyone knows Wolverine is the angsty bad-ass mutant who doesn’t take “no” for an answer, but as previously depicted in X-Men movies, he is capable of more than just joylessness.
Wolverine’s character is due for serious revisions. Now, Wolverine was never a happy-go-lucky person, but if you watch the first two X-Men movies you will see a more developed character who felt a range of emotions besides anger, irritation and being pissed off. He had a sense of humor and fell in love, which was something I wish screenwriters Mark Bomback and Christopher McQuarrie had explored more in his origin story.
