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Wolverine Review and a Small Feminist Rant
May. 8th, 2009 10:31 amI'm a huge Marvel fan, as you all know. Last night ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seanmmurphy and I went to see "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." My main review could be summed up pretty simply, "It was cool!" I left the theatre all jumpy and wanting to BE Wolverine, which is all I really need from my superhero movies, to be honest. Plus, as usual, Hugh Jackman has totally embodied the character, and every time I watch him be Wolverine it impresses me how much he really looks and feels like the guy I read in Alpha Flight, X-Men, and Wolverine for years (other than being a bit too tall is all.)
Gambit, however, has been a big, big favorite of mine since his first introduction in the comics in the 80s. We even had a cat named "LeBeau" who was every bit a red-haired charmer as Remy, himself. I was really, really worried that the actor they chose would disappoint me. I needn't have worried. He grew on me (a bit like the "real" Gambit, really), and I think the thing that cinched it was seeing Gambit's moves made real. Sort of like my experience seeing NightCrawler at the beginning of the second X-Men film... I was won over simply because the cinematographer managed to bring the still panels of the comic book into real-life action. Seeing Gambit do his card trick and weild his staff just made the fan-grrl inside me squee.
The writers took liberties with Wolverine's origin (Jimmy? You're kidding, right?), and I could see some more true blue fans being upset by that. Wolverine, until Hugh Jackman became him, was never one of my more favorites to read (Shawn, my partner, was the BIG Wolverine fan -- thanks to her, we have almost the complete run of the Wolverine stand-alone title). I'm just not that attached to his origin story (which I think Marvel has mostly still kept pretty blank.) It was nice, however, to see the iconic moment that Wolverine rises out of the adamantine injection tank and, you know, kicks ass. It looks just like my brain imagined it when I read the story the first time.
Also... somehow they made Scott Summers cool. For me, that's kind of an awesome trick. (And on an unrelated note I'm glad to see Charlie from LOST is working.)
My small feminist rant goes like this -- where the [bleep!] are the cool chicks?
As I watched Agent Zero, who I have to admit to not knowing terribly well, my mind kept trying to replace him in my head with Domino who hardly ever wears any clothes and totally rocks. Apparently, my memory of her being part of Weapon X is faulty. I just read her history on the Marvel Universe site, and I guess I must have first come across her in Cable (which I was following mostly for the artist Ian... Somebody? Churchill?) Anyway, my thought was, since they're already playing fast and loose with TRUE Marvel history, why not do a replacement of Domino for Agent Zero and inject some more hot chick action into a boy-heavy cast?
I mean, despite my being a lesbian and all, I did appreciate the naked Hugh Jackman moments.
But part of the reason I read comics (and continue to ocassionally pick up an issue or two) has a lot to do with the seriously hot, half-naked girls who have to use anti-gravity devices to keep their costumes on. And, you know, say what you will, but Chris Claremont wrote some great parts for the X-Women when he had the helm of the X-Men title. I believe he was writing when Storm when through her whole I-lost-my-powers-but-I-can-still-bring-on-the-pain phase. But, even if he wasn't, there are plenty of moments when the women of Marvel had far more interesting story arcs than many of the men.
Where are they in the movies?
Is it still the case that strong women have to be defending children (see what they did with the whole Tank Girl thing when they brought HER to film or even Geena Davis' character in "Long Kiss Goodnight".)? Or what? I mean, when I think back to Halle Berry's sorry excuse for Storm, I start to weep. Actually, all the women in that first X-Men film were nutered. Rogue is one of my all time favorite characters and, in the movie, she was robbed of everything that made her cool -- her history, for one, as a villan... which is one of the things that made the romance between her and Magneto so cool in the comics.
So any theories out there, true believers? What's up with the lack of strong superhero chicks?
seanmmurphy and I went to see "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." My main review could be summed up pretty simply, "It was cool!" I left the theatre all jumpy and wanting to BE Wolverine, which is all I really need from my superhero movies, to be honest. Plus, as usual, Hugh Jackman has totally embodied the character, and every time I watch him be Wolverine it impresses me how much he really looks and feels like the guy I read in Alpha Flight, X-Men, and Wolverine for years (other than being a bit too tall is all.)Gambit, however, has been a big, big favorite of mine since his first introduction in the comics in the 80s. We even had a cat named "LeBeau" who was every bit a red-haired charmer as Remy, himself. I was really, really worried that the actor they chose would disappoint me. I needn't have worried. He grew on me (a bit like the "real" Gambit, really), and I think the thing that cinched it was seeing Gambit's moves made real. Sort of like my experience seeing NightCrawler at the beginning of the second X-Men film... I was won over simply because the cinematographer managed to bring the still panels of the comic book into real-life action. Seeing Gambit do his card trick and weild his staff just made the fan-grrl inside me squee.
The writers took liberties with Wolverine's origin (Jimmy? You're kidding, right?), and I could see some more true blue fans being upset by that. Wolverine, until Hugh Jackman became him, was never one of my more favorites to read (Shawn, my partner, was the BIG Wolverine fan -- thanks to her, we have almost the complete run of the Wolverine stand-alone title). I'm just not that attached to his origin story (which I think Marvel has mostly still kept pretty blank.) It was nice, however, to see the iconic moment that Wolverine rises out of the adamantine injection tank and, you know, kicks ass. It looks just like my brain imagined it when I read the story the first time.
Also... somehow they made Scott Summers cool. For me, that's kind of an awesome trick. (And on an unrelated note I'm glad to see Charlie from LOST is working.)
My small feminist rant goes like this -- where the [bleep!] are the cool chicks?
As I watched Agent Zero, who I have to admit to not knowing terribly well, my mind kept trying to replace him in my head with Domino who hardly ever wears any clothes and totally rocks. Apparently, my memory of her being part of Weapon X is faulty. I just read her history on the Marvel Universe site, and I guess I must have first come across her in Cable (which I was following mostly for the artist Ian... Somebody? Churchill?) Anyway, my thought was, since they're already playing fast and loose with TRUE Marvel history, why not do a replacement of Domino for Agent Zero and inject some more hot chick action into a boy-heavy cast?
I mean, despite my being a lesbian and all, I did appreciate the naked Hugh Jackman moments.
But part of the reason I read comics (and continue to ocassionally pick up an issue or two) has a lot to do with the seriously hot, half-naked girls who have to use anti-gravity devices to keep their costumes on. And, you know, say what you will, but Chris Claremont wrote some great parts for the X-Women when he had the helm of the X-Men title. I believe he was writing when Storm when through her whole I-lost-my-powers-but-I-can-still-bring-on-the-pain phase. But, even if he wasn't, there are plenty of moments when the women of Marvel had far more interesting story arcs than many of the men.
Where are they in the movies?
Is it still the case that strong women have to be defending children (see what they did with the whole Tank Girl thing when they brought HER to film or even Geena Davis' character in "Long Kiss Goodnight".)? Or what? I mean, when I think back to Halle Berry's sorry excuse for Storm, I start to weep. Actually, all the women in that first X-Men film were nutered. Rogue is one of my all time favorite characters and, in the movie, she was robbed of everything that made her cool -- her history, for one, as a villan... which is one of the things that made the romance between her and Magneto so cool in the comics.
So any theories out there, true believers? What's up with the lack of strong superhero chicks?