I was poking around the internets today and stumbled across a discussion of the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer in which the posters seemed to think that the new trailer focused entirely too much on Wolverine being a big angstypants and not enough on the fact that he’s a motherfrakking badass.
Now, I love that Wolvie’s a badass. If I might let the hormones talk for a minute, it’s freaking hot. I love comics!Wolvie, and I think that Hugh Jackman plays him and wears that wifebeater very well. But I probably would not be so fascinated by Wolverine if he hadn’t shown such great depth of character. I’m speaking more of the comics here in terms of history, but Jackman played Logan as a complex character with a strong tendency to brood. How many loves has he lost by now? Rose, Silver Fox, Mariko, Jean Grey (how many times now?), that blue Atlantean chick (btw, what’s up with that storyline? I’d stopped picking up the comics by the time she rolled around)… Nevermind all of the Weapon X stuff. Wolverine as a character has had a lot of bad shit happen to him, and… well, let’s just say he isn’t all sunshine and kittens and therapy about it.
And I like that, very much. I like ‘em dark and brooding. If they’re also badasses, that’s even better.
I do have to agree with tor.com’s blogger, that the new trailer is light on the film’s narrative, but I also don’t have a problem with the trailer playing off of the romantic/angsty subplot. I see it as the studio trying to reach as wide an audience as they can. A few of the commenters on that post implied that audiences don’t care about romantic subplots; they just want fights. Sure, there are moviegoers out there who want to see two hours of fight scenes interspersed with thirty second, slow-mo shots of Wolvie popping his claws. I’d enjoy that. But I’d enjoy it more if it came with some, oh I don’t know, characterization. It looks to me like the studio is trying to draw more women into the theatre along with the target fanboy audience (I’ve got to admit, though, it seems like Hugh Jackman’s bare chest would be enough to draw plenty of women into the theatre). And anyway, the romantic subplot is pretty much modus operandi for action films, even the ones that are two hour fight scenes. I mean, look at practically anything in Jason Statham‘s filmography.
I like action films, but I hate action films that rely only on explosions and ass-kickings to carry the story. Give me an action film with an interesting main character and some emotional development and I’m a happy fangirl. And it looks like X-Men Origins: Wolverine is going to have both. Good. I’m looking forward to it.
(And if the whole thing sucks à la X-Men: The Last Stand, I’m going to have to hunt down some writers and directors and give them a very stern talking to.)
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Bravo, TDF. I completely agree with you.
I want to see Wolvie tear shit up in his film, but I also love the broody, angstypants side of him. He has lived for a longass time, and has lost quite a lot. So yeah, angst makes sense. Plus, in addition to being incredibly hot, Hugh Jackman also is one hell of an actor, so I’m appreciative of the deeper characterizations here!
And on a shallower note, how awesome did Gambit look with his staff?!?! Loving the little bits I saw of Emma Frost and kiddie Storm too :)