X-MEN - EARLY REVIEWS X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE

EARLY REVIEWS X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE

The theme of most of the early reviews of X-Men Origins Wolverine is similar too much flash, too little imagination. Moviegoers will be able to see the special effects that were not included in the pirated workprint that showed up online a month ago, but several critics are saying they don't help. According to The Hollywood Reporter critic Kirk Honeycutt, they're "top-notch but too many. They become a crutch when scenes don't work." The Village Voice 's Robert Wilonsky goes so far as to recommend that moviegoers not waste their money on the theatrical version. "Wait for the [completed] bootleg," he suggests. Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News writes "People who saw the illegal download or are hungry for a blockbuster will likely find it a clanky mess." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times remarks that the film amounts to a lot of "mayhem, noise and pretty pictures." He goes on to say that he has been "powerfully impressed" by other film versions of comic-book superheroes. "I wouldn't even walk across the street to meet Wolverine." Stars Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber are left pretty much unscathed by all the scathing critical comments, however. As Peter Howell concludes in the Toronto Star "The whole thing would collapse under the weight of its own pretensions were it not for the considerable acting prowess of Jackman and Schreiber, who know how to give good growl. They know they're in a comic book movie, but they act like they're making Apocalypse Now , and God bless 'em for it."

30/04/2009