For many people, Chris Claremont's run on X-Men is the series high point. During his 17 years as writer, Claremont wrote or co-wrote many classic X-Men stories, such as "The Dark Phoenix Saga" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past".He (along with Frank Miller) also created the mini-series that the latest Wolverine movie is based upon, so it is very interesting to hear his opinion of the film. Sean Howe, author of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, asked Claremont for his thoughts on the film.
Beware SPOILERS! Only read this if you've already seen the movie, or don't care for plot points...
So, what did you think of the movie?
The first two acts were kick-ass, and they set this up to be a really exceptional, different movie. It was like the film took this giant step forward. I liked that it focuses on the essence of who Wolverine is and what he does. Hugh Jackman is eloquent, and he owns the character at this point. It’s a surprisingly multidimensional performance. The third act wasn’t bad, per se, but it was a different tone. That moment he starts motorcycling up the 400 kilometers … he was almost riding into a different movie. It would be interesting to talk to Mangold and ask why they felt they had to go in that direction. When you’re spending $100-plus million dollars, you need to give the audience what they want. The advantage of doing a comic that, over four issues, costs maybe $25,000 to produce, is you can blindside them with something that makes them say, “Holy shit.”
Well, there is that. The end sort of turned into stuff we've all seen before. It just started throwing superhero tropes against the wall: the Yakuza against Wolverine, the Viper imprisoning Wolverine, the Silver Samurai cutting off Wolverine’s claws. The point is not how many artful ways can he cut someone to shish kebab. There was no moment of emotional punch to match, say, Tony Stark watching what he thinks is Pepper Potts’s death in the third Iron Man. That’s a moment. There should have been one in this, but everybody was on the sidelines. There should have been more direct involvement with Mariko. The problem with that superhero silliness, I’m sitting there thinking, What’s Viper there for? And what exactly does her venom do? People go all bubbly and collapse? I wanted a moment of choice for the characters in that scene in the castle. That sort of got lost in all the running and jumping and hitting.
It’s a perfectly fine summer movie. I went into it hoping for a lot more. This is a story that [producer] Lauren Shuler Donner has wanted to tell for sixteen years, as long as I've known her, and that I've wanted to tell a lot longer. The challenge always is, when a film goes from concept to execution, it evolves depending on who is directing and who’s writing. As the creator of source material — corporate-owned source material that’s being developed by a rival corporation, no less — I have no say.
Read more over at Vulture.
The Wolverine is out now in cinemas. Check out our reviews here and here.