If it weren’t for “The Hangover” and “I Love You, Man”… this would have been the funniest movie of the first half of the year.

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are great, but their supporting cast really makes this movie one of the best date movies of the year.

 ( My spoiler-free review )

Bullock has built her career on rom-coms… and this is another one to add to the collection… but she doesn’y play the same type of character she plays in so many other movies… this time she’s more of an agressive businesswoman with a very cold shoulder.

Reynolds is a great compliment as his career is exploding this year, but we’ve been watching him get better and better in bigger and bigger roles … he’s a draw for both male and female audiences with his comedic timing and facial expressions that nail the jokes all by themselves.

But you can have too much of a good thin.. and the filmmakers were wise to see that they had a great, but small supporting cast like Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson to give some funny lines and moments to.  But the real scene stealers were TV Legend Betty White amd “The Office”’s Oscar Nuñez.

THE BOTTOM LINE: (more…)

Hugh Jackman is great returning as Wolverine, the character that put him on the movie map, but “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is not  the best movie in this franchise.

I waited to write this review, because as a fairly die hard fan of X-Men, I have to say this prequel has me going back and forth on how great it is… or isn’t, mostly because some of the things I thought I knew about the characters in the X-Men universe were quite different in this movie.

After walking out of the theater when the end credit clip was finished (you should stay to the very end), I had the movie rated an 8.5… but I’ve decided that’s too high.

The action is great, the fighting sequences are solid, the story is well crafted, the special effects and editing and photography are good and most of the casting is spot-on.

For the fanboys: Ryan Reynolds was a great choice as the wisecracking Wade Wilson (Deadpool), Liev Schreiber is good as Victor Creed (Sabretooth), Danny Huston does well as the younger Col. William Stryker, Daniel Henney was good as David North (Agent Zero), Kevin Durand does well as Frederick J. Dukes (The Blob), and Will i Am does well as John Wraith.

I’m not saying Taylor Kitsch was bad as Remy LeBeau (Gambit), he just wasn’t the loner with a cajun accent and rebel attitude that I’m used to.

There’s a lot of creative licenses the filmmakers took with several storylines (and obviously timelines) that had me puzzled… and will have other fans scratching their heads.  For example the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, the progression of Wade Wilson’s character, the physical difference between Sabretooth in this movie and the less intelligent, more feral one played by Tyler Mane in the original “X-Men”, etc.

It was cool to see some fun cameos by characters from the other “X-Men” movies.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

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Tempe, Arizona wins the world premiere of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Thousands voted to win the premiere for Tempe.    The red carpet premiere on Monday, April 27th will include cast members:  Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Will.i.am, Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and director Gavin Hood.

The rest of the country will have to wait until Friday, May 1st.

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Posted April 15, 2009: (more…)

 This is the first of planned prequels to the X-Men movies focused on popular characters.  Hugh Jackman returns to play Wolverine for a fourth time as we see his life before the events of the X-Men movies from childhood to adult.  We’ll also get to see a variety of X-Men characters that never made it in the three movies (like Gambit, Deadpool, the Blob, and Emma Frost).

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” the first chapter in the X-Men saga, unites Wolverine with several other legends of the X-Men universe, in an epic revolution that pits the mutants against powerful forces determined to eliminate them. 

Nationwide release is May 1st.

CHECK OUT THE TRAILER THROUGH THIS LINK

Cast of characters:
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)
Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth)
Dominic Monaghan (Beak)
Lynn Collins (Silver Fox),
Danny Huston (William Stryker)
Daniel Henney (Agent Zero)

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