The Flickering Myth team discuss the first trailer for The Wolverine….
On Monday, we got a teaser for the first trailer for The Wolverine. Then on Tuesday we got a slightly longer teaser for the trailer. Finally, after the trailer for a trailer which itself was a trailer for the trailer, we finally got the full trailer for James Mangold’s The Wolverine. Not only that, but two versions of it!
As you can well imagine, this got the writing team at Flickering Myth talking. How would this trailer match up to Iron Man 3, Kick-Ass 2 or Man of Steel?
Ozzy Armstrong: I’ve been waiting for this trailer for a long, long time. My favourite superhero in a movie that looks as though it could actually compete against the likes of Man of Steel, Iron Man 3 et al. The Oscar nommed Australian from Les Miserables playing a role he seems to love and the director of Copland combined with the land where (in film at least) samurai swords are as common as rain in England. What could possibly go wrong???
This trailer has got me more excited than a box full of hyper kittens who’ve just dined on catnip. I think this could a very good year for superhero movies.
Chris Cooper: After being burnt by the turgid mess that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I was extremely sceptical of this. Has there been too much Wolverine? Too much Jackman? Well, based on this trailer, there hasn’t been! The Japanese visuals alone set this apart from the majority of American City-based superhero flicks. Add in the removal or corruption of Logan’s healing factor for drama, and then throw in a truck load of ninjas!
If I had an excitement button, it just got switched on. Fingers crossed this is the film Jackman and Logan deserve.
Rohan Morbey: Love the trailer, tone looks more serious than Origins and Japan makes for a nice change of setting for a film like this. Some dodgy CGI had me worried for the action scenes but overall I’m happy with this. And we all know my thoughts on comic book films of late.
Gary Collinson: 20th Century Fox has sure made us wait, but the wait has been worth it. Looks like a huge improvement over Origins and like Chris and Rohan have just said, the Japanese setting is going to set the film apart from a ‘typical’ superhero film. Will it be the definitive Wolverine movie? It just might…
Oliver Davis: I’m not sure…as much as I love Huge Jack Man, I think the image of him with sideburns and Adam Ant-ium claws is too tainted in my head. I really, really disliked his last two appearances in X-Men: The Last Stand and Origins (X-Men: First Class doesn’t count).
I don’t know why, but the palette of the film – evening sky blues, white snow, metallic grey – reminded me of Bryan Singer’s X-Men films, which I love, but are definitely products of the early-00s. Like gold chains and mini-disks. As is Hugh as Logan. As lovely as he is, perhaps he should have stepped aside.
I do my best not to judge films on past experiences, but I’m really struggling with this one. The trailer itself didn’t excite me. But it didn’t have any Will.i.am. So that’s good.
Alice Mary Rush: I’ve been a huge fan of X-Men for a long time now, and I hate watching a franchise I love being bled dry for all it’s worth.
Origins was just terrible in my opinion, and I’ve been semi dreading this film coming around. It all looks very exciting, and the backdrop of Japan looks gorgeous (the Silver Samurai / Wolverine fight scene looks class) but it just feels a little worn. Jumping around the timeline so much makes it hard to decipher each film and, to be honest, makes it hard for me to care.
I’m sure fans of the comic book miniseries this is based on will love it being brought to life, but for someone who got into X-Men through the 2000 film, it would have been nice to have given the whole crew proper closure rather than just banking on Hugh Jackman’s success and focusing solely on Wolverine.
The premise of it sounds meaty enough (turning Logan mortal) but it just seems like it’s going to follow a similar and well worn narrative path, with a few explosions thrown in for “excitement”.
I’ll watch it nonetheless, because I do love the X-Men franchise and you gotta love Wolverine as a character. But it just seems with each film you’re being pulled in way too many different directions to actually have any relationship with the franchise anymore.
Chris Cooper: I think Jackman and Mangold are both very aware of the quality in previous outings, and they’ve mentioned they wanted to get out of the mess that was was current continuity. Hopefully it has given them the space to make the film they want to.
Luke Owen: I have faith in the movie, but I’ve got to say that the trailer didn’t blow me away. Perhaps it needs a few more watches but it felt a little scattershot in terms of plot and character. This didn’t feel like a continuation of the franchise, it felt like a stand alone piece. Not that that’s a bad thing mind you, separation is a good thing. But it didn’t… feel like an X-Men movie.
Having said that, aesthetically it looks very nice. The samurai action scenes look good and the Mission: Impossible style train sequence looks like it could be a lot of fun. Not as gory as I thought it might be (a 15 certificate trailer? Really?) but there was probably enough tease to generate some sort of interest.
Like Oli, I am reserving judgement. I’m not against the movie, but it didn’t give me the nerdgasm I thought it might do.
Chris Cooper: I’m quite happy that it feels separate. Logan has clearly left the mansion behind. Maybe this film reflects that.
Luke Owen: As I said, separation is a good thing, but it still needs to feel like its part of the same story. Based on the trailer, I’m not sure it does.
Alice Mary Rush: The transposition of the story to Japan and calling it just “The Wolverine” instead of “X-Men Something Something” lends itself to the idea that they really want to break away from the original franchise. But I agree from the trailer, it just feels a bit like another action film. There’s not a lot in there to make it very “X-Men“-y even thought it will be marketed as an X-Men sequel.
Seems a tad messy to me. They’re trying to set it aside from the previous films, but they obviously need to use the franchise to get people to see it so they reference it in different ways..confusing. I’m not sure whether to think about it in the same ilk as the previous films or whether people will profess “it’s not an X-Men film it’s a WOLVERINE film”.
Tom Jolliffe: All the Marvel films have felt like they’ve all been blending into one film for me. Most of them feel the same. They often look the same too. I find it all a bit boring now to be honest. I couldn’t get into The Avengers, as well made as that was, I just found it washed over me a bit and left me a bit bored. This however looks a decent standalone film. It’s got its own stamp. Jackman is always on it as Wolverine, even in the last film which was a load of bollards. It looks like fun, if a little CGI heavy. So it doesn’t entirely step away from the current Marvel movie formula.
Luke Owen: I will say that beardy Jackman is quite sexy.
Chris Cooper: On that Luke, we completely agree.
J-P Wooding: This looks like a film more worthy of the moniker “Wolverine.” Hopefully the aspect of “what-if he lost some abilities” is addressed properly and not laden with cheese. Expecting the usual big bangs and well-choreographed fight sequences that this sort of film needs. Wolverine must be held in the same esteem as Iron Man; he is the no. 1 in the movie, anyone else is a supporting character.
Brogan Jameson Morris: I didn’t have high hopes for this, considering the director (James Mangold, really? Has he ever made a film worth even a second look?), so the trailer lived up to my expectations. The Wolverine looks as bland to look at as all Mangold’s other films. I hear the story this is based on is a very good one (though none of that comes through in the trailer), but, visually, it could’ve used Darren Aronofsky at the helm to liven things up. The cinematography is just plain dull, while the action is totally forgettable. Just looks very blah and, considering Mangold’s lofty inspirations (Chinatown, The Outlaw Josey Wales), hugely disappointing. I hope the story is what saves it, because from this evidence, it looks no better than X-Men Origins.
Chris Cooper: Not a fan of 3:10 to Yuma then Brogan? Really enjoyed that one myself.
Brogan Jameson Morris: I like 3:10 to Yuma up until the point where (SPOILER) Russell Crowe suddenly kills all his bandit friends, then willingly boards a prison train bound for the gallows.
Ozzy Armstrong: What about Copland? I think next to Rocky and First Blood it’s Stallones best work which is all down to the direction of Mangold.
I think that fact that this film is so different is a pleasant change. It can move away from the things that made origins (and to a lesser extent X3) so very bad and focus on the character. This is also helped by not having a massive character overload which doesn’t help any film.
I think some people may be forgetting that the source material took Wolverine as far from the previous X-Men comics as he could be and delivered one of the best stories that X-Men had to offer.
As I said before, very much looking forward to it. I just hope that the finished article is as impressive as it could be.
Brogan Jameson Morris: I agree with Copland being Stallone’s best performance, but as a film it just does nothing for me. I really just don’t get the appeal of James Mangold, I find his work the opposite of progressive or interesting; he plays it safe in every sense. Visually, narratively, the dialogue, everything. He’s got some good performances in his films, but I’d say it’s more down to the actors than Mangold’s expertise. When I heard Aronofsky dropped out of making The Wolverine my heart just sank – that movie could’ve been incredible. I can’t see any improvement based on the evidence that Mangold’s The Wolverine will be better than Origins. So there’s me completely writing off a film based solely on a two minute trailer.
Chris Cooper: That seems extremely harsh Brogan. This 2 minutes already looks more interesting than Origins. I mean, we even get to see him in his vest with a cigar to chomp on!
Though I will admit that Aronofsky helming would have been very very interesting.
Ozzy Armstrong: Haha! Unfortunately for my argument Brogan, I agree with everything you’re saying. I think I’m just such a fan of the Wolverine character that I can overlook a lot of flaws.
Brogan Jameson Morris: Chris I’m not really writing off the film, I can’t judge the whole thing until I’ve seen it. But if I’m reviewing the trailer, there’s nothing in it that I can see that elevates it above Origins. I love the character of Wolverine, and I love Hugh Jackman probably more than a straight man should, but this trailer doesn’t offer all that much, for me personally. I’m not saying The Wolverine will be as bad as Origins – I very much doubt it will be – but nothing in the trailer particularly thrilled me or caught my attention. This is Wolverine’s own movie, I want to see him going mental and cracking wise, not dressing like a hobo and looking depressed!
Villordsutch: I’m rather looking forward to this. Origins lost its footing earlier on and became a rather silly film, it felt like midway through the director was fired and the producers took over the role. However, with this trailer I can already see and hear a difference. Darker for a start and a story that seems to run through the centre on a straight path. The trailer alone has me interested a lot in this film.
Matt Smith: Like Alice said, they’re obviously distancing themselves from the previous outings (though what Origins did to Deadpool was a worse crime than what they did to Wolverine), but they won’t be able to bring it to people’s attention without it being a case of ‘Who’s that?’ ‘That’s Wolverine.’ ‘Wolverine from… X-Men?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Cool.’
While I think last year’s offerings of comic book adaptations were great, they suffered from so much hype and build up. This year they’ve seemed to advertise a little later. A few people I know weren’t aware Iron Man 3 was getting released until now, which when you think about it is the best time to get excited.
The wait for the (two) trailers hasn’t bothered me as much as it has others, but I guess that’s because I’m cautious when it comes to any X-Men-related project. For every X-Men featuring Brian Cox, there’s an X-Men featuring will.i.am (who single handedly ruined the only good part of Origins, the title sequence).
Brogan Jameson Morris: Hang on will.i.am was in Origins?!
Matt Smith: He was the one tweeting in the 1980s, probably.
Chris Cooper: I’m preferring this second version. The domestic trailer as opposed to the international.
Villordsutch: Agree completely Chris.
Ozzy Armstrong: Chris, I agree, the second trailer is a much better edit.
Brogan Jameson Morris: That domestic trailer is a lot better than the international trailer, I have to say.
Helen Murdoch: There’s a good amount of action in the trailer but in terms of plot I’m not sure. I think it will go down the route of depressed Wolverine meets friendly man who he trusts, said man steals power and Wolverine must fight to get it back.
It looks a lot better than Origins but in all honesty that’s not saying much. Direction wise it looks more grown up, I’m just hoping my unnatural love of Hugh Jackman will make this worth watching. Wolverine is best doing action scenes and being cocky and when there’s an element of humour. At the moment it all lools a bit serious but my Jackman love will prevail.
David Bishop: Looks pretty ordinary to be honest. Although, I wasn’t excited about this even before the trailer. Just get on with X-Men 4. All this rubbish with prequels and spin offs is very dull. Move the story forward people.
Martin Deer: Can’t say that did much for me. Not the greatest trailer, terrible score. Wolverine with a beard and long hair wanting out of that life, he’s not that man anymore – forgive me for this long winded and deep analysis but eh, yawn! I saw some good cinematography in there though and that fight in the dojo looked good. Am I looking forward to this film? Not really. Do better Fox.
Chris Cooper: Am I in the minority for once?
Luke Owen: You could very well be Chris. I will agree that the domestic trailer is better. But overall, I’m not blown away. Yet. I’m more excited to see Jackman suit up for X-Men: Days of Future Past lets put it that way.
There you have it folks, in a surprising turn of events (given our writing staff), it’s a very mixed reaction to the trailer. Some really like it and feel it will be the movie that Wolverine has deserved, while others think it’s a pretty mundane by the numbers affair.
What did you think of the trailer? Do you agree with our writers? Let us know in the comments below…
