Film Review - Get out the popcorn!

The first popcorn flick of the year is always cause for celebration.  First off, when you go to the first popcorn flick of the year, you are defying the laws of nature.  How, you say?  Well, just as the weather finally becomes somewhat bearable, and the opportunity to spend an evening in the fresh air presents itself, the popcorn flick begins to rear it's ugly head (like Vladimir Putin over Alaska, but more menacing), and instead of partaking in margaritas on the porch, you hit the movie theater.

This year's first puffed kernel motion picture -  X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

For the most part, I have no problem with popcorn flicks.  They usually don't tend to make my list of favorite movies of all time, but they are enjoyable.  There is a place for these mindless action films in the world.  Very rarely do I leave one of these movies asking for two hours of my life back (there have been exceptions).  When watching a film of this character, it is important to ask yourself: "Am I entertained?"  Than you can fairly judge the movie by how entertained you are.  That being said:

The X-Men franchise has done me well.  The first three movies have been enjoyed immensely, some numerous times on the old HBO.  Albeit, at times I was hoping for something a little less comedy and a little more tragedy (in the classical sense), I could always count myself thoroughly entertained at credit roll.  The casting was fantastic, and the effects were good enough that I wasn't feeling Michael Bay'd (that is a verb).  But what has pleased me most about the trilogy and franchise up to this point was completely lacking in the newest movie... a deeper meaning.

What makes the X-Men story (from original comic through The Last Stand) so compelling is the metaphor for race relations and politics.  Every part of the series from conception until "Wolverine" attacked this metaphor on a multi-tier story line, presenting no antagonist as completely evil, no protagonist as a knight in shining armor, but instead as characters whose moral fiber falls in the gray area in between, as if each was a moral mercenary for himself.  Wolverine missed the mark completely.  Spending less than 5 minutes of the 107 minute film on this issue.  We see a military officer confront Stryker briefly on knowing "why" he has it out for mutants... but then the character is promptly off-ed and nothing more is divulged.  This renders Stryker a completely static character; evil and manipulative, completely "black" in the "black and white" world; making Wolverine the "white."  This turns our protagonist, a previously compelling character, into a victim and tragic-hero of sorts, without the tragedy.

Don't get me started on the love story.

But, in the end, I found myself entertained, even without the moral, even without the depth.  I walked away from the theater feeling as though my time had not been wasted, I didn't want my money or my time back.  I just wanted to head back to my porch and enjoy some margaritas and a cool evening breeze.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is worth 6 dollars.