My take on the Summer Blockbusters

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director: Gavin Hood

Theatre visits: 1

What’s it about: The past of the claw wielding Wolverine which was not clearly explored in the X-Men movies. It’s about his troubled relationship with his brother Sabretooth, the betrayal that he faced from the woman he loved, his involvement in the Weapon X programme and how he got the Adamandium claws from the one person who he hates the most – Col. William Stryker.

Whistles: Hugh Jackman, the last fight with Deadpool, Liev Schreiber’s Sabretooth, Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, the action sequences, visual effects in some parts.

Boos: Visual effects in some sections, not gripping enough, not in X2 league

Verdict: Good watch. Needs a sequel with tighter script.

Sequel suggestions: We don’t need the sequel to be too dark, but do give Wolverine the intensity that his character demands. Trace his history on how he continued his journey before he reached that cage fight in X-men. Hire a CGI team who can blend the effects seamlessly with the real footage.

Ryan gets the power ring

This was brewing for quite some time. At first it was the speculation of a spin-off series on Wade Wilson/Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Then the Green Lantern project gained momentum and now Hollywood's latest heartthorb and charmer, Ryan Reynolds has landed himself the role of the Green Lantern. He got the power ring, beating the likes of Jared Leto, Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake.

For Ryan, it's a quantum leap from the role of a sidekick to a mainstream superhero. Ryan isn't new to the superhero genre. Prior to his role as the wisecracking mercenary in the Wolverine actioner, he had worked with Wesley Snipes in the vampire slayer filck, Blade: Trinity. He was also associated with the Flash movie project which got shelved later.

The DC comics adaptation will have Martin Campbell as the director. Campbell has a line of specatacular action movies to his credit. The Mask of Zorro, Golden Eye and Casino Royale being some of them. Each of his movie has either launched or relaunched an actor to superstardom. If the Lantern movie gets its share of followers, then definitely Ryan will be coming across the workload of a Hollywood moviestar and that's what every actor in Hollywood aspires for.

June 19 : Angry young man coming to town...No, it's not Big B

It's been almost 40 days since X-Men Origins: Wolverine released in the US. After a scintillating run around the globe it's finally on its way to our shores. The $150 million movie has taken in a decent sum of $351 million so far and is yet to open in some more markets. Obviously, it's successful enough to green light a sequel.

On a personal note, I'm not happy with the India release of Hollywood movies being delayed like this. This time, it was the rift between the distributors and the multiplex owners which kept summer flicks like these out of our reach. Earlier it used to be the tag of a small market, which resulted in delayed releases.

In the case of Wolverine, the dates were postponed more than once and if the trailers on air are to be believed, very soon we'll get to see the angry young man of the superhero universe tearing apart bad guys in the latest movie of the X-men series. The date to mark on your calendars is June 19 and that can also be marked as the date to give your nail cutter that much needed vacation.

Critics, please shut your mouth and pack up. We don't buy tickets to a summer action flick with a hope to savour cinematic brilliance. We do it for the mindless fun. If you can't figure that out, look for another job.

About the pic, that's not Wolvy's idea of a manicure. Nor is he sharpening his adamandium claws. For him, it's just a day's work of saving the good guys.

Mayhem in May - Star Trek lifts off

To be totally honest, I have a very bare-basic idea on Star Trek, be it the series or the movie franchise. The less operatic version of Star Wars, that’s my take on the series. No offence intended to the followers of the ever popular space adventure.

So except for the fact that the 11th movie comes in the action packed summer season, there isn’t much which makes the latest Star Trek appealing to me. I loved the way director J.J Abrams treated Mission Impossible 3. His TV series, Alias and Lost are quite good too though Lost has lost its grip. So definitely he has done his homework before working on this major reboot of a franchise which has seen its share of ups and downs.

If the opening weekend numbers are anything to go by, then he has either done his job well or the marketing team has done its job better. A production budget of $150 million has been splurged on this one and the movie grossed a fine figure of approximately $76 million in its first weekend. Not so punchy a number as Wolverine’s outing, yet fabulous.

Definitely Star Trek will take will take a huge share of the box office away from the Mr. Retractable Claws a.k.a Wolverine. But the shadow of Angels and Demons looms over Trek as the former is expected to hit shores on May 15. So more to fear than to cheer about. May the best movie win.

Mayhem in May - Wolverine claws in

X-Men Origins: Wolverine ripped apart competition raking in $85 million in its first weekend. The collections are equal to those of X2: X Men united and way better than the first X-Men movie. In the process it neatly displaced Fast and Furious from the top position in the 2009 opening weekend chart. To add to the harvest, the movie also clawed in $73 million from the foreign markets.

Swine flu threats and the much worried about issue of the leaked workprint of the movie didn’t take away the enthusiasm from the fans. All the critics who gave this one a terrible rating will be hiding their faces in the shadows as the popularity is expected to rise in the coming days.

Made on budget of $150 million, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the second most expensive movie in the franchise. I seriously doubt those numbers since the packaging doesn’t look or feel as big as X3 or X2. Not so hard to believe that Hugh Jackman was paid a whopping $20 million for the part. The producers who must have had a lot of trouble to pay that sum will now be glad to be paid back in full for the investment.

Mayhem in May - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

“May day, May day…Wolverine is out of the cage”

Kicking of the summer season this year is X-Men origins: Wolverine. More than a fine way to raise the curtains on the blockbuster season to follow which stretches out all the way till August.

The multi-layered character who carried on his broad shoulders a considerable weight of the X-men trilogy is finally a solo hero. The first movie in a series of prequels on the major characters in the X-Men series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine traces the disturbed and violent past of Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the hot-headed and at times arrogant mutant. Directed by Gavin Hood who has won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006, the movie finally sheds some light on the mysterious history of the character. The movie clarifies many questions on his origins, his love life, his association with the Weapon X programme, the fellow mutants who he met and his acquaintance with Col. William Stryker. A better of picture of Logan (Wolverine) and his character will make Wolverine followers who couldn’t get enough of him in the X-Men trilogy, run to the theatres. Liev Schreiber in the role of Victor Creed (Sabretooth), Wolverine’s half brother fills in the shoes of one of the many battle royale adversaries. The worst nemesis, Weapon XI tests the real mettle of Wolverine’s Adamantium claws and the claws do get up close and personal with a Helicopter mid-air.

For the viewers there is a catch, as the director has stated that the movie will have multiple endings. Box office numbers are difficult to predict. But given the positioning of the movie’s release date and cashing in on the popularity of the character, it can open big at the box office. $80 million is a reasonable figure for the opening weekend count. We’ll have to wait till Monday for the actual figures as it remains to be seen on how much furious can Wolverine get at the box office battle.