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Hugh Jackman dons the adamantium claws once again for this prequel revealing the back story of Wolverine, but even his considerable charisma and thespian skills are no match for an ill-conceived scenario that buries its intended emotional resonances beneath an avalanche of typical action-movie antics, and then further aggravates the situation by tossing in a [...]

Over at USA Today, Scott Bowles points out that Summer 2009 is loaded with blockbusters that feature origin stories. The motivations for this a fairly clear: Hollywood likes familiar franchises, but audiences are getting tired of sequels rehashing the same old plots. Prequels allow filmmakers to fill in the back story; more than that, an [...]

Science fiction and fantasy films had launched the summer box office season to a great start thanks to STAR TREK and X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, but this weekend they were passed up by the debut of ANGELS & DEMONS, director Ron Howard’s sequel to his 2006 blockbuster. Not to worry: both TREK and WOLVERINE posted strong [...]

This week, science fiction, fantasy and horror DVDs are dominated by theatrical releases; that is to say, the opening of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE this weekend and the upcoming debut of the new STAR TREK film have inspired some cash-in-while-we-can home video releases. This include a Blu-ray version of the first season of the original STAR [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The thing about home video is it’s like some kind of all-powerful voodoo spell that continually resurrects old titles, bringing them back from the grave with all the inevitability of Amando de Ossorio’s Knights Templar saddling up for another night-time ride in pursuit of sacrificial victims. In this case the fateful event prompting [...]

Despite the pre-release concern among fans (due to RUSH HOUR’s Brett Ratner taking over as director) and a slightly diminished critical response, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND turns out to be a pretty decent summer flick. It has a more interesting premise than its predecessors (involving a cure — possibly involuntarily) for mutants, and the action [...]

This is a slightly disappointing sequel to the first X-MEN movie, which helped revive Hollywood interest in adapting comic books into big-budget productions. The same seriousness of intent is plainly visible, as everyone involved strives mightily to make a comic book movie that is much more than just a comic book movie. To a large [...]

This multi-million dollar, star-studded movie adaptation of the Marvel comic book characters is a solid entertainment even for filmgoers who know nothing about the X-Men. Unlike many summer blockbusters in general (and comic book adaptations in particular) actually shows some thoughtful signs of intelligence instead of wallowing solely in visual effects and mind-numbing action. Yes, [...]

This news sounded suspect, having first broken on April 1, but since it has been reported by both  the BBC and CNN, I think we can trust it. Apparently, a work pint version of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE – which does not open in the U.S. till May 1 – has been leaked to online file sharing websites. [...]

Joshua Schwartz (creature of NBC’S CHUCK) will write and possibly direct the next X-MEN features. After 3 films, the franchise currently has spin-off pics devoted to WOLVERINE and MAGNETO; the question was how to do another full-blown X-MEN flick without paying raises to all the stars. Answer may be to focus a new film on [...]