Summer Blockbusters: May Reviews

The Summer Blockbusters have arrived!!! Every month in Summer holds more excitement and hype that my movie reviews can't be contained in just one blog entry, so I've decided to give each month it's due with brief reviews of my favorites. Let's kick-off the Summer with May's releases: Enjoy!

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (2014)- Directed by Mark Webb, this squeal to 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man establishes the new franchise trilogy with Andrew Garfield as the new "Amazing" Spider-Man! This movie sees the return to the classic Spider-Man costume instead of the more "modern" costume in the last movie. As Peter Parker graduates High School, he is kindling his relationship with Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) while still trying to be a superhero, while he's haunted by the death of Gwen's father Captain Stacey (Denis Leary) at the hands (or claws) of The Lizard, who Peter promised to leave alone! This new movie introduces a new villain Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, as Max Dillon, a socially awkward and eccentric electrical engineer at OSCORP, who's obsessed with Spider-Man, after being saved by Spider-Man from a speeding armored truck, he later falls in a tank of electric eels and becomes Electro, able to absorb and project large amounts of (blue) electricity! Thinking Spider-Man either tricked him or forgot about him in his deranged mind he goes on a rampage sucking power from New York City. Meanwhile, Peter's childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns as his father Norman Osborn lays dying from a mysterious disease, and it just so happens that Harry is also afflicted with the disease that coincidentally Peter's father was working on a cure before he disappeared! As Peter and Harry both realize the only thing that can possibly cure Harry is Peter's spider-infected blood, Peter has to decide whether or not to risk his secret identity which may or may not save his friends life! With this movie we've started off the multiple villains angle way to early as we deal mostly with Electro throughout the movie we are introduced to new villains including the new Green Goblin and a few brief cameos (which I will not spoil) leading into the next movie. Overall Electro makes for a weak addition to the new Spider-Man franchise. While many fans including myself were disappointed with the Lizard in the last one, it seems the movies have begun to dig at the bottom of the barrel for Spider-Man villains, while Spider-Man has always been known for his colorful rogue's gallery, yet not too many of them could possibly carry an entire movie. That is why the next logical step would be to introduce many villains in the next movie, namely "The Sinister Six". While this seems promising for my fellow Spidey "fanboys" out there, it doesn't necessarily lend itself to a good movie. When is more villains, too many, when we introduce too many characters we become Batman & Robin (1997), lets not forget it hasn't been that long since the disaster that was Spider-Man 3 (2006).

LINKS: Official Website, Marvel.com

GODZILLA (2014) - When news first came out of the new Godzilla movie, fans were both excited and skeptical, since the epic-failure of 1998's Godzilla directed by Roland Emmerich and the 2004 release of Godzilla: Final Wars, marking Godzilla's 50th Anniversary, it seemed that a new Godzilla would never be made. Through all the pre-production and production difficulties, it was finally announced that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. with rookie director Gareth Edwards (Monsters (2010) would bring Godzilla back from the depths. While the movie appears like a Godzilla reboot it actually draws upon previous Godzilla films and story-lines making it seem relevant to the long tradition including a reference to a discovery of a large creature in the Pacific Ocean in 1954 and the discovery of a colossal skeleton in a mine in the Philippines in 1999. While many Godzilla movies feature a seemingly unbeatable Kaiju monster, which no one can defeat except of course for Godzilla, who,  throughout his long 60 year history went from nature-avenging destructor to civilization-saving hero! The movie begins with tragedy at the Janjira nuclear plant in Japan where a supposed meltdown attributed to an earthquake is the cause of a area-wide quarantine. Plant supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) loses his wife in the disaster and feels guilty for sending her to his death. 15-years later, Joe is still trying to uncover the conspiracy of the disaster. After having been arrested for trespassing his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Navy EOD now living in San Francisco with his family, goes to Japan to bailout his father. There Joe and Ford attempt to return to Janjira and uncover the truth. As they are captured (again), we also meet Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) who studied the skeleton in 1999 and reveals that the disaster was caused by an unknown creature designated MUTO, now hibernating but coincidentally is awakened and wreaks havoc on Hawaii. Suddenly Godzilla appears and battles the creature however we learn there is yet another creature in Nevada, which destroys Las Vegas. The showdown with two MUTOs and Godzilla occurs in San Francisco Bay and if you've seen at least a few of the 30 Godzilla movies over the years, you know what happens. The initial appearance of Godzilla is somewhat anti-climactic and it seems as though the focus of the film is more about the MUTOs than Godzilla? If the producers of the film had gone with tradition and made just "another" Godzilla film it wouldn't have held up to the hype. More fitting it should've been called "Godzilla VS. MUTO" (or vice versa) and not just simply Godzilla. In the end, it remains just another mediocre Godzilla movie with very little originality besides the redesign of the creature and being an American production. While it is fun and entertaining to finally see a new Godzilla movie after waiting a decade, it remains somewhat of a disappointment. In the words of a good friend of mine: "Only Japanese people should be allowed to make a Godzilla movie!" (Thanks OrcDorc.com!)

LINKS: Official Website, Godzilla Movies, Toho

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014) - While the X-Men franchise has had it's ups (X2, First Class) and downs (X-Men 3, Origins: Wolverine) over the years, the franchise has finally come to it's ultimate apex with the original franchise along with the prequel franchise coming together in one explosive finale!  Director Bryan Singer returns to the franchise after abandoning it for Superman Returns (2006) and leaving us with Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand) Thanks (NOT!) "Loosely" based on the 1981 story-line written by Chris Claremont with art by John Byrne, Days of Future Past takes place both in the Past, Present and Future of the X-Men cinematic universe. In the near future, the world is a much darker place, giant robotic Sentinels hunt-down and destroy the last remaining mutants as they make their last stand to ultimately change the past and thus remake their future. With new additions to their fighting force Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Storm (Halle Berry), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), led by Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) together again with Magneto (Ian McKellen) to fight a common enemy! The plan is to send Wolverine's mind (with the aide of Kitty's new and unexplained powers) back in time to 1973 to stop the assassination of Bolivar (Peter Dinklage) Trask, (a scientists who created the Sentinels) by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) aka Raven. Wolverine wakes up in the past and has to convince the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and young Beast (Nicholas Hoult) to help him stop the assassination. first they have to break young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) out of a highly secured prison under the Pentagon with the help of Quicksilver (Evan Peters). The fate of the past and future comes together in an epic battle for the ages! Some of the newer additions to the mutant menagerie in this movie (however brief) is Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (BingBing Fan),  Sunspot (Adan Canto) and Warpath (BooBoo Stewart). The newest mutant to create controversy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is of course Quicksilver, while having a small part in this movie is a big part of X-Men history, but who will also be appearing in the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron (also the end-credits stinger at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier) played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass)! Although not as faithful to the comic books, Days of Future Past functions as a proverbial reset button to the errors of the franchise. With the convenience of time travel, it causes major effects on the story and characters in the franchise which will be revealed in the end. Overall it is an impressive and intense turning-point within the X-Men movies (which remain a property of 20th Century Fox!). Be sure to stay for the end-credits for what could quite possibly be THE most epic moment in X-Men movie history, equal to the Thanos reveal at the end of Avengers!

LINKS: X-Men Movies Official Website, Marvel

Movie Review: The Wolverine

THE WOLVERINE...undoubtedly, the X-Men's most popular character ever! Having appeared in numerous comic books, cartoons, video games, even music videos since 1974; he finally achieved life on the big screen when Hugh Jackman portrayed him in the 2000 X-Men movie. Since then, his popularity has grown immensely, slashing his way to the top! Jackman, now #3 in Forbes’ Top 10 List of Highest Paid Actors, returns for the fifth time (sixth if you count his brief, but hilarious cameo in X-Men: First Class (2011)) on screen as the short-tempered, Canadian, mutant in The Wolverine!
We find Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), living like a hermit in the Yukon wilderness. Haunted by the death of Jean Grey, a.k.a. Phoenix (Famke Janssen), by his own claws (in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Logan seeks solitude. When reckless hunters attempt to kill a grizzly bear with a poisonous arrow, it draws Logan to a local bar where he exacts justice. Soon he is found by a forceful, red-haired, young-Japanese girl named Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who offers him an ancient katana sword and requests he accompany her to Tokyo. Her employer, Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), wishes to thank him for saving his life at Nagasaki during WWII. Reluctantly, Logan goes to Japan with her and he meets Yashida, now a powerful industrialist, who is dying of cancer. To thank him, Yashida offers to make him mortal, thus ending his "curse". Logan also meets his son Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada) and granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamato). With the death of Yashida, after Logan denies his request, he attends the funeral and becomes involved in a sinister plot by the Yakuza, to kidnap Mariko! As Logan becomes infected by the venomous-villain, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), he loses his healing ability. Although wounded, he tries his best to keep Mariko safe, soon realizing he has become even more involved in this twisted plot!

Yukio (Rila Fukushima)

With intense, fast-paced action and exotic, foreign-locales, The Wolverine is a beautiful combination of James Bond-like action, with a more subtle approach to the typical super-powered, comic book movie.
The story of The Wolverine borrows heavily from the height of his comic book popularity, particularly the storylines in Uncanny X-Men #s 172-173 (1983) and of course the 1982 Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. As reveled early on in the comic books, Japan has always been a big part of Wolverine's past, especially when it involved his future fiancée Mariko Yashida, who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #118 (Feb. 1979). One of Wolverine's most admirable characteristics came from the time he spent in Japan. As he had long been attracted to the self-discipline of the samurai, he adapted the warrior code of Bushido as a means of coping with his animalistic tendencies. While the romantic elements in The Wolverine are not as strong as in the comic books, the love that gradually grows between Logan and Mariko is nonetheless powerful. Also, is the strong bond of friendship that forms between Logan and Yukio, who despite being very different from her comic book-counterpart, is also impressive. The image of Yukio with her deep-red dyed hair is particularly striking as her tiny, petite form serves as a disguise for her deadly abilities.

While the story in The Wolverine is not directly adapted from the events in the comics, (which include complex and often convoluted backstories) many of the characters also change for the benefit of the movie, especially the involvement of Viper and the Silver Samurai. While the character of Harada (Will Jung Lee) appears in The Wolverine, he is NOT the Silver Samurai, as he is in the comics, instead he remains a highly-skilled (non-mutant) ninja, part of the "Black Clan" (removing the connection to "The Hand" ninjas, as seen in Elektra (2005), who protect the clan Yashida. The choice to make the originally non-mutant character of Viper a mutant (like making Juggernaut a mutant in X-Men 3) is somewhat perplexing, but it gives her a fascinating snake-like power, as yet unseen in the X-Men movies. She plays the role of a lesser-villain and also the "catalyst" to Wolverine's predicament in the film. As the majority of the film takes place in Japan and it's major cities, the whole feel of the film has a very exotic James Bond-quality to it and it's intense sword-swinging action hearkens back to the western-inspired, samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. The fight scene on-top of Tokyo's bullet train is particularly exciting!
Although many fans were disappointed with 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the X-Men franchise was saved by the prequel X-Men: First Class (2011). The Wolverine marks a turning point in the franchise as it also sets up  the plot of the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014, see the End-Credits Stinger!).  As 20th Century Fox currently owns the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic Four characters as Sony owns the Spider-Man franchise, the Marvel Universe has been temporarily separated by corporate copyrights. As the Marvel Universe itself in the comics is all-encompassing, the Marvel movies has yet been able to merge or "team-up" characters as successfully as in Paramount/Marvel/Disney's Avengers. It will be several years before copyrights return to the original owners as we will no doubt see more films and franchises based on Marvel comic books. The Wolverine makes up for the disappointments that were X-Men 3 and Origins with it's highly-engaging story and successfully not overcrowding the movie with unnecessary, ancillary mutant characters as in Origins (i.e. Deadpool). With intense, fast-paced action and exotic, foreign-locales, The Wolverine is a beautiful combination of James Bond-like action, with a more subtle approach to the typical super-powered, comic book movie. The Wolverine is close to becoming the perfect Wolverine movie fans have waited years to see, exploring more of his roots, as well as his mysterious past. As Hugh Jackman has become the ideal image of the beloved character, it will be very hard to accept another actor portray him in the near future.

LINKS: The Wolverine Movie Website, Marvel.com, 20th Century Fox

Top 10 Best Wolverine Stories

THE WOLVERINE...He's "the best there is at what he does, but what he does isn't very nice". When he first appeared in the last panel of "The Incredible Hulk" #180 in 1974, who knew that this short, Canadian-born, berserker would become one of the most popular mutant superheroes today! Created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein and designed by John Romita, Jr., Wolverine had a fierce temper, a bad attitude, and claws to boot! Unlike any comic book hero before him, he had a mysterious origin to go along with his mutant powers. He also possessed an adamantium skeleton and claws which for the longest time, remained unexplainable. Later, appearing in "Giant Size X-Men" #1 in 1975, he became part of the new class of X-Men and soon rose to become a fan-favorite. Upon getting his own long-running comic book title in 1988, after a successful mini-series (1982) by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, his popularity grew even more!

Incredible Hulk #181

Having appeared in numerous comic books, cartoons, video games, even music videos, he finally achieved life on the big screen when Hugh Jackman appeared in the 2000 X-Men movie. Since then, his popularity has grown immensely, having his origin completely retold in the comics ("Origin"), getting the adamantium ripped out and put back in again, several lovers and marriages, learning he had a son (Daken), and not to mention dying and going to Hell! With the upcoming release of his fifth (sixth if you count his brief but hilarious cameo in X-Men: First Class (2011) movie appearance in The Wolverine (2013) and next year's release of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), I thought this would be a great time to look back at some of Wolverine's best stories over the years. Wolverine (a.k.a. "Ol' Canucklehead") has been one of my favorite comic book characters since I started collecting comics when I was about 10 years old. His attitude, ferocity and overall badass-ness is just a few of the reasons why he has endured for almost 40 years! CHERNOBOG'S BLOG PRESENTS: "Top 10 Best Wolverine Stories"! Enjoy, "bub"!

#10 Origin (2001-2002) Written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins, and illustrated by Andy Kubert - One of the most controversial Wolverine stories ever, this six-issue limited series presented readers with the "definitive" origin of Logan/Wolverine as it is revealed he was born James Howlett in Alberta, Canada in the 1880's. A moving and dramatic story, it was a successful story-arc with it's final issue breaking sales records. However, to most fans and readers it only did more damage to the already convoluted and confusing origin of Wolverine.

#9 "Just Don't Look In Its Eyes", Classic X-Men #25, (Sept.1988) - As an obsessive hunter tracks down a feral bear in the frozen north, what he ends up hunting is Logan. This short story appeared in the back of the reprinted issue of The Uncanny X-Men. It also appeared in the booklet for the deluxe edition of the heavy metal album Entombed, "Wolverine Blues" (1993).

 

 

#8 The Uncanny X-Men #s 139-140, (Nov.- Dec. 1980), "The Wendigo Arc", Written by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne - Wolverine reveals more of his origin as he returns to his home in Canada where he reunites with his old team Alpha Flight and an old enemy: The Wendigo!

#7 The Uncanny X-Men #268, (Sept.1990), "Madripoor Knights", Written by Chris Claremont, Art by Jim Lee - While in Madripoor (Logan's old Casablanca-like turf) with Psylocke, Jubilee and Black Widow they take down the Hand Ninjas and Logan remembers a similar situation in 1941 when he teamed-up with Captain America to take on the Nazis!

#6 X-Men Vol.2, #25- Wolverine Vol.2, #75, (1993), "Fatal Attractions", Written by Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, larry Hama, art by Adam and Andy Kubert - In one of the most epic crossovers in X-Men history, the final confrontation between the X-Men and Magneto! In a fit of rage after nearly being gutted by Wolverine, Magneto tears the adamantium out of Wolverine's skeleton. Professor X, enraged by Magneto's actions, mind-wipes Magneto. Remarkably, Wolverine recovers from his injuries and reveals that his claws had always been made out of bone. As a result, his mutant powers cause him to revert to a feral state until his adamantium is later replaced by the villain genesis (Wolverine Vol.2, #100, 1996)

#5 "Wolverine Vs. The Hulk", The Incredible Hulk #340, Feb. 1988, Written by Peter David, art by Todd McFarlane  - Regarded as "one of the most intense, visceral and shocking savage Wolverine stories ever!" As the Gray Hulk accidentally brings down a plane near DFW, Texas, Wolverine and the X-Men barely miss it. As Wolverine investigates the damage, what begins is a knock-down, drag-out fight between Wolverine and Hulk!

#4 Kitty Pryde & Wolverine Mini-Series, (1984-1985) - One of the best stories in Wolverine's saga came from an  unlikely team-up with a 6-issue limited series. Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat, was the X-Men's youngest member of the 1980's. Wolverine and Kitty Pryde struck up a deep kinship during that time and in the story while Kitty is trying to rescue her father from the yakuza but is captured by ninjas and the evil Ogun, Wolverine's former mentor, who brainwashes Kitty and sends her to kill Logan!

#3 The Uncanny X-Men #s 172-173, (Aug.-Sep. 1983), Written by Chris Claremont, art by Paul Smith - Logan invites the X-Men to Japan for his wedding to Mariko Yashida. When Markio is captured by Viper and Silver Samurai Wolverine and the X-Men must rescue her but soon after Mariko cancels the wedding telling Logan he is unworthy.

#2 "Weapon X" (1990) by Barry Windsor-Smith - Originally presented in the pages of Marvel Comics Presents (Issue #s 72-84), a long-running monthly anthology comic book, this tells the story of how Logan was turned into the ultimate human weapon in the "Weapon X" project under the direction of Dr. Cornelius. Subjected to experimentation and torture, Logan eventually fights his way out and escapes. An impressive "piece of work" (said writer Larry Hama), "Weapon X" is the most brutally violent, bloody and intense Wolverine story ever!

#1 "Wolverine" Mini-Series (1982) - Written by Chris Claremont and art by Frank Miller, Wolverine stars in his first solo-comic where he returns to Japan to find his one-time fiancée Mariko Yashida and winds up in a lot of trouble with Lord Shingen, her father. With the help of the assassin Yukio, Logan must challenge Shingen and win the hand of Markio.

LINKS: Marvel.com, X-Men Wiki, The Wolverine Official Movie Website

MOVIE REVIEW: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

Superhero Summer continues with another Marvel movie: X-Men: First Class, the latest prequel and proposed "reboot" of the X-Men movie franchise! Since X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) was a failed finale to the X-Men Trilogy, the producers of the X-Men movies have focused their efforts on prequels, i.e. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). X-Men: First Class is essentially a new beginning as we set up the origin stories of Prof. X and Magneto and how the X-Men got started. The movie takes place around the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as the newly formed X-Men (now mostly teenagers) go on their first mission! The movie begins with a prologue from several POVs, the first surprisingly enough is a very familiar scene, the opening to the original X-Men movie in Poland, 1944 (re-shot almost entirely scene for scene), where a young Erik Lehnsherr (now played by Bill Milner) after bending the metal gates at a Nazi Concentration Camp, is separated from his parents only to be brought to a mysterious German scientist who wants to use his "gifts" to his advantage, using threats to spark anger from the young mutant to reveal his powers. Later we are taken from the horrors of WWII to a luxurious mansion in England where we meet a young Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) accidentally meets a familiar shape-shifting mutant named Raven, a.k.a. Mystique (Morgan Lily)! Years later, we see an older Xavier (James McAvoy) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) celebrating his graduation from Cambridge, not quite yet the "professor" that we have come to love, instead he irresponsibly uses his telepathy and his nerdy knowledge of genetics to pick up girls at bars! While Xavier is abusing his power and new-found academic achievements, on the other side of the world we have an older Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) who seeks revenge on the Nazis who killed his family in a never-ending search for the mysterious scientist who we later on find out is none other than Sebastian Shaw, (Kevin Bacon? Yep, that's right, Kevin Bacon!) of the Hellfire Club along with his henchman Riptide (Álex González) and very seductive henchwoman: Emma Frost (January Jones), a.k.a. The White Queen! While Erik tries to find Shaw, he's not the only one as the CIA is also on his trail as Agent/Dr. Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) goes undercover to find out his diabolical, world-dominating plan. While the government enlists the help of Charles Xavier to find Shaw, during the chase Charles meets Erik by accident and they later form a friendship and go around the world to recruit other young mutants such as Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havok (Lucas Till) and Angel (Zoë Kravitz, daughter of Lenny Kravitz!). Soon they form a "school" for mutants and thus the X-MEN are born! Unfortunately, they have very little time to train before they have to save the world from Nuclear War between the U.S. and Russia!

Left to Right: Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne),
Emma Frost (January Jones),  Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havok (Lucas Till), Angel (Zoe Kravitz), Mystique/Raven (Jennifer Lawrence ), Prof. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy)

Although rebooting a movie franchise is difficult, particularly with comic book movies, as there have been some successes (Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008)) and some failures (Superman Returns (2006)). While the main focus of the story is the relationship between Xavier and Magneto, there is this very odd love triangle involving Mystique. Both movie and comic fans are already familiar with the complex history between Xavier and Magneto, whereas Xavier, the more peaceful leader, has always been the Martin Luther King Jr. of mutants, whereas Magneto, a more violent activist, remains the Malcolm X of mutants. These philosophical differences between these two "old friends" has always been at the core of the X-Men story. While Xavier has always been one to seek mutant acceptance and understanding from humans in a world that hates and fears them; Magneto on the other hand, has always sought to make mutants the dominate species, believing them to be better than humans, and if that means getting rid of normal humans, so be it. Charles McAvoy (who isn't new to comic book movies, having played Wesley in Wanted (2008)) makes a pretty decent Prof. X, although he is first presented as somewhat immature. Michael Fassbender's performance as Erik/Magneto is excellent (and being born in Germany helps too)! This movie adds a whole new level to their relationship, by putting Mystique in the mix. Already a popular character/villain in the previous movies, there was never much to her back story. While in the comics it's very clear over the last 30 years with her involvement with Rogue and of all things, being the mother of Nightcrawler, however being that the movie continuity and comic continuity are two completely different things, the movie is free to do with these characters as they please!
At first, the dynamic between these two unlikely friends is perplexing and to those X-Men fans already scratching their heads saying: "How could Xavier and Mystique have been friends as children?" is well founded. As the two develop a sort of brother and sister relationship forming a close bond, Xavier vows to "help" Raven become more normal. However, enter the "bad boy": Magneto and his insistence that Mystique need not "hide" behind her shape-shifting powers and remain in her true (blue) form. Although the X-Men Universe is filled with many mutant characters that have yet been given life on the big screen, you may be thinking how many more mutants could there be? The addition of Angel (definitely NOT the feather-winged Angel from the original team or X-Men 3 movie (played by none other than Ben Foster) and with the addition of other more obscure characters like Riptide and Azazel, is it possible they have run out of mutants?

I have to admit, I had some reservations on this new X-Men, fearing that it would try to appeal to a more teenage audience, not unlike the Twilight or Harry Potter movies. While the original 60's X-Men comic featured teenage superheroes, the movies, beginning with X-Men in 2000,  featured more of the adult characters such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and of course Wolverine. (SPOILER ALERT: As a matter of fact, good old Hugh Jackman makes a very brief but hilarious cameo as Wolverine in this movie!) While the trilogy did feature some of the teenage mutant characters such as Rogue, Iceman and Shadowcat, they did not feature prominently in the movies. With this movie, the producers of the franchise sought to return to it's teenage roots with a fresh start with a younger ensemble cast (See Photo),  plus the addition of a popular up and coming director, Matthew Vaughn who directed Kick-Ass (2010).
X-Men: First Class is a breath of fresh air in an already overwhelming genre! As we prepare for even more Superhero/Marvel movie mania in the near future such as The Avengers (2012), this movie, despite being a reboot, just goes to show how much a fresh start can revitalize a fickle franchise. Only the box office knows for sure...