BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE Review

It's important to remember that each individual comes to a movie not only with certain expectations and preconceived notions, but a different life experience up until the point they view a movie that will inform how they respond to a given piece of entertainment. I'm a child of the nineties, a product of Power Rangers and Capri Sun's; a time when what some would argue the best iteration of Bob Kane's Batman character would be brought to life. I'm of course referring to Batman: The Animated Series which ran from 1992-1995 and more or less became the defining Batman in my life-the Batman all other Batman's would be chasing from that point on. Too young for Michael Keaton's movies and too juvenile to initially understand just how bad Joel Schumacher's films were, the animated series brought to life the most genuine and credible version of the superhero my generation (or any other up to that point) could imagine. I adore the Christopher Nolan trilogy and what he did for the genre as a whole. I will forever hold that trilogy in high regard and The Dark Knight as one of the single greatest theater-going experiences of my life. Eight years after the Nolan/Christian Bale epic that will go down in history as the best live action version of Batman thanks to the late Heath Ledger's performance we now have the next attempt to bring the caped crusader to life in what is more or less the sequel to 2013's Man of Steel. Jump-starting the DC Universe in an attempt to catch up with Marvel Studios, director Zack Snyder and his team have delivered a film that seems to want to bring the tone, artistic quality, and believe it or not...the fun of that nineties animated series to life on the big screen, extended universe and all. This is where I come at the movie from. A place of balance between what was my childhood Batman (never having a large affinity for Superman given he never had as influential an animated series) and what is my more mature, realistic Batman in the Nolan trilogy. It's a parallel that worked out well for my progression from child to adult and so, the big question was: where would Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fit into this scheme and how would everything I've seen and read of these characters inform my response to Snyder's bringing together of these two icons on the big screen for the first time? For this particular viewer: I enjoyed the hell out of it.

THE WOLVERINE Review

In the four years it's been since Wolverine last graced the screen much has changed. While the conflicted mutant is still as relevant as he always was the attempt to capitalize on his popularity with the "X-Men Origins" series that tripped out of the gate and followed up the underwhelming X3: The Last Stand in the live action series of films gave everyone a strong sense of caution when it came to future X-Men projects. Granted, 2011's First Class was a well-received hit, but was in somewhat of a different vein though clearly still taking place in the universe set up by Bryan Singer in 2000. There has always been an attraction to Wolverine that clearly stood above the rest of his mutant team and it is understandable that Fox and Marvel would want to give the adamantium-clawed anti-hero another chance so it was nice to see they at least seemed to be giving the film some real thought this time around at first hiring director Darren Aronofsky, a pure critical darling, and even when that fell through bringing in someone like James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) to take over and flush out the film that would adapt one of the more popular comic book storylines in the Wolverine canon. The studios knew how the last solo Wolverine effort went over and they were intent on doing serious fan service this time around while at the same time attempting something different with the super hero genre. It is easy to forget that the original X-Men started this new wave of comic book movies that is still going strong today and whether you feel that is a good or bad thing it doesn't really matter because it is clear they are here to stay. That Hugh Jackman has now incarnated the character six times on screen (more than any other person has played any other superhero on screen) and completely owns the role says a lot about how much that first movie went in the right direction. I, personally, am a fan of comic book films. They are intriguing, most straddling the line between a real world setting with other-worldly elements while the current trend is to keep things as grounded as possible. The Wolverine does this with expert precision while not lettings its roots get away from it. This at once a thrilling character study while also delivering an interesting new story that truly stands on its own.

First Trailers for THE WOLVERINE

It has been somewhat of a Wolverine week here in movie world as each day we have been teased with posters (no matter how horrible) and small snippets of footage to be included in the full length trailer that has finally premiered today. It is no secret that the first attempt at a solo Wolverine film, X-Men Origins, failed miserably at living up to the expectations held for it. The CGI was bad, the story was bland, and the film leaked online a few weeks before release causing a significant drop in anticipation seeing as word on the street wasn't that great. In trying to revitalize that failing aspect of the X-Men universe we now have Hugh Jackman returning to the role that keeps on giving in a film simply titled The Wolverine. Originally intended to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, I would have loved to have seen what a director like that would have done with material like this, but alas that was no to be and so James Mangold (Walk the Line) took over and things seem to be in pretty good shape after taking a look at both the international and domestic trailers that were released about thirty minutes apart this morning. The international trailer offers a bit more in way of background information and footage, but the domestic piece is more focused, more lean, and reveals the man who offers Logan a deal to repay him for saving his life. Mangold has said this takes place after The Last Stand and if you look closely you can see glimpses of  Jean Grey, but for what reason we don't know. I am intrigued by the film even if this so far feels like one of the lesser super hero films of the summer. I have always enjoyed Jackman's complete personification of the character and look forward to this take on him as it chronicles a story not touched on in any of the previous films. Not to mention, the fight scenes look badass. The film also stars Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tee, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto and Svetlana Khodchenkova. The Wolverine opens in 3D on July 26th. Hit the jump to check out both the international and domestic trailers.