To the prequels, spinoffs and reboot/sequel/prequel/crossover,
part two of this franchise has further expanded and delved deeper into the
world of mutants, with varying degrees of success. It has undoubtedly helped
set up the scenario for Days of Future Past to ensure a better understanding of
the characters. I would like to think it has all been part of some grand plan
to lay the foundations of the next chapter in this film series, but whatever the
case, it would be better to look back at all of the films first.
Originally, Origins: Wolverine was planned to be the first instalment
of a whole series of Origins films. WE can only be quite glad today that the
series did not go down that road, especially if this was the platform on which
it would have been launched. The biggest problem is that it takes away any of
the mystery and depth behind Wolverine’s past. Everything that happened as a
backstory was exactly what the viewer could have guessed, he fights in wars,
used to work in a rogue team of mutants and has his memory wiped. It feels as
if this is too, ordinary for Wolverine, he should be an exceptional mutant who
has been built from centuries of torment, not from one event that barely
qualifies as a story anyway. It also tries much too hard to match up its
narrative with the events leading to the first X-Men film. The events there do
not take place for another twenty years after the events of this one, Wolverine
could have changed slightly during that time, but no, he obviously did nothing,
as the character at the end of the film is exactly the same one that we are
introduced to originally. As well as this the film ruined comic favourites like
Gambit and Deadpool, and a frightening CGI Patrick Stewart.
Luckily the quality soon picked up again in First Class.
Younger versions of the original X-Men are tasked with preventing World War
Three, and at the same time we watch as friends Magneto and Xavier are slowly
turned against each other. A strong cast and a much better thought out plot, as
well as leaving room for expansion in terms of chronological story, it was the
ideal X-Men prequel. You could argue it is slightly light hearted compared to
other X-Men films, but that seems to suit the youthful attitude of the
characters. But very little of the dramatic messages are left out. Unlike the previous
film, First Class was able to maintain the themes of discrimination that lay
the foundations for the entire X-Men story. Best of all it does not feel the
need to explain everything about the characters. Look at this example, in one
scene Magneto is a child in the death camps, and in the next he is a grown man
hunting down Shaw. Do we need to know what he spent doing in those years, no?
Is the young Xavier perfectly shaped into the version that we see in X-Men,
again no, and that is good, if he was Days of Future Past would not seem as well-crafted
and thought out.
Despite the failure of the first Wolverine film that did not
discourage their hopes to make another. One thing I did not mention earlier is
that originally Origins was going to portray a Wolverine traumatised by various
wars and suffering from PTSD, as well as battling the usual mutant enemies.
That sounded like a much better film, and thankfully that concept was moulded into
The Wolverine. This was certainly a much more personal and emotionally challenging
film for the series’ main protagonist than any other. Since Days of Future Past
leaves little room for personal emotions for a lot of characters, this was
another good setup for it. It’s difficult to write a great deal about this film
as it is much easier to treat it as a standalone project that shares just one
central character. So with all of the good action we have come to expect and an
underlying personal theme, this is the Wolverine film that fans have been
asking for.
But of course, all of this is made irrelevant by the latest
film. So what now, does this mean the events we witnessed for over a decade are
all rewritten, on the surface it would appear so. But then again, this is a problem
that Bryan Singer has to deal with, it will be up to him to answer any
questions remaining in the next chapter, roll on X-Men: Apocalypse.
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