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Friday 11 March 2011

X-Men 3 VS X-Men Origins: Wolverine

To make an understatement, neither X-Men 3 nor X-Men Origins: Wolverine went down well with fans, straying too far from the established series formula- but which one was worse? Having re-watched both, I can confirm my verdict on the matter:

THE PLOT- Origins patches together a sketchy prequel that gives us an unlikeable Gambit and a weird-as-hell Sabretooth, plus an ending that feels too anticlimatic. X3, to its credit, provides some compelling emotive scenes as Wolverine tries to convince Phoenix to renounce her darkness, so despite putting the team of mutants through a murder spree, axing Professor X and Cyclops, it wins- narrowly. WINNER: X-MEN 3
COMIC BOOK HERITAGE- Phoenix, Juggernaut, Shadowcat and dozens of famous mutants make appearances in X-Men 3, but an equal amount of fan favourites like Deadpool and Blob arrive in Origins too. This round, though, goes to X3 too as the comic-book character are put to good use. WINNER: X-MEN 3
THE CAST- Mostly the cast of X3 consists of returnees including Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, but Juno's Ellen Page and footballer Vinnie Jones add to an impressive list of actors. Origins  features such memorable names as Liev Schrieber and Ryan Reynolds. Ahem. WINNER: X-MEN 3
THE POST-CREDITS SCENE- In X-Men 3, we see that Magneto may have regained his powers as he moves a chess piece without his hand, then it seems Professor Xavier has transplanted himself in a human mind. Awesome stuff, but in Origins we just see Wolvie at a  bar, asked after having his mind wiped if he's drinking to forget, to which he replies "I'm drinking to remember". Wow, thrilling! WINNER: X-MEN 3
THE VERDICT- X-Men Origins: Wolverine hasn't aged well since 2009, reeking of unnecessary prequel story, so it's no wonder the Origins spin-offs seem to have been cancelled in favour of this May's First Class, while X-Men 3 comes off as the lesser of two evils for now, still by no means spectacular.

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