Origins

First off, I didn't really like the X-Men movies by Singer. Sure, it made Hollywood look at comic book movies more seriously, but I wanted to see less emo mutants with powers they actually use. The second movie was better especially the opening scenes where Nightcrawler was supposed to assassinate the President or a senator (I think, I don't remember). That scene was cool, perfectly executed. Also, they gave us a really good Wolverine in Hugh Jackman (aside from the height). Anyway, the third was really inferior compared to the first two, but it was more enjoyable for me.

Okay, here comes, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it created a lot of hype. The trailers really helped sell the movie, it looked like there's a lot of mutants we'll see on screen, this is gonna be good...

We walked in the moviehouse quite excited, at least, I was. We watched in our favorite theater here in Singapore, since Wolverine is a digital release in the said theater. The movie starts with the young Jimmy Howlett (lame name) blah blah... okay, good start with the sort of Wanted "twist" with the hero actually killing his own father. Then we see the wars Wolvie and brother Victor have been in, which is a really cool scene reminding me of the opening for Watchmen. And we see some really cool moves by Agent Zero and Deadpool... awriiight! This is awesome!

After that, the film takes a nose dive to cheese and stupidity. And a bathroom scene with the worst special effects in recent memory. why didn't they just made him hold those claws practically like he did in the X-men movies? Why did they give him CG claws which looked like cartoons?! Honestly, it was so out of place! (I was also thinking why Logan's teeth aren't laced with adamantium... also his fingernails. It would make sense since Sabretooth wanted the adamantium too, if the fingernails won't be coated with it, then why bother, Victor?). Anyway, Gambit was cool, but a little chubby on the face. To see how he uses his powers on screen was a sight to behold. One scene with him I found a bit funny was when he was elbowed in the face by Logan in the alley. But that wasn't the funny bit, it was right after, just a few seconds later, he was running in the rooftop, jumping back to the alley where Logan and Victor is having a duel. Did he suddenly get Quicksilver's powers?! WTF?! The last battle was to me, the worst ever. What the hell did they do to Deadpool?! And Logan climbing to the top of a nuclear reactor was just plain pointless. Maybe they ran out of budget or time, so they needed a less complicated backdrop and what could be easier than putting a sky backdrop and blurring the edges of the actors so you won't be able to tell a bad green screen to a really bad green screen effect. And how they killed Deadpool... Oh, God... it was The Phantom Menace all over again. Another stupid thing for me was the silver bullet to the head which causes instant memory loss! Stryker knew exactly what the effect would be if he shoots Logan's head with it?! And Patrick Stewart's heavily made up face looked quite disturbing. I also found the last scene with stryker quite pointless. Not like in Iron Man with Nick Fury... where you really feel like, Whoah, shit! Or in The Incredible Hulk with Tony Stark. This one... Stryker, you are wanted for questioning in General I-don't-care's death... SOOOOOOO? (Maybe I'm missing something?!)

Anyway, it had potential in the start... I hope they make a better one soon. I liked the casting and I hope most of them will be back for another round. It's not a total disaster but it could've been better since this is a starting point for other franchises.

I have been watching some really good anime series lately. My favorite right now is the new Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I loved the first series and even though this one starts a bit similar to the first series, I find it really refreshing. There's a feeling of familiarity but you also feel it's something different. The story of FMA has always been a winner for me, the artstyle is a bit misleading because it's one of the most disturbing stories I've ever seen. If given a more serious art direction, this'll be a horror series, I guess. But I love the style, since it's also quite funny at times. I just love it to bits. The OP kicks ass!
Another series I'm watching is Sengoku Basara based on the hack and slash game by Capcom. The series is done by Production IG. Very interesting characters.
Basquash is also one of the things I'm watching, with mechanical designs by Shoji Kawamori. I'm not really into sports anime, with the exception of Eyeshield 21 (which I wasn't able to finish) but this one was quite interesting... or maybe I just needed to watch something.



This is the OP for FMA:Brotherhood.

Oh, the Pacquiao vs. Hatton fight was pure awesomeness! Congratulations to the Pacman. And don't run for president, please?! Or any government position. You're already helping Filipinos the way you are now. If you really wanna help, give more scholarships to our poor children so they can be someone.