Theater Review: The Wolverine

I know its sacrilegious to say, but I didn't hate X-Men Origins: Wolverine as much as everyone else. I think what it comes down to the most is that a lot of people that read the comics were upset about the way things came across and how characters were represented. I never read the comics, so I don't look at it as closely.

But, it is still the worst of the series, right behind X-Men: The Last Stand. And with those two combined, a lot of wrongs needed to be righted. We got a nice, fresh look with X-Men: First Class - and here they try to give us the Wolverine story we were supposed to get.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Logan for I believe the sixth time in The Wolverine. And, it is probably his best performance out of all three. He has truly embraced and become Wolverine.

The film takes place years after The Last Stand and Logan is now living as a hermit in the woods - still having trouble sleeping and reliving his actions against Jean Grey. He doesn't go into town often, except to get supplies he needs - and he has basically become part of the wild.

But, hunters in the woods have set him off - and he returns to town to approach one of them. Unleashing the Wolverine despite trying to keep him dormant.

About to do go crazy on some people in a bar, Logan is stopped by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who for the past year has been trying to locate Logan for her employer Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi).

In a flashback, we find that Logan was in a POW camp in Japan near Nagasaki in 1945. The camp about to be bombed, Logan rescues and protects Yashida from certain death.

Yashida, with a new life granted upon him, becomes one of the richest and most powerful men in Japan and is the CEO if his own technology corporation. Now on his death bed, he has asked Yukio to bring Logan to Japan so he can thank him properly for saving his life - before he dies.

But, Yashida also has a surprise for Logan - he believes he has found the ability to take away his healing powers and allow Logan to live a normal life and die in peace.

Of course, that is just the setup. What would an X-Men movie be without a ton of things going wrong, and someone wanting to take something by force. And, we get a lot of great action sequences - and some great insight into Logan's life, and a new love interest, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the granddaughter of Yashida - who Logan soon needs to protect.

And, he must protect her as his healing abilities begin to fade away.

This was by no means a perfect film, but it was probably the Wolverine movie we should have gotten in the first place. Jackman is outstanding as Wolverine, and can easily carry an X-Men film on his own - but I was definitely missing some of the old gang.

As good as the movie was - I was even more excited by staying and seeing the credit scene. A great scene that helps setup the next X-Men installment. And, I cannot wait now.

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Theater Review: Les Misérables

It is not very often that a movie can get an emotional reaction from me. In fact, since I hit my 'older' days I don't think it has happened to me many times at all.

But, that is exactly what Les Misérables did to me on my date night with my wife - and subjected me to ridicule for the rest of the night (and most of the next day as well).

This film did not jump out at me at all with previews or announcements - not one time. But, my wife is a fan of it and really was excited to see it. So, we went.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I guess my wife picked up on that very early on when I asked my first question, "Is this entire movie singing?" Now, in my defense I have seen many musicals in my day where the songs are dominant, but there is also still dialogue throughout the film. Not here - there was, at most, five lines of dialogue throughout the entire movie.

It was there that I began to get nervous.

But, my nervousness quickly subsided as I began to get more and more interested in the story. I soon realized that the lack of dialogue wasn't bothering me in the slightest - in fact, I hardly noticed anymore.

The film itself is pretty much about the life and trials of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). We first meet Valjean on the final day of his 19-year prison sentence. He was sent to prison for stealing bread for his sister's dying child - and later more years were added to his sentence for trying to escape.

Javert (Russell Crowe) is a prison guard, who only refers to Valjean by his prison number. Valjean is released on parole and is ordered to return every so often to check in. Not able to find work due to being a criminal - he is offered food and shelter by the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson). Despite the Bishop's generosity, Valjean steals silver from the church - but he is caught and brought back. Bishop takes pity on him and alerts the police that he had in fact given the silver to him. And, Valjean changes his ways - becoming a solid citizen, but breaking his parole in the process.

Now the mayor and a factory owner in Montreuil, Valjean is nearly discovered by Javert - who has been tracking him down for years. A skirmish in the factory gets a worker, Fantine (Anne Hathaway) fired. She is sending all of her money to a pair of Innkeepers who are taking care of her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Not being able to make an honest living, Fantine turns to do anything and everything she can to make money for her daughter.

Found by Javert and nearly arrested, Valjean recognizes her and takes her to the hospital. He feels responsible for her condition and vows to take care of her daughter for as long as he possibly can.

The Innkeepers Tenardier (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) have been playing Fantine from the start - asking for more money claiming Cosette was sick. Instead, Cosette is treated like garbage, while their daughter Eponine (Natalya Angel Wallace) is treated like a princess.

Valjean, though, pays off the Tenardiers and takes Cosette into his care - but always keeping an eye behind him for Javert.

Years later, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) becomes the object of Marius' (Eddie Redmayne) affection despite the fact that Eponine (Samantha Barks) is in love with him. Marius is part of the revolution against the government with his friend Enjolras (Aaron Tveit).

Now an old man, Valjean realizes that he can not look after Cosette forever and believes that Marius may be the perfect person to take over. So, he joins the revolution if only to look after Marius to make sure he does not die.

This movie was remarkable. The music was amazing - though I only truly loved a few of the songs, the rest were still very nice. Having the cast sing live on camera (instead of in a studio) was also a nice touch - it really brought out the emotions of the song and the story.

It also had some great laughs thanks to the Tenardiers. I had no idea that Sacha Baron Cohen was in this movie - but immediately picked him out, despite it not really looking like him. The pair added some much needed lightheartedness to an otherwise bleak film.

Finally the story, which mixed with the songs finally hit me at the conclusion of the film. Yes, Les Misérables struck a chord with me - something that very rarely happens. And, I thank my wife for taking me to see it. A beautifully shot and acted film all around.

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Theater Review: Rise of the Guardians

Every once in a while a new film comes out that moves into the Christmas rotation of films that must be watched each Christmas. Does this one make the cut?

After years of waiting in the shadows Pitch Black, aka the Boogie Man (Jude Law), has finally figured out a way to get past the guardians and take over the children of the world - through their dreams - in Rise of the Guardians.

The guardians are magical creatures that not only look after us - but they also bring us things every so often. The guardians - they are people we have known for ever, the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) and the Sandman.

Years ago, the Man in the Moon created another guardian who may have been created just for this reason - to keep Pitch from taking over the children of the world. Of course, Jack Frost (Chris Pine) doesn't know this yet and for years he is left in solitude.

For the guardians, the only way to be seen and interacted with is to be believed in. The main four guardians remain strong as children in the world continue to believe in them. For Jack Frost, though, he is talked about, but mostly is not truly believed in. So, for hundreds of years before being called upon by the guardians - he is alone.

But, during this time he is also following and listening to children - which, despite being the only guardian not really believed in - he understands children even more than the others.

As Pitch begins to take over and ruin the children's belief in the guardians, Frost must grasp what he can do and figure out who he used to be and why he is chosen as a new guardian.

The film looked decent in its trailers, but I have to admit it was even better than I expected it to be. We get a new look at our beloved mythical creatures - and the voice talent is amazing. It was also nice to see the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman get just as much action as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

This is definitely the perfect edition of yearly Christmas viewings. Great story, with surprising action and humor, and great heart at the center.

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19/50: The Prestige

What do you think you would do to become the absolute best at your craft? Would you steal? Would you go to jail? Would you, possibly, kill?

That is just one of the many ethical questions being asked in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. Which, despite being very good, may be my least favorite of Nolan's film that I have seen.

Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) are each part of a magician's show - as they each try to become magicians themselves. Angier's wife, Julia (Piper Perabo), is the magician's assistant, who gets lowered into a bucket of water and releases herself.

Borden believes that the show could be better, and despite being told not to, ties Julia up in a different way - which ends up not allowing her to escape, and she is killed.

This is the start of the dismantling of Bordern's and Angier's friendship. Borden is quite possibly one of the best magicians, but his stage presence is lacking. Angier, however, has a ton of stage presence, but doesn't have the tricks that Borden is able to come up with.

Angier begins to obsess over becoming the best and beating Borden, especially have seeing one of the most amazing tricks he has ever seen - Borden's 'The Transported Man'. In order to figure out how he does it, Angier sends his stage assistant, Olivia (Scarlet Johansson), to become Borden's assistant and steal his secrets.

Like most of Nolan's films, you really have to pay attention. There is a lot going on in this film and just like Angier with Borden's diary, we have to try and figure out what is going on. Angier feels that being the best magician is the most important to him - even more important than the one's that love him.

Nolan really gets great performances out of his actors - Bale and Michael Caine continue to be his go-to guys and they perform great in this. Jackman also stands out, and you can see just how obsessed he has become to dethrown Bale's character.

Much like the Pixar films, Nolan has really begun to out do himself. It is hard to move The Prestige passed his newer films like Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Inception and even Memento. Although I would need to watch Memento again from what I remember I think it would still be ahead of this film.

That doesn't mean this is horrible, far from it, just that Nolan's lesser films still standout against most other films that are out there.

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