io9 has footage from Sci Fi’s (they won’t be SyFy until July) upcoming TV movie High Plains Invaders. Just as Marsters is about to be hanged for an unknown crime, an alien invasion saves his neck and gives him a chance to be the hero. io9 has several clips to watch here.
It looks like High Plains Invaders will premiere on June 1, on the Sci Fi Channel.
Let me start by saying that I liked X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It was fun, and I thought it was better than X3 (but not as good as the first two). Even so, there was a lot of stuff I found myself laughing or groaning at, and not for the right reasons.
8. Annoying Camera Work. I lost count very early on of all the wide, “scene setting,” landscape shots. We get it. It’s Canada, and Canada has beautiful geography. Move on. Also, when shooting dialogue, you don’t need to cut back and forth every time someone speaks. It’d be okay for the audience to be looking at the side or back of someone’s head when they talk. People can figure it out.
7. The “Wouldn’t It Be Cool If” Factor. Pretty much every scene in the movie (and a huge chunk of the dialogue) can be attributed to one 13-year old saying to another, “wouldn’t it be cool if _____?” If the answer is yes, the scene goes in – no questions. Everything about Gambit’s character fits in this spot (aside: you probably wouldn’t nickname someone after a chess strategy because he’s good at poker).
6. Bolt v. Deadpool. This is an action movie where Domininc Monaghan has more screen time than Ryan Reynolds. 2-3 times as much, by my estimate. I’m guessing this is because more eighth graders have seen Lord of the Rings than Blade Trinity or Smokin’ Aces.
5. Continuity & Canon. This ties in with the “wouldn’t it be cool” issue – a lot of things happen that contradict or conflict with the existing X-Men movies. Accepting that the movies take place in a slightly different continuity than the comic books, they still have to work together and play nicely. For example, a certain colonel probably shouldn’t have the same rank in 1980 that he will in 2003.
4. Lacking Internal Logic. The cousin of reason #5, Wolverine also has trouble with its own internal consistency. Characters can or can’t use powers and abilities when it’s useful or convenient for the story. Or bones that are uneven and knobby become smooth and sharp when coated with adamantium. A little bit of work would’ve cleaned this up a lot.
3. Trying Too Hard To Be Funny. A lot of the one-liners work, and some are great. A lot of them don’t work, though. Even worse, the story arc is often completely derailed by scenes that are supposed to be funny (and aren’t). For example, anything with the Blob.
2. Special Attacks. “Back to back!” This line was used TWICE in the sense of “let’s use our special move!” And then Wolverine double-jumped over Bowser and hit Sabretooth with a red shell to win!
1. It Was Fun. Really, this was all Wolverine had to do to be fun. If eighth graders had made the movie, it would’ve been their first priority, and clearly it was the focus of the director and writer. So despite any other complaints I may or may not have, check the first X-Men Origins movie off as a success.