The Wolverine: It slices! It dices!

It's a sentiment that's been heard a lot lately - I enjoyed The Wolverine a lot more than I expected to. After the painfulness that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, hardcore Logan fans wanted the real deal. So excitement for this new iteration was full of grizzled optimism. James Mangold is a terrific director, with Cop Land, 3:10 to Yuma and Walk the Line among his many fine films. And I was definitely entertained by The Wolverine - and not simply because of its superiority when compared with Origins - because a bite of lobster tastes great if you've just been dining on spam. Mangold and screenwriters Mark Bomback and Scott Frank have crafted a script that moves along briskly, holds your attention and is much more faithful to a classic story ark, as depicted by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. It's fun and fast-paced, but it definitely left me pining.

Jackman is great, and the movie opens with an attention-getting prologue during the bombing of Nagasaki in a P.O.W. camp where Logan/Wolverine is held prisoner. Acts of compassion and honor during the phenomenal rendering of the blast set events in motion that will only come full-circle in the here and now.

Most of The Wolverine takes place in Japan, and with it's "Gaijin"-in-a-strange-land plot, the film has Jackman looking to solve a mystery - and then some - with the help of two very different women. Yukio (Rila Fukushima) is the blade for hire who brings Logan to Japan at the behest of her dying employer - to settle an old debt of honor. When he meets and falls in love with Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the film began to lose me. Mariko is "troubled," but she's also a bit of a cliche porcelain doll, in addition to being Eugene Tooms thin - she needs to eat a sandwich already. Theirs is very much a You Only Live Twice love affair, with Mariko seeming deadly dull in contrast with Yukio's capable smirks - Yukio's partnership with Logan as comrades in arms holds the film together.

There are some changes to the plot from its comic source, but they're well reasoned and effective. You will see a Silver Samurai - and he's pretty awesome to behold. Logan's climactic assault once again lends the film a strong Bond flavor.

If the film has a failing, sadly it's in the generic look of the cinematography by Ross Emery - journeyman, but lackluster. There's a lack of atmosphere to a lot of the compositions here and never has a film set in Japan felt more like Canada. Many of the initial Japanese action sequences are inexplicably sunny and cheerful, with all the menace of a strip mall:

I very quickly found myself wishing that more care was put into designing the look of the film. What's missing is the strong sense of atmosphere and culture we've come to expect from previous actioners set in Japan -take Jan de Bont's work in Black Rain, Robert Richardson's in Kill Bill - or 1974's The Yakuza...    

Where The Wolverine misses an opportunity is at making the film feel even more like a hyper-cool graphic novel by building on the legacy of those previous films - a lot of the film is shot like generic TV, and that's pretty hard to ignore. Plus, for a film as violent as it is, The Wolverine is unbelievably bloodless. With the amount of swordplay on display here, there's barely a mop to be needed anywhere! The move to dial it down for PG-13 combined with the tepid look of the film leaves you feeling less transported than you want to be. As my good friend (and noted Wolverine authority) Jonas reminded me, The Wolverine was originally going to be a Darren Aronofsky film (The Wrestler, Black Swan) and you just can't help but yearn for the mayhem he would have unleashed with someone like Matthew Libatique or Maryse Alberti at his side. It may sound like I'm carping, but to actually get to shoot overseas and not take full advantage of that visually is a blown opportunity.

Still - I undeniably had fun at The Wolverine - it's old fashioned and seldom boring and maintains a great sense of energy. I just wish it felt more like Black Rain and less like a Roger Moore Bond in places. It's definitely worth seeing and could even send you home searching for your Silver Samurai figure...

Calling all Batfanatics...!

I do have a bit of a Batmobile collecting problem - it's fairly under control, but I must share something new I discovered - you see, Eaglemoss has been releasing a series of Batmobile collector models under the "Automobilia" line - similar to the James Bond Car Collector series a little while ago - you get a slick glossy magazine profiling a particular car, but the real score is the pack-in diecast vehicle - about Corgi scale (1/43), but with nice display environment features and some really precise detail - here are a couple of recent examples...

 
Nice, eh? But a lot of these have been easy to bypass as many of them are similar in content and scale to what Hot Wheels and U.K. modeler Corgi have done in their 1/50 range over the last few years. Until now.

Yes, that's Frank Miller's immortal Dark Knight Returns, without which there would be no Christopher Nolan films - and certainly no Tumbler, as grim Bruce Wayne/Batman uses a gigantic "Bat-Tank" to face down the neo-apocalyptic mutants that threatern modern Gotham City.

Well, kudos, Eaglemoss, as you have seen fit to give us this legendary vehicle exactly as it appeared in the comics - just look at this bad boy...

Unbelievable. Now these are a lot easier to find over in the U.K. than here in the states - your comic shop has to special order them, as they are a lot more popular across the pond. These devils are even unleashing a Star Trek series, which could get ugly. The DKR Tank will be a special edition (I'm guessing that means larger than the others and more expensive) coming out around November.

Without a doubt the coolest toy I've seen today.

Still more damn dirty news from NECA...

As if NECA wasn't busy enough - what with all the Alien talk over Comic Con weekend, don't want to overlook that the toymaker also announced they have acquired the license for Planet of the Apes, both the classic and newer films. Exciting news. Sounds like this is a favorite property over at NECA, so they will likely go all out to make a memorable impression - can't wait!

Godzilla!!!

Here's the maquette revealed at Comic Con for Gareth Edwards' reboot. After the last misfire it's tempting to roll your eyes but then you probably haven't seen his debut film, Monsters, which will probably always hold the title of most bang for budget buck ever. I'd love for him to succeed.

Comic Con postscript...

Okay, we got a little more news from NECA about their future Alien plans and it's sounding good!

First, while it sounds as though likeness rights issues are causing some grief, there will definitely be more Aliens figures, with android Bishop mentioned specifically.

And for the 35th Anniversary of Alien, NECA's head of product development Randy Falk spilled the beans that there will be several waves of Alien figures, including Captain Dallas in Nostromo spacesuit, Kane and more. Jones the cat will be a pack-in with one of the figures... Hmmm...? That is sounding awesome and is now officially my most anticipated figure line - time to start clearing some display space...

Thanks, NECA!

Underrated gem: Solomon Kane!

Even in this day and age, some movies can get lost and travel a long road to find an audience. Such is the case with Solomon Kane. Filmed in 2009, Solomon Kane never found a U.S. theatrical release, though it did play in the U.K. and Europe.

Conan creator Robert E. Howard's pulp hero first appeared in the late 1920s in Weird Tales magazine - an avenging puritan who wonders the earth determined to vanquish evil.

I'd been waiting a long time for Solomon Kane, and when my long dormant Netflix placeholder suddenly shot me a "sent" message, I knew that it had finally been released.

Simply put, Kane is terrific - a rough gem to be sure - but if you're looking for a pulp-fueled horror adventure film that doesn't drag, you really owe it to yourself to seek this movie out. If you're a fan of old school Hammer Horror films, Conan, Game of Thrones, The Brotherhood of the Wolf - or any good rip-roaring adventure with a solid dose of supernatural horror, then you're simply going to love Solomon Kane. James Purefoy (TV's The Following) is Kane, a ruthless mercenary who seeks redemption by fighting evil, when he realizes his damned soul is bound for hell. Purefoy does his best Hugh Jackman (peppered with a little Liam Neeson) but makes Kane a sympathetic hero here. In one of his last roles, Pete Postlethwaite is terrific as a traveling puritan, Borg Queen Alice Krige as his wife. Max von Sydow is also effective as patriarch of the Kane family.

Solomon Kane is written and directed by Michael J. Bassett with style and enthusiasm. He gives Kane a strong unifying backstory for modern audiences while sacrificing none of the atmosphere of the era. Things move at a brisk, rollicking pace, yet Bassett gives us plenty of slower, suspenseful horror sequences. The film is beautifully shot in the Czech Republic and the production design is sensational. Creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos and the effects team do a super job on all fronts.

Is it a perfect film? There may be times when Purefoy's tone slips over into Van Helsing earnestness, but I can't help feel Solomon Kane was just released at the wrong time. It has the energy of a film that might have come out in the late 1980s, and whoever decided to can a stateside release - well, dude - you made a bad call. I feel Solomon Kane will be discovered on home video and fans will embrace it - it's a great horror adventure saga and you should really give it a spin.

SUNDAY: Comic Con wrap-up

Comic Con is history - and as the dust settles and the spandex is packed away (much the worse for wear) what are talking about?

Saturday saw some of the biggest news in terms of long-term attention-getting from both the DC and Marvel camps. Can Warner Brothers bankroll a DC Universe that's as successful as Marvel? We're going to find out. The official announcement came on Saturday with news that Man of Steel director Zack Snyder will bring back Henry Cavill as Superman, but in a Batman/Superman film, inspired to some degree by Frank Miller's legendary Dark Knight Returns comic series.

Snyder also quickly clarified that, "We're not adapting this thing, but it is the thing that will help us tell that story," whatever that means. Christopher Nolan will be Executive Producer and David S. Goyer will script. So it sounds like Warner's has effectively pulled back from their plans to mount an Avengers equivalent Justice League movie and instead focus on the two top dogs of the DC Universe. Whether or not Christian Bale will return is anybody's guess at this point. 2015 has been tossed out as the release window, so they'd better get cracking.

Marvel, on the other hand, backed the truck up to the door and showed us everything. Lots of new peeks of The Amazing Spider-man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy - but possibly the biggest gasp-inducer was Joss Whedon revealing the the official title of The Avengers sequel will be Avengers: Age of Ultron!

For those of you in the dark, Ultron is an advanced robot who developed his own intelligence then rebelled against his creator, out for delirious vengeance against both The Avengers and mankind itself.

So while we'd been lead to believe that Thanos would be the ultimate antagonist of any Avengers sequel - and he may still be - there's going to be trouble coming at them from presumably two fronts, as Ultron has now stepped into the spotlight, front and center.

A lot was hinted at, by both studios and toy companies, but less was shown than we'd dreamed of, but dreams have unlimited mileage, so that's okay, too! It was fun to watch it all unspool and as mainstream as Comic Con has become, it's still nice to see the fans courted in such an over the top fashion and how amazing is to see so many avid enthusiasts come together in one place, just to share some zeal?

One things for sure, we live in one hell of an age to be a fan!