X-Men Origns: Wolverine
Every conventional superhero film begins the same way. Whether it’s blinded by chemicals, bitten by a spider or speeding to earth in a crystal space pod, the one thing we, as an audience, need to see is how a seemingly ordinary individual becomes special enough to save the world when all else fails.
Perhaps that’s why it’s not surprising that the big-screen rendition of comic classics X-Men have begun to focus on the origins of the heroes, starting with a gritty, passionate glance at the background of troubled protagonist Logan, otherwise known as Wolverine.
These adaptations have always allowed some room for flashbacks, such as the beginning of the first film showing a haunting memory from Magneto’s childhood, and the impressive display of power from a young Jean Grey that led to her destructive nature in the third film. But the holes in Logan’s memory left his past a mystery until the production of a stunning prequel, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
This keen audience interest in the background of the characters and their individual stories is far from limited to superheroes. After all, the original three Star Wars instalments were purposefully made to have three prequels to the story.
How else could you fully appreciate the truth of a mutated Sith Lord, with noisy breath and no compassion, being the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia without seeing for yourself the passionate, touching romance between Anakin and Padme, right down to the love-fuelled terror that turned him to the dark side?
This kind of depth reaches the audience on a whole new level, and allows us to identify with characters we wouldn’t hesitate to judge harshly at first glance. It also gives film producers the opportunity to work with the advances in technology we have today, compared to the limitations of previous adaptations.
This advance is spurring numerous rejuvenations of the classics from the past, and not just on the big screen, with the welcome return of Doctor Who reclaiming a lost following. The production of a new Star Trek film has also resurrected the franchise, with the spin of an alternate time dimension splitting the storyline from walking the path of the original and opening a void of possibility for future development.
This kind of resurrection often relies upon the ignorance of previous material, giving producers the chance to start from scratch.
A perfect example of this is Batman Begins, providing the desired angle on Bruce Wayne’s background and how his path led him to become the hero, while paving the way to The Dark Knight’s stunning revival of the comic. Heath Ledger’s breathtaking legacy of The Joker is so far removed from Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the same villain that it’s almost hard to believe they share the same inspiration.
Everybody has a story, a truth which we all take for granted in the real world because if you know a person well enough they will tell you in good time. But the only way to hear a character’s backstory is if we are shown the history that makes them the way they are.
These tales fill in the holes, and in many cases they make something which is more than just a story; they bring a character to life.
And these movies are proving as popular as ever as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the first spin off from the hit X-Men franchise, and Star Trek, which has seen the revival of this much loved sci-fi classic, have dominated the box office in the last couple of weeks.
FemaleFirst Kirsty Watkinson