Clawed

I have noticed with concern the negative critical reception of "Wolverine", a film I will in all probability not see on the big screen due to time constraints (I'll go for "Star Trek" instead). From what I've read the production was fraught with problems, so much so that Richard Donner - he who made us believe that a man can fly and gave life to Riggs and Murtaugh - was called in to assist (clean up?). All of this puts director Gavin Hood in an unfortunate position; it seems that he may become known as the guy who made the mundane superhero movie after the high-flying "Iron Man" and blockbuster-of-blockbusters "The Dark Knight". American critics who lauded his overrated "Tsotsi" as a Great Film are sorely disappointed with this commercial outing, not because it's commercial but because it's bad commercial filmmaking. Does this mean that Hood's position in Hollywood has been compromised?

"Wolverine" had a massive box-office opening weekend not only in the States but also in "foreign markets". Big box-office is, sadly, more important than good filmmaking, which is why Dark Horizons is already reporting that producer-star Hugh Jackman has greenlit pre-production on "Wolverine 2", or "X-Men Origins: Wolverine: More Origins: Japanese Story". Phew. Now to wait and see whether Hood'll be involved.