I thought "Wolverine 3" would be another cliché superhero movie, but I didn't expect to be blushed by the wind from the west.
Although "Wolverine 3" is based on the original comic book, it is inspired by the western film "Unforgivable", and another classic western film "The Wilderness" appeared in the film. Before the invention of CG special effects, Western movies were the superhero movies of that time, and the protagonists in Western movies were the superheroes of that time.
Back in 1903, the first Western movie "The Train Robbery" caused a sensation. The sophisticated camera position, the most advanced photography technology at the time, the intense and exciting plot, plus a shot to shoot at the audience, made it the most popular movie at the time. The most important, oldest, and most productive genre in the history of American cinema. Just as Shakespeare has written all the ins and outs of the drama, the western films after "The Train Robbery" often cannot escape the mode set by it. They often show the binary opposition between civilization and barbarism, justice and evil, and the great friendship where the protagonist of the righteous side fights side by side. The heroes in Western films are often extra-legal in themselves. They are firm, silent, and manly, and stick to their inner principles to the death. Out of distrust of the law and those in power, they chose to use force and lynching to solve the problem.
Although the Western movie has now declined, it has not completely disappeared, but merged with other types of movies. Because the values of Western films—the obsession with violence and the anxiety that it brings—are eternal, and what is outdated is only its historical background. Superhero movies are, to a certain extent, contemporary westerns covered in special effects. Think about heroes with super powers and cowboys with cross-body revolvers. Their values and principles of action are similar, and the difficulties they face are similar. of.
Now it happens that superhero movies have to start to change after their heyday, from the initial superficial battle between good and evil to digging into the inner world of the characters. In this process, superhero movies began to move closer to other types of movies. Just like the hybrid advantage in biology, the continuous integration of other types makes the audience less prone to aesthetic fatigue. For example, "Captain America 2" is a political thriller, "Guardians of the Galaxy" is a space opera, and "Wolverine 3" is the first superhero movie to return to a Western movie.
Wolverine is the only character in the "X-Men" series to be filmed separately (the unfinished "Black Phoenix" is not counted). Such a wild, forbearing, impulsive and sensible character, with its full character and complex human nature, is destined to be an inexhaustible source of stories since its birth. The first two parts of the "Wolverine" series are just telling the legendary experience of this immortal protagonist, trying to win by relying on curious plots and fierce fighting scenes. But the third part of the series took a different approach. It no longer showed "the feat of a righteous protagonist with special abilities fighting evil forces", nor did it explain the contradiction between mutants and humans. The villain in the film is a group of mercenary "predators" who want to take away the protagonist's family and destroy his hard-won peaceful life. The protagonists in the film—adults, the elderly and children—are forced to embark on a path of fleeing, fighting for their lives while they are exhausted, trying to escape from the endless disasters and flee to new hope. This is the film above. The content is no different from traditional westerns. "Wolverine 3" doesn't even have any cool fighting scenes, every fight of the protagonist is very difficult. This film even wants the audience to see Wolverine’s side as an ordinary person. With the company of the cloned daughter and the father-like Professor X, he finally realizes the happiness of ordinary people, and finally accepts ordinary people to avoid it. Death.
Just like the little girl in "The Great Train Robbery" untied the rope that bound the operator, the cloned daughter of Wolverine awakened his humanity and fighting spirit, and became the warm color at the end of his life. He was the last one to fight for. reason. "Heroes are twilight" is an eternal tear-jerking theme. It is consoling that the old heroes still do not change the pride of the year, and finally return to tranquility, whether they have found a new home or ushered in death. At this point, "Wolverine 3" is in the same line as the last brilliant "Unforgivable" of Westerns. The fight of bliss and enmity is no longer the main event. There is no justice or evil. There is no superhero in this primitive and fragile society. Warriors with superpowers are like ants who survive in the collapsed jungle. Power protects vulnerable groups such as the elderly and little girls.
At the end of the film, the young daughter of Wolverine’s clone used the classic lines in "The Wilderness" to see him off: "...Now go home and find your mother and tell her that everything is fine. There will be no more gunshots in the valley. "From "The Train Robbery" to "Wolverine 3", the hero used his life to defend what he thought was worth defending, time and time again. Maybe no film genre will really die, as long as there are filmmakers who love it. It's like westerns have regained their brilliance in superhero movies. I have to say that this is a successful return.
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