Merrick again...

Veritas has been following the Talkbacks & sent this follow-up message:

I've attached pics of the two scenes - NEITHER WERE IN THE WORKPRINT or final cut.

And here is the trailer I was referring to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcdyUCGjcCc

[[[ORIGINAL ARTICLE FOLLOWS]]]

Merrick here...

When the workprint of WOLVERINE leaked a few weeks back, we heard a great deal from Fox about how said print represented a different edit of the film than we'd see in theaters. We heard how recently shot footage was still to be incorporated into the movie, and were told the leaked version was months old (despite the presence of FX time-stamped only a week or two before the leak).

So, many of us have been wondering exactly how the final version of WOLVERINE would differ from its workprint iteration.

Veritas sent in the following message after viewing the edit we'll be seeing in theaters, also including an aside about a conspiracy of silence surrounding advance screenings of the film.


Here's Veritas...

Sometimes there are clauses prohibiting us from writing about a movie before a certain date ("embargo"). But this was different: we had to sign a clause that we wouldn't even TALK about the movie until two days prior to its US release, especially on the web. I found that quite odd.

Add to that recent reports that the finished version is as long as the leaked workprint, even though FOX stubbornly insists that the workprint is missing the material from the reshoots. It makes sense, too, as the trailers have scenes that are not featured in the workprint (Wolverine carrying his girlfriend to the beach, a young Ororo in Nigeria).

Well, having seen the finished film, the mystery is solved: the workprint version IS in fact identical to the release print, sans effect and some audio work. It's obvious that FOX is trying their darndest to keep this news from getting out, because it will eliminate most of the motivation for people who have seen the workprint to pay for a ticket.

Some scenes from the trailer are not in the finished version, either.

The finished effects are lackluster, to say the least - some really bad CGI work made me groan numerous times (especially, but not restricted to, Patrick Stewart's cameo). The scene with Stewart looks so much better in the workprint - trying to digitally de-age him did NOT work this time around...

Good pacing, good lead performances, and some cool comic book fights overcome a non-existing story, horrible dialog (including the classic "I'm so cold..."), and criminally underdeveloped characters. It's a fun flick, but it will never be considered one of the great comic book movies of our time (like Iron Man, Dark Knight, Watchmen, etc.). They also have to jump through some ridiculous hoops to reset all the relationships to properly connect it to the first "X-Men" movie (unnecessary, I think - who seriously gives a shit?).