Sunday, May 3, 2009

We have our big-screen Gambit - finally!!!


Gambit: "Who? To my friends, de name's Remy LeBeau. To my enemies, it's Gambit! You can go on ahead an' forget dat first name right about now."
- Uncanny X-Men #361

So I saw the new "X-Men: Origins: Wolverine" movie today. I would have seen it anyway because 1. I love the X-Men movies and 2. Hugh Jackman is hot as Wolverine, but I was literally chomping at the bit to see this one because someone finally wised up and gave us a big-screen version of Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, aka the most AWESOME X-man ever! Seriously. I have been so mad at Bryan Singer and the powers-that-be since the first X-Men movie because, for one thing, it didn't have Gambit, and for another, it had Rogue minus Gambit. Seriously. Where's the fun in that?

Rogue plus Gambit equals fun. Heck, just Gambit by himself equals fun. I have been a diehard Gambit fan since I was in high school and first discovered him as a cartoon character on television. I loved him and Rogue together on the freakin' cartoon show so much that it led me to actually buy comics with them in it to get more of 'em. Remy was my type of man in a nutshell. A sexy, wise-cracking bad boy with a good heart that melted when the right woman took notice. Mmmm, yummy.

I won't lie. I was disappointed in "Origins: Wolverine" because it just lacked that something the first two X-Men films had. I can't even put my finger on it. And truth be told, as much as I loved, loved, loved Taylor Kitsch as Gambit and now want to have his love child, I was disappointed he didn't have Gambit's trademark thickened Cajun-Creole accent. I mean, he barely sounded southern. I'm not sure this was because of Kitsch or because some smart-aleck producer or director decided he'd be best portrayed without it. I mean, come on. Get your act together, people. Gambit is proud to be Cajun! It was almost easy to overlook the lack of an accent though given the fact Gambit's role in the movie was very small and he had hardly any lines at all. Oh well. Hopefully next time. Hopefully next time we'll get to see Gambit plus Rogue on screen together and dump this whole Rogue and Iceman nonsense. Grrrr. Don't even get me started on the Iceman.

Anyway, overall, the movie was a must-see for any fan of comic books. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't great. I'll see it again though, if for no other reason than to see the awesome scenes with Gambit chunking cards at Wolverine, jumping off the roof with his staff and those eyes, oh those beautiful red eyes!

Did I mention I'll see this movie again, just because of Gambit? Thought so. :)