The Ten Worst
10. Ryan Reynolds/Scott Adkins as Wade Wilson in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009)
A wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking remnant of the creative disaster zone that was comics in the 1990s, masked mercenary Deadpool nevertheless remains a huge fan favorite, and so there was a good deal of anticipation when it was revealed he’d be featured in stand-alone spin-off “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” and played by smart-mouthed rising star Ryan Reynolds. The result, however, serves as one of the very best examples of studios and screenwriters fundamentally failing to understand how to use a character: they essentially killed off Wilson, replacing him a brainwashed, hodgepodge Darth Maul-ish adversary for Logan to battle at the film’s conclusion. Reynolds is sort of fine (if a little annoying) when he’s a hero in the early scenes, but by the end, he’s replaced by martial artist Scott Adkins in all but the most extreme of close-ups, though as it’s essentially an entirely different character, that’s kind of fine. As with most aspects of the film, he makes very little sense as a character (deploying his various powers one at a time, in order for there to be reveals) rather than just offing Logan immediately, and that the character known as the “merc with a mouth” ends up with his lips sewn up (and, after that, decapitated) shows how little the Fox executives knew what they were doing. Plans for a “Deadpool” spin-off to the spin-off continued for a while, but the project finally seems dead, which is probably a sensible move.
9. January Jones as Emma Frost in “X-Men: First Class” (2011)
Aside from the opportunity to see younger versions of their favorite characters brought to life by top-quality acting talent like James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, one of the reasons fans were excited about Matthew Vaughn’s pre-boot “X-Men First Class” was that it finally saw one of the mutant franchise’s most beloved characters brought to life properly. Emma Frost, also known as the White Queen, a powerful telepath who can also turn her skin into diamonds, has been one of the X-Men’s most popular villains (though, as is often the case with the comics’ continuity, she’s also fought on their side more than once, and has even led the heroes), and after a fleeting cameo in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” finally got a proper part in “First Class,” in the form of “Mad Men” star January Jones. Except you rather wish that they hadn’t bothered. In the comics, Frost is a powerful and independent character, but here, she’s mostly second fiddle to Kevin Bacon’s bland Sebastian Shaw, an agency-free sex-bot and the worst example of the film’s icky, exploitative representation of women. Maybe a better choice of actress could have brought extra shading, but Jones (while she’s done good work on “Mad Men” and in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada”) is almost impossibly stiff in the part. Despite being freed from custody at the end of the movie, it’s no surprise that she’s not set to be a part of the upcoming follow-up “Days Of Future Past.”
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