Wolverine XXX (4 Stars)

This is the latest in the series of Axel Braun's "parodies" of Marvel superheroes. Wolverine is sent on a mission by SHIELD to capture Sabretooth for an undisclosed experiment. Domino accompanies him to make sure that Wolverine doesn't kill Sabretooth in the course of the mission. Spider-Man also accompanies Wolverine as an uninvited guest, although he's more of a hindrance than a help. Only at the end do we find out why Sabretooth is needed. Nick Fury's motive is the protection of humanity, in particular the United States of America, but he often employs doubtful means to achieve his goals.

I'm often on the defensive when I review Axel Braun's films. My regular readers can't understand that as a serious film fan I also watch and review pornographic films. I've had two conversations on the subject in the last two weeks. However, the ones who criticise me are people who have never seen his films. It's true, Axel's films contain sexual scenes, scenes which are very explicit. However, he always shows great respect for the Marvel characters, something that's often missing in the official Marvel films. This is most obvious when looking at the costumes. He painstakingly reproduces the costumes from the comics. The most extreme example is Hawkeye, whose costume was completely changed in the official Avengers film. The official films also have the bad habit of the heroes repeatedly removing their masks, something they never do in the comics. Axel doesn't make this blunder. In "Wolverine XXX" Spider-Man never removes his mask once, not even during sex.

It's a matter of having an open mind and not being a snob when it comes to films. A good film is a good film, whatever genre it belongs to. My advice to my critics is to watch some of Axel Braun's films and make up your own minds. Maybe you'll like them, maybe you won't. The main problem is that they're made with a relatively small budget, so the special effects aren't of the same quality as Hollywood blockbusters. But watch them with an open mind before you judge.

Incidentally, isn't it good that Wolverine and Spider-Man can appear in the same film? That's what continuity is all about in the Marvel Universe. In the official films this isn't possible, because the characters belong to two different film studios.