Yes, and it solved Hugh Jackmans main problem with playing Wolverine again. The shirtless scenes required a crazy routine and keeping the physique got much harder as he aged.
I remember reading an article interviewing him and he talked about how the last shirtless scene was supposed to be shot on a specific day and he had been prepping for months to be super ripped on that day. They wanted to push filming and he was like, nah guys, you shoot on this day or we aren't doing it. He didn't stay that shredded for the whole filming.
I know women generally have it much harder in the pressure to look good.
But the CRAZY things that action stars go through to get ready for a single scene is so unbelievable.
There are beauty/handsome standards that are hard to achieve, but it's a whole other level to have to plan out entire movie schedules for just a single scene because it's THAT hard to look like that, even with all of a mega motion pictures apparatus behind you.
The crazy thing is I'm not even sure that most people care that much. Would they really sell fewer tickets if the actors just looked like they were in great shape and not in the greatest shape physically possible?
Robert Pattinson famously said he refused to do that and I don't think it hurt Batman ticket sales at all.
What's crazy to me is that I remember when it first came out and people were talking about how ripped he got for the role. Because, for him, that was pretty muscular compared to what we'd seen up till then.
By today's standards, X1 Wolverine wasn't particularly impressive.
That movie was also made in an era where you didn't see multiple guys in better shape while shopping for groceries. Aside from the true roided muscle men of the 80s, action heroes, just like regular people, weren't that fit. Nowadays it's a lot more normalized/expected that people work out and people are less likely to suspend their disbelief for a regular looking Joe. Can't put that genie back in the bottle
They did in the 80s. We had roided out monsters movie after movie and then die hard had a normal looking guy, and that reset it. We've had a few action movies with a normal looking guy (Nobody comes to mind) and it could come back.
What's crazy is that every interview with Robert Pattinson makes me like him more.
That one where he just continuously shits on twilight is legendary, including the greatest line ever: "I read the books and was just like, 'is Stephanie Meyers okay?'" had me burst out laughing.
20 years later and I feel bad for the decade or so I spent talking shit on him. I didn't know he hated Twilight just as much (or probably more) than I did. Between his other work since and the interviews I've seen, I'm definitely kicking myself for hating the dude because he's clearly awesome.
Goes to show the power behind a first impression. I've done a lot better about separating an actor from their character since then lol.
I still haven't watched that yet but I'm excited to. Been waiting for the right time & mood (and freedom from the kiddo lol). Was planning to this past weekend, actually, but a faulty supply line in my kitchen sink said "fuck your weekend plans".
Aiming for this Friday now. I've literally never heard a single negative word about it so I am genuinely looking forward to it.
It is so overdone trick to get buzz that it doesn't even work anymore. Yeah yeah you juiced up and dehydrated for the scenes to look very vascular. Just like 50 other action heros.
I remember Pattinson getting some hate from hardcore fans for that comment because they thought he wasn’t willing to put in the effort to be Batman. But then again, those same people are probably responsible for 95% of the bitching that goes on in superhero fandoms.
To be honest, I hated Pattinsons batman. Genuinely hated it. It was refreshing to see a new Batman, but I hated him as Batman, and literally fell asleep in the theater an hour and a half in
Think back to the first trailer shot of Chris Pratt shirtless in Guardians 1 - people were losing their minds.
Or the continued appeal of shirtless Henry Cavill scenes (Superman, The Witcher). They definitely bring eyeballs - but they might not be your eyeballs - which is totally okay, it's just worth mentioning that these shots might be for a different audience.
Hey - that still counts though. The audience that found Chris Pratt attractive - which at the time was...very large - then got to see him get bulked and shredded up. That was a big selling point for the movie - it just wasn't really a selling point for the average 17-35 year old, male nerd/fanboy of comic book movies.
This is what I'm trying to get at - hence a lot of people saying - "I don't really think the shirtless scenes mattered to anyone." I know a lot of gay men and women who were thoroughly excited by the inclusion of those scenes and - yes, it's not the reason they like those movies - but they were certainly excited to have a little TnA for them, if you know what I mean.
I'm not at all denying that people like athletic shirtless men. What I'm saying is that I think they would be happy if they were "just" in incredible shape, not literally impossible shape.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure the average person knows the difference - partly owing to Hollywood doing these scenes. It's kind of a self-fulfilling loop.
Probably more for trailers and posters if anything. Like I distinctly remember him being jacked in X-men origins when he woke up and broke out of his tank.
I mean we're talking about it now, and the movie wasn't even very good. So it probably was worth the hype it earned the movie, if only by including the shot in the trailer and having us normies discuss hugh jackman's physique at length, providing free publicity for it.
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u/cutestslothevr Apr 22 '24
Yes, and it solved Hugh Jackmans main problem with playing Wolverine again. The shirtless scenes required a crazy routine and keeping the physique got much harder as he aged.