It’s my fault that Manhattan-based 20th Century Fox publicists didn’t invite me to the two Wolverine critic screenings happening today. I haven’t been aggressive enough about telling everyone I’m really and truly a Manhattanite. The first screening happened at 10 or 10:30 am; the next starts at 2 pm. I spoke to a critic who attended this morning’s showing and his initial response was (a) there’s too much Hugh Jackman and (b) it’s not as good as any of the three X-Men films (i.e., obviously including Brett Ratner‘s version).

A credible Australian critic wrote yesterday to say he’d “caught a screening of it last night here in Sydney and the bad buzz is spot-on. Clunky script, unfocused plotting, cheesy special effects and terrible production values. Nearly everything looks like a set and what doesn’t look like a set looks like CG. I thought it was Daredevil-bad — equal to or worse than X3. And I loved the first two X-Men films, especially the second one.

“Don’t get me started on the character design for Deadpool (the final villain who comes with all the mutants’ strengths and none of their weaknesses). I was really sad to see it turn out this way because I like [director] Gavin Hood, and because I think Hugh Jackman‘s great (i.e., still the best thing about the movie) and of course a lot of Aussies were involved. Anyway, not a fully formed reaction but just thought I’d pass it on.”