X-Men Origins: Wolverine

 

 

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While I read X-Men comics when I was a kid, I did not read them religiously. I picked them up every once in a while so I was familiar with characters like Wolverine and Professor X. However I know nothing about their origins, beyond what was covered in the movies. I have no idea if this film is faithful to Wolverine's origin in the comics so bear with me.

I don't know who this Gavin Hood guy is, but I'm surprised a bigger name director wasn't called in to elevate this movie to a higher level. The direction style is nothing special particularly where drama is concerned. For action, he's pretty good. It was great to watch Logan and Victor throwing each other all over the place, causing mayhem, ripping things to shreds. I'm sure there was a lot of wire work done and it looked fine.

Storywise, I'm not sure why some people found the plot confusing. It seemed pretty straightforward and simple to me, a couple hiccups here and there. I think the biggest weakness is that the movie really assumes that you already know Wolverine -- if this was your first X-Men film, I could imagine that you'd have no idea why this kid can't seem to be hurt and has bone claws coming out of his hands. Consider it a prequel in the truest sense -- it makes more sense to watch this movie last rather than first.

Acting-wise, there were a lot of big names here. Most notably, Liev Shrieber and Ryan Reynolds. Shrieber was fine, this was a pretty different role for him. He wasn't anything special, pretty cheesy. Hugh Jackman, to me, owns the Wolverine role, although his work here is inferior to his work in the first two X-Men films. He didn't have a lot of great dialogue to work with here, but he has become Wolverine and I can't imagine anybody else playing him. The guy I really liked though was this Danny Huston guy as Stryker. How have I never heard of this guy, a son of John Huston? With DNA like that he was bound to be great, and he was. Best of all, he resembles Brian Cox's Stryker just enough to look familiar.

There are lots of geek-out cameos too. Keep your eyes peeled.

I don't want to go into the storyline too much, I think it's best to leave the surprises to the viewer. Suffice to say, Logan is old, very old, and has been around a long time. He has spent many decades wandering from conflict to conflict, putting his unique skills to work. Upon meeting Stryker and his special team of unique individuals, Logan chooses to draw a moral line in the sand, and go his own way. He seeks a quiet life of peace and quiet, but it is not long before his half-brother Victor comes looking for payback. There are story elements ripped off from stories such as Watchmen, others are common archetypes. If you are looking for an original story, forget it. It's not happening here. If you're looking for a fun ride that fulfills a lot of fanboy dreams, climb on board.

Blu-ray is loaded with bonus features. It also came with a DVD and a digital copy (which I don't care so much about) but there's lots here to plow through.

3.5 stars. Very imperfect, but also underrated.

Marvel comics X-Men character Wolverine gets his own movie X-Men Origins:Wolverine.The movie originally released in North America in May/2009 stars Hugh Jackman as,of course,Wolverine and a fine job he does reprising his role as the fearsome mutant.Legendary comic writer/creator Stan Lee is also back in the production department.
The story starts out back in the 1800s as we see two brothers in a room,one sick in bed(it appears as an on going issue)and the other at his side.A man comes in to comfort him and soon has to leave abruptly as there is a commotion downstairs.Not too long after a shot rings out and his "father"lays dead on the floor.The "sick" boy comes out to witness the scene and leaps in rage at the man who appeared to kill his father and kills him.It turns out he has just killed his real father who had come to get his son.The man on the floor was a doctor of some type who had done experiments on his brother and himself.The boys flee their "home" for good.
The movie progresses ahead through time as the brothers reach manhood and are seen in various wars,world and otherwise;very little aging having taken place.The last war they engage in is the Vietnam War as the Wolverine's brother Victor(Liev Schreiber)has gotten them both into hot water.After a military firing squad fails to dispatch the pair they are recruited from jail to join a black ops project,which turns out to be a mutant squad.The head of this project is one Col.Stryker(Dan Huston).Time passes and Stryker's team is in Nigeria finding out the origins to a mysterious piece of metal called adamantium.It is on this mission that Wolverine calls it quits.
Wolverine goes to Canada and leaves the life of a humble lumberjack.In the meantime the black ops mission he left has not stopped but actually stepped up its protocol.They fake the Wolverine's fiancee's death in order for him to become so bent on revenge that he submits to being injected with an admantium compound.He becomes experiment#10,and a successful one at that.He goes after his brother Victor but it turns out Victor is just a red herring.Col.Stryker as usual is the one pulling all the strings.In fact Stryker has been rounding up mutants the world over and depositing them on an island which we later learn turns out to be the infamous nuclear reactor facility of Three Mile Island.
The Wolverine makes his way there and in the resulting struggles manages to free all of the captive mutants.His brother Victor,who has been popping in and out of the plot,helps the Wolverine to defeat experiment#11;a composite not only of the Wolverine but of some of the other captive mutants held there.The captives manage to find their way out of the facilities and who should be waiting in a stealth helicopter outside,but Xavier himself(Patrick Stewart).Meantime Col.Stryker has created some admantium bullets to stop the Wolverine with.While they don't kill him the Colonel pops two into his brain which causes a terrible memory loss.The movie ends with the Wolverine on his own,confused and fleeing the authorities who arrive on the scene.
The movie,while not jam packed with weird and wonderful mutants showing off their wares like the previous X-Men films(which I can see would a problem with those expecting this),still has many wonderful and exciting moments throughout as the pace/plot winds its way to its inevitable conclusion.We certainly see a more human side to this character and we have much more empathy for him now that we know where he came from and why.Jackman,et al,do a wonderful job in their parts and the special effects are top notch.
Technically speaking the movie has been transferred well and is in its original a/r of 2:35:1.The trailer is packaged here along with a featurette on the origins of the Wolverine in the comics and movies.
All in all a recommended movie for all fans of the other X-Men films.The movie is fast paced,has some nice action tucked here and there and the S/FX are great.Recommended.

for me,this is the worst movie i have seen connected with the X-Men franchise.it's certainly watchable,but it's not up to the X Men standard.i found it slow at times.also,there are some continuity issues regarding this Wolverine and the Wolverine we see in the later X-Men movies as well as with the events themselves and how they play out in the later movies.Hugh Jackman was Fine as Wolverine,as he always has been.Liev Schrieber is good as Victor Creed.and i really liked Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.i just wish he had a bigger role.as for the movie as a whole,it is above average,but as i said,not up to the X-Men standard.for me, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 3/5

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great Action!
I have to confess that I don't think I've seen the other 3 X-Men movies (maybe the first one a long time ago), but after seeing Origins, I will be watching the others. Read more

Published on Jan 10 2010 by Shepherdess Extraordinaire

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