Hugh Jackman has achieved many accolades since breaking into the mainstream with his first portrayal of the legendary comic book character Wolverine in the first X-Men movie. Since then, Jackman’s face and persona has become the most ubiquitous to a comic book character since the days of Christopher Reeve. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the forth film in a row that Jackman has successfully brought the animalistic and nearly indestructible hero to life, solidifying his place as an irreplaceable cog in the X-Men franchise.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a prequel, telling the full story behind the flashbacks Wolverine suffered during the first two X-men film installments. The story takes viewers through Wolverine’s over 100-year lifespan from childhood, civil and world wars, and his participation in a secret government agency where he obtains the very rare metal Adamantium, which is bonded to his entire skeletal structure.
Not only is this film a prequel but it’s a cinema throwback as well. During the early to mid 1990’s, summer brought many big popcorn flicks to the box office. They were all very high on special effects, big action, and even bigger movie stars. What they universally lacked was good editing, story development and great dialogue. X-Men Origins: Wolverine would have fit into that era like super heroes and spandex.
This movie feels like a research paper that you waited to finalize until the night before it was due. There are a lot of good characters and ideas in this film, but the organization and execution obviously suffered in order to get a big-budget film finished and in the can for its summer release date. For instance, a main focal point of this film is the “Weapon X” experiment that gives Wolverine his Adamantium skeleton and claws. This procedure was also a main plot point for Jackman’s character in the first two X-Men films. Due to the very large budget, loyal fans were probably expecting this origin film to really show the intricacies of the fictional science and extreme physical changes that were happening to Wolverine during the procedure. Instead, the scene relies on a lot of computer monitors displaying simulation models to show what’s happening inside Wolverine during the experiment. It’s a bit of a letdown after being exposed to scenes, such as in Spider-Man, that really show the molecular changes going on inside the body.
To round out the film’s flaws, the editing is below average and the story lacks some much-needed transitional material. Also, the character development is extremely weak, especially for viewers who do not follow the comic books.
So why see this movie? Well Jackman turns in another very solid performance as Logan/Wolverine, however he did not have a strong script to work with. Jackman has the essence of this character nailed down as strongly as any other iconic character ever shown on the big screen. However, seeing Wolverine come to life once again was not a performance anyone was concerned about. It was the casting of Liev Schreiber as Wolverine’s arch nemesis, and in this story his brother, Sabretooth that was the most scrutinized and panned decision during the making of this film. No doubt Schreiber is a very talented actor, but many fans were animate that he was far too small and out of shape to take on the role of the physically intimidating and ferocious villain. All of those critics, including myself, have to order a very large bowl of crow after taking in Schreiber’s performance. Schreiber whipped himself into incredible shape and the cinematography, a highpoint of the film, really gave the illusion that he was larger and stronger than any of the other characters.
Another reason to make Hugh Jackman a little bit richer this weekend is if you are even a moderate Wolverine fan, this film is definitely worth seeing. The action sequences are the best Wolverine has been involved with in any of the X-Men films. And some much-anticipated characters that fans were jonesing to see in the first three X-Men chapters finally appear in this story. With the main point of interest being Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). Getting to finally see these characters in action does fulfill some of the anticipation, however Deadpool was severely underused and Gambit was crowbarred into the story just for some action scenes.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine does succeed at giving novice fans a more in-depth look at Wolverine’s background, and the high impact fight scenes should satisfy the more rabid comic book purist. Well, at least for a day or two.
Story: 6.5
Acting: 7.5
Writing: 6.0
Captivation: 7.0
Replay Value: 7.5
Total = 6.9
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