Pat's Movie Reviews: X-Men Origins - Wolverine

 

Never fear, this review is 100% SPOILER FREE!!!

 

When I first went to see the original X-Men film back in 2000, I was pleasantly suprised with how enjoyable it was.  I had walked into the film expecting it to be pretty awful and was quite happy to see that my worries had been unfounded.  Bryan Singer had done a hell of a job with that film, and the most suprising thing to me was how good a job they did with the character of Wolverine.  As one of Marvel's most popular characters, I had expected them to hire some A-list hollywood actor for the part but they had suprised me by going with a total unknown for the role. 

 

"Who the hell is Hugh Jackman?" I remember thinking when I had first heard the casting news.  He was some random Australian actor that I'd never heard of before, and had never seen in a film.  So of course almost instantly I started spelling doom for that first X-flick.  When I walked out of that theater though, I was a complete convert of Jackman's.  The man had taken on the role of Wolverine and had done something I never would have expected with it.  He completely owned the role and made Wolverine into a badass that I absolutely loved. 

 

I've never been the biggest Wolverine fan when it comes to the comics.  I have always seen the character as a bit two dimensional.  He's short, he has no memory, and he's got a bad attitude that generally just gets him and everyone around him into trouble.  He's pretty much a jerk.  And while Jackman's Wolverine still had the bad attitude and the memory loss, he also infused the character with a bit more of a sense of honor and courage and generally made him a lot more likeable for me.  After X2 came out, I even enjoyed the character more.  Jackman's performance had turned Wolverine into a sort of modern Han Solo kind of figure.  The scoundrel with the heart of gold that pretty much everyone loved.

 

And for the sake of my sanity, we're going to completely skip over the travesty that was X3.

 

Now here we are a few years later and Wolverine is finally getting his very own film.  It's a prequel called X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it tells the tales of Logan from his childhood in the mid 19th century, through the wars of the 20th century, and right up to the point where he loses his memory and goes on to become the person we have known for years.    Directed by newcomer Gavin Hood, this new Wolverine film kicks off the summer 2009 movie season with massive explosions, lots of people getting stabbed with metal claws, and of course . . . the main character jumping from an exploding Humvee onto a flying helicopter.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this film.  I thought it made for a really great popcorn munching action film.  Just don't go into this expecting deeply intelligent plotlines or nuanced storytelling.  As is true to Wolverine's character, he has about as much subtlety as a drunken bull in a china shop and the film's plot is delivered in a fairly similar manner.  Plotlines in X-Men Origins are pretty simple, they're easy to see, and they're driven straight at you like a mack truck.  There's no real suprises or twists to be had here, and if you're a fan of the character from the comics at all, you pretty much already know what's going to happen. 

 

However, if you are a fan of the comics . . . be warned.  Don't expect this to be in any way a faithful adaptation of the characters from the comics to the screen.  If you're one of those people who absolutely hates it when beloved comic characters are completely warped or changed when they're adapted to the screen, then prepare yourself to hate this film for ruining or changing a number of the side characters that get introduced.  And if you're a big fan of Deadpool, just get ready to start crying now.

 

Most of the side characters are treated fairly well though.  Aside from Gambit's total lack of a Cajun accent (which annoys me to hell), he's at least got the right look and attitude for the character.  The big suprise of the film for me though was Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth.  He was a tremendous villain and he played the role brilliantly.  The scenes between him and Jackman are my favorite scenes in the film. 

 

I was really sad though that we didn't get to see more of Wolverine's early past.  The trailers and commercials for the film have been heavily showing footage of Logan running around in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, etc.  I was really really looking forward to seeing some of that, but unfortunately all of that is summed up in the first 5 minutes or so of the film as part of the opening credits sequence.  I can't help but feel that the commercials are a bit misleading about what the film's focus is, but maybe that's just me.

 

To break it down simply, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was fun.  It wasn't great.  It wasn't a tremendous film that will make me want to go see it a dozen more times, and it doesn't add anything new or amazing that we've never seen before.  At the same time though, it didn't suck horribly.  It never made me want to claw my eyes out, and I don't feel like I wasted my money by purchasing a ticket to see it.  It was an almost cookie cutter example of what a big budget hollywood superhero action film looks like, but it was executed with a fair amount of confidence and was enjoyable to view.

 

As the start of the summer blockbuster season, this is the perfect film to kick things off.  It doesn't blow the mind, but it certainly doesn't bore one to tears either.  It's a great starter course, an appetizer if you will, for the main course of the summer films to come.  It's gotten the ball rolling, and has me in the mood to go see more kickass big budget action films.  That's all I really wanted from this film, to see a fun action film that is light on plot and heavy on pretty action.  In that regards, the film excelled in its goals.

 

Final Grade:  C-