X-Men Origins: Wolverine [DVD] [2009]
Wolverine, fan favourite of the X-Men universe in both comic books and film, gets his own movie vehicle with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a tale that reaches way, way back into the hairy mutant’s story. Somewhere in the wilds of northwest Canada in the early 1800s, two boys grow up amid violence: half-brothers with very special powers. Eventually they will become the near-indestructible warriors (and victims of a super-secret government program) known as Wolverine and Sabretooth, played respectively by Hugh Jackman (returning to his role) and Liev Schreiber (new to the scene). It helps enormously to have Schreiber, an actor of brawny skills, as the showiest villain; the guy can put genuine menace into a vocal inflection or a shift of the eyes. Danny Huston is the sinister government operative whose experiments keep pulling Wolverine back in, Lynn Collins is the woman who shares a peaceful Canadian co-existence with our hero when he tries to drop out of the program, and Ryan Reynolds adds needed humour, at least for a while.
The fast-paced early reels give an entertaining kick-off to the Wolverine saga, only to slow down when a proper plot must be put together–but isn’t that perpetually the problem with origin stories? And despite a cool setting, the grand finale is a little hemmed in by certain plot essentials that must be in place for the sequels, which may be why characters do nonsensical things. So, this one is fun while it lasts, if you’re not looking for a masterpiece, or an explanation for Wolverine’s facial grooming.
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Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine and this a great spin-off to the X-Men saga.,
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This X-Men film is set before the first three X-Men films and tells us the story of Wolverine and his twisted brother Sabretooth. The action comes thick and fast with a clever plot for a comic based movie. Deadpool makes a great villian and his final battle with Wolverine is super cool. One of my favourite X-Men heroes Gambit is introduced to us at long last, it only took four films but better late then never. I enjoyed this film just as much as the other three X-Men films and Hugh Jackman is on top form as Wolverine. The blu-ray transfar is razor sharp just like Wolverines claws!
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|Solid but sadly underwhelming X-Men prequel.,
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Despite being riddled with production problems (re-shoots, negative
buzz, director/producer fall-outs, leaked workprint a month before it’s
release) X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a lot better than you’d think and
is a solid addition to the franchise.
The story basically builds on X-Men 2’s hints towards his involvement
with Weapon X that eventually leads to the loss of his memory, as well
as his relationships with girlfriend Kayla Silverfox and
half-brother/eventual villain Victor Creed (a.k.a. Sabretooth).
The film opens with a masterful sequence of the non-ageing Logan and
Victor as soldiers going through various wars together and helping each
other out along the way. It is a brilliant start to the film that brims
with tension and it’s a shame that in the overall action stakes,
nothing else tops it.
The action then swiftly moves to their participation in the Weapon X
program after being tapped by William Stryker (played by Danny Huston,
following on well from Brian Cox). However, an operation turns nasty
and Logan walks out, ruining his relationship with Victor in the
process. The Weapon X mission sequence is also a high point and there
are some new mutants who don’t get near enough screen time such as
Dominic Monaghan as Chris Bradley/Bolt who brings a sympathetic charm
to the character and stand-out Ryan Reynolds who is charismatic, funny
and cool as Wade Wilson (who later becomes Deadpool). I am thrilled by
the news he is getting his own spin-off.
The performances overall are excellent, Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine
again with total commitment and in my view it’s his best performance of
the series. Other deserved mentions are Lynn Collins as Kayla who is a
good emotional core for the film, Daniel Henney as Stryker’s hitman David North (a.k.a. Agent Zero), Taylor Kitsch as another impossibly cool mutant Remy LeBeau (a.k.a. Gambit), Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth who gives great menace and The Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am puts in a subtle performance as teleporter John Wraith, which is light relief next to some of the more scenery chewing characters.
Now for the problems. Director Gavin Hood clearly has fun with
characters and pacing but unfortunately he struggles with story and
action; I feel the plot was too familiar and he explored areas already
covered by X2. Plot holes usually don’t bother me that much but there
were too many present in this: how did Stryker know the adamantium
bullets would erase Wolverine’s memory? Why didn’t he give them to
super marksman Agent Zero when he was sent to hunt him down? I also had
the problem that even though interesting new mutants were introduced,
they didn’t necessarily add to the story, an example of this is
Gambit’s cameo; when he meets Wolverine he just seems to start a fight
with him for no reason, it almost felt like an excuse for the
filmmakers to show off his abilities (which to be fair, are pretty
smart) and then the next minute he’s Logan’s sidekick! I didn’t understand his motivations.
Hood also struggles when it comes to action, with exception to the war
opening and the Gambit fight, the action sequences are pretty average
and the wirework sometimes really obvious. I don’t understand why the
producers didn’t seek a more established action director, this is after
all what is most important to the fans. I’ll hand it to Hood, he has
previously done some excellent dramas, but supposedly got the gig
because Hugh Jackman is a ‘fan’ of his and put him forward. As
Jackman’s role as producer and a lot riding on the success of this
film, I feel he should have recommended a director more accustomed to
the material and someone less risky. The same problem occurred with
Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig suggested Marc Forster who was
inexperienced with action and the film suffered because of it,
unfortunately the same applies with Origins.
Overall though, Wolverine is far better than X-Men: The Last Stand and
provides solid comic book entertainment. The running time also flies
past (The Dark Knight and Watchmen are terrific films but this is far
less bloated and stuffy than they are) and leaves the viewer wanting
more. I’m glad the leaked workprint didn’t damage the box office and
another Wolverine film has been greenlit. I can’t wait to see the story
move to Japan but I just hope the producers don’t interfere as much
next time and it would be great to see Bryan Singer’s name where it
should be: on the back of the Director’s chair.
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|Decent But Unmemorable Action Fare,
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Wolverine is one of the most beloved of comic book creations. His dark and vengeful character combined with a compassion that troubled and led to self-destructive behaviour has long been amongst the most popular characters of the genre. I know little of comic book history myself but perhaps because I know Barry Windsor-Smith the Weapon X storyline is one of the few that I have some familiarity with. With that in mind I had fairly low hopes for this film as the other X Men films have been dreadful. This one is not a terrible film but it is hardly one that will linger long in the mind.
The positives can be summed as: lots of explosions, three great characters for the ladies to enjoy, and some nice menace from the evil brother character. The negatives can be summed as: uninteresting plot, holes galore, poor quality audio and scoring, and a surprising lack of emotional involvement.
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine does a relatively good job with what he has to hand. He’s in great shape and definitely scored as eye candy during his escape scene for the company I watched this with. He is believable as the gruff and tortured soul that is Wolverine, his lust for violence sated over the years in an excellent opening montage of warfare from the last century. It all begins to fall apart though come Vietnam as he and his equally violent and indestructible brother Sabretooth find themselves on the wrong side of the moral compass. This speaks as much to the massive change in western values in the last 30 years as it does these characters in particular – throughout history they would have been lauded as they were for their violence in the previous decades but now they are no longer acceptable.
Sabretooth and Wolverine have a strong bond but why it breaks so quickly and with such hostility is not entirely clear. Of the many plot holes, the collapse of this relationship is one that really stands out. Still, they fight well despite knowing that the other cannot be beaten and lots of things blow up.
A range of cameos are thrust into the film and that may be to satisfy the comic fans. They do not all work out all that well and visually some of them are not great. The Blob does not appear realistic and the fight scene featuring Deadpool late in the film looks much more like an arcade game than a film. The suspense of disbelief is difficult when the graphics and wire work are so poorly constructed.
Deadpool though is an instant hit and the apparent upcoming film featuring him looks more interesting than what goes on in Wolverine. The other of the characters that work well with the female fanbase is Gambit. Not much was made of him and in my own view the standard for great looking charming Cajuns has been upped massively by Sawyer out of Lost so the guy playing Gambit here didn’t really make much of an impression.
Frustratingly the storyline does not really work. Wolverine is indestructible from the beginning and the adamantium just enhances what he already has. There is no real explanation of what difference this makes or why it had to be Wolverine. The love interest is marginally affecting but it diminishes the character to se him only out for revenge just like every other action film character all the time.
On the plus side this undemanding film delivers on the expected explosions, on the violence and stunts. Some of them are a little dated and corny and the much trailed helicopter sequence is not especially exciting. Still, go into this with low expectations and expect blasts, one-liners, and fast pace and it is not a waste of the 103 minutes. The submersion tank scenes are strong, the setting on The Island is great, the early action sequences where Wolverine and pals kill various bad guys are light hearted fun. This is no masterpiece but it is an easy way to while away a couple of hours without having to think too hard.
The Extras are pointless. The discussion with the director only adds to the feeling that this guy really has no business being in film while the one deleted scene is short and entirely out of context. Presumably more extras will happen on some kind of special/boxed edition but given the general standard of extras these days this had an empty feeling.
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