X-Men Origins: Wolverine (review)

Rating: 3/5 Worth watching

Warning: These claws have no edge.

Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of Wolverine to begin with. I respect his place in the Marvel Universe. He's a very well formed character. He's just not the type of character I connect with. Even though he's not a favorite character of mine, I get tired of the fact that the movies never want to commit to the anger that the character deserves. I don't care about how closely a movie follows the comics as long as the characters are pure. This is now Wolverine's fourth venture into major films and in each venture Marvel has kept him neutered. Why can't we let the real Wolverine out? When can we see Wolverine do the "R" rated action that we all know lies under the surface? I do not enjoy excessive violence but what pains me more is seeing a character on a leash for the sake of a rating. It stands out here more than any of the other films because the film is so focused on his characters development.

We start off watching the mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) fight through every major war with his mutant brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber). This opening credit sequence is one of the best I've seen in a while and it sets a great mood for the picture. It's not long before complications come up and people notice that these two have regenerative abilities making them essentially indestructible. So they are recruited for a secret government mercenary force headed by William Stryker (Danny Huston). When Wolverine decides to leave this force trouble arises as Creed is sent to bring him back. From there a game of cat and mouse is played between Stryker (who wants to harness Wolverine's power), Creed (who wants to be better than his brother), and Wolverine (who just wants to be left alone).

Jackman and Schrieber nail the heart of their characters and do a great job showing their intense form of sibling rivalry. The main side characters (Ryan Reynolds as Wade Willson, Will i Am as John Wraith, and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit) do a good job of breaking up the seriousness brought on by our ill-tempered hero. Reynolds particularly shines in the early parts of this movie with a character that wields his razor-sharp wit, and razor-sharp swords with equal skill. Unfortunately, the side characters bounce in and out in bit parts leaving our hero to brood constantly over his losses and pains. This moroseness is part of his character after all. The problem comes in the movies inability to have a real payoff because they were trying to sneak in under the PG13 umbrella. The ending really does feel like a watered down burst of rage.

As far as summer blockbusters go Wolverine delivers explosions, fights, and more then a handful of screen shots that would make good stills of your favorite hero. Most of the CGI is on point and the fight scenes look good. The whole movie looks good. However, I feel this movie needs a disclaimer, this Wolverine has been sanitized for your protection.


X-Men Origins: Wolverine at IMDB
107 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity.

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