Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

By: Gregory Brand, Jr.
Entertainment Editor
SOTG Magazine

X-Men Orgins: Wolverine
Rating: 3 out of 5

On the cusp of several hugely successful films within the Marvel superhero franchises, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" explodes on the big screen with lots of action but not much else.

The story of Wolverine is now legendary for readers of the comics and the character himself has garnered a heavy fan base in film due in large part to Hugh Jackman's portrayal in the previous three films.

This film gives viewers and fans of the film franchise an opportunity to final know what readers already know: Wolverine is awesome.

Unfortunately, the film attempts to do more than it should have.

By being a little too concerned with including as much as possible, they overload the film and lose the essence of what should have been a total fun yet interesting action flick.

The film opens with a young Wolverine, still being called Jimmy by his family, living his life, sickly and frail. The film then shows him in a close relationship with a animalistic looking boy named Victor and while many comic fans will scoff at this piece of movie-based fiction, it works in the film.

This situation presents the film's hero as a child sick and in need of a lot of care. After an eruption of emotion following a tragic event, the boy's powers manifest and he is revealed to have bone claws that release between his knuckles and a healing factor that heals all wounds and illnesses in mere moments.

In effect, a boy that was sickly and defenseless in early childhood would never again be sick or weak.

Next, the film's prologue shows Wolverine and his brother Victor AKA Sabretooth, fighting in a number of wars, cutting a bloody path through history.

This union appears to be both happy and fruitful until Wolverine inexplicably loses his stomach for the violent efforts of his military employer and even more violent older brother.

When he defects from the mercenary lifestyle, he settles into a cozy life with his lover, a touch-based mind reader named Kayla Silverfox. The domestic happiness is short-lived however. Soon the people he left behind come looking for him with horrific results.

From here the film gives an even more movie-altered rendition of a classic and much storied history. While elements of the character's history are kept and referenced in the story, it fails to make the connections where it counts.

In the aim of putting lots of comic book favorites in the film, the storyline ends up being more fragmented than solid and as a result the film has tons of action but not a lot of substance.

The CGI is also below standard in the film as well. Several of the examples of the powers are poorly rendered and as a result the viewer will not full believe what is being shown.

The acting in the film is about where it should be for a summer blockbuster but some people are worth a look. Jackman as Wolverine is still a good fit and his brother/nemesis Sabertooth (Liev Schrieber) is as well. Wil.I.Am is also an interesting fit as the Department H mutant warrior, John Wraith.

Honestly, it is very cool to see the antics of several famous superheroes and villains in action on screen but the film should have done more than given them live-action form. The story should have matched the on-screen magic.

While the movie is not at all horrible, it could have done a better job explaining why this character is interesting in the first place. Sure he has powers and loves to fight but he is also human and the film never explores that part deep enough.

Bottom Line: Fans and action junkies alike may like what they see but it is not as legendary as the title suggests.

Labels: movies