ZEE'S REVIEWS

9th June 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

This should have been a good movie. It features the extremely popular Wolverine; it stars the even more popular Hugh Jackman; and it has the strength of the largely successful X-Men franchise behind it.

Instead, this is a movie with good bits in it, mixed together with the not so good bits. This is evident even from the very beginning. The opening scene shows brothers James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) running away after tragedy destroys their family and reveals their mutant powers. It is terribly melodramatic and cliched. On the other hand, the following scene is excellent - a compelling montage of the immortal brothers fighting side by side through the wars of history - the fields of the American Civil War, the trenches of the Western Front, the beaches of Normandy, and the jungles of Vietnam.

James and Victor are eventually recruited by Colonel Stryker (Danny Huston) into a shadow ops team composed entirely of mutants. But James grows disillusioned with their increasingly brutal missions, and quits. But even though - or especially because - he finds a normal life with a woman he loves, the past keeps surfacing to drag him back. Someone is killing the members of his old team one by one, and it looks like it might be his own brother...

Despite its promise, the movie doesn't quite come together into a coherent whole.  The storyline might have looked good on paper, but on screen it feels less than convincing. Some plot developments are predictable, others are convenient, and yet others are simply baffling. A fair amount of cheese is stirred into the mix, like the story told to James by his lover, Kayla (Lynn Collins), about the wolverine who pines for the unreachable moon - a heavy-handed foreshadowing of the identity he eventually adopts.

However, the movie still contains some enjoyable moments - the numerous action sequences cannot be faulted, and there is a fair amount of witty banter (as well as banter that purports to be witty). My personal highlight was the charming Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), who I have been waiting three movies to see. I was pleased to find he was just as much of a canny card player, mean bo stick wielder, and all round cool character as I had hoped. I also enjoyed the wisecracking Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), and the cameos from young Scott Summers and Emma Frost.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not a must-see-at-the-movies, or even a must-see at all. Those prepared put up with its shortcomings will likely find things in it to enjoy, but whether the investment is worth the reward is another question.

Read Alaris' review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

Read Clementine's review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).