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A fashion writer reviews ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’
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Jackman (left) and Shreiber have some sibling rivalry in
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine.'
I used to be a big comic book geek. I was a worshipper of the X-Men – but what I am about to say is a cardinal sin. I was not the biggest Wolverine fan. I was more of a Gambit (more on that later) fanboy – and I thought Psylocke was hot. As for the original core group of X-men, I found something so captivating about Jean Grey and dreamt of the day I could create ice slides out of thin air like Iceman - but I digress.
In what seems to be the first in an X-Men Origins series, the movie puts our favorite three pronged adamantium anti-hero, Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan a.k.a. Hugh Jackman) under the microscope. We explore his volatile relationship with his older half-brother Victor Creed (a.k.a. Sabretooth a.k.a. Liev Schreiber). We see his hesitant jaunt as a mercenary in motley crew of mutants under the tutelage of bad guy William Stryker (Danny Huston). We see his softer side as he wears Miller’s Outpost lumberjack flannels and romances his girl, Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). And of course, we see him do his fair share of slicing and dicing. But if that’s all you were expecting in this movie, then you may be surprised to find that it is an interesting character study of a reluctant hero.
Sure, there are bone-crushing fight scenes and a couple of “ooh” and “ahh”-worthy special effects sequences (they could’ve made them a tad more realistic), but from the beginning, we see Logan’s life span centuries of sibling angst via history book wars. But we don’t see the real Logan until he takes a stand against the unethical practices of the group of mercenaries. He abandons them. His big bro gets mad. The group eventually splits up and thus begins the meat of the character study. We start to see that this rough-around-the-edges guy has heart.
In the comic books, Wolverine’s story is so complex and rich with detail. The movie translates it well for the popcorn-eating masses and Jackman works well with this character. After donning the claws of Logan for the first time in 2000’s X-Men, it is clear that he has a connection with the character and is sensitive to the rabid Wolvie fanbase. He makes him interesting and not just a guy made of indestructible metal with freakishly fast healing abilities.
Throughout the latter half of the film, we join Wolvie as he dodges his bully big brother (who is in desperate need of a manicure) and hunts down Stryker, the guy who injected the metal into his body and is playing Dr. Frankenstein by extracting other mutants’ powers and creating a super mutant monster.
We sit at the edge of our seats during Logan’s Alice in Wonderland romp asking, “What kind of mutant will we be introduced to next?” We stumble upon the wisecracking Wade (Ryan Reynolds), a swordsman with skillz. There’s Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), a Cajun who has an affinity for shooting playing cards like bullets whilst wearing silky purple shirts. Then there’s John Wraith (will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas) who has the ability to teleport, but lacks the ability to stay away from turquoise jewelry and ugly cowboy hats. Out of all of these characters there’s one homegirl that can transform her skin into diamonds. She brings a whole new meaning to bling. The people at Cartier would love her.
There’s a lot crammed into this movie, but it’s done fairly well. It's kind of like seeing a runway show from a designer that is hyped up, but when you see the show, you're impressed, but not blown away .
Overall review: It’s balanced and it makes sense out of one of the most comprehensive stories in the X-Men saga…and there’s lots of cool action sequences too!
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