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Movie review: X-men Origins: Wolverine 9 out of 10
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Hugh Jackman in X-men Origins: Wolverine
9 out of 10
The first thing you need to know about this film is that it is an origin story. This is not X2: X-men United...don't expect it to be! I say this because it is more closely comparable to the first Spider-man film than the previous X-men movies by virtue of being very story-driven, focusing on a single character with others in supporting roles. However, unlike the first Spider-man film, this one had the disadvantage of coming out after 3 other films. So, what you get is the first hour or so having fairly little action as the writers delve deep into the Logan character (aka “Jimmy” as he is sometimes called). Though I will say the battle scenes during the opening credits showing Logan fighting in various wars is incredibly well done.
The second hour or so brings us back to the style of the first three films and gives us virtually non-stop action. Once Wolverine sets out on “the hunt” the action only breaks for small intervals to fill in some more story information.
I am not a big enough fan of the comic series to tell you with any kind of certainty how accurate the story telling of this movie is. However, with that being said, a character like Wolverine has been written about over the years by many different writers. Even something as simple as where he came from and how he became Wolverine varies from comic to comic. So, the writers of the film have a fairly tough job trying to take what would be considered the “real” story of who he is and where he came from. They probably had to pull together bits and pieces from several different story arcs.
The Bottom Line
As far as acting is concerned the only two places that were hurting a little were with Fred Dukes (aka The Blob) and Remy LeBeau (aka Gambit). First, Fred Dukes. Kevin Durand has done nothing in his previous roles, or this one, to impress me. He is a typecast supporting actor and a mediocre one at best. Sure, the writers didn’t give him a lot to work with here, but his mumbled voice and lack of all enthusiasm made poor writing even worse. The film would have been better had they scrapped this character all together and used another mutant for the dialogue and story pieces that need to be filled in. The boxing scene was fun, but a different character with a different setting for that dialogue would have been a wiser choice.
Next, we have Remy LeBeau. As stated in a previous article, Taylor Kitsch had a huge responsibility bringing this character to the big screen. Yes, he got the cocky attitude part right about Gambit’s character, but pretty much failed at everything else. There was one time for about 5 seconds that Kitsch got a Cajun accent going for a little bit. The rest of the time, just his regular voice. For a character known as “The Ragin’ Cajun,” is it too much to ask for a little...oh, I don't know...Cajun accent and style?! The special effects for Gambit were very well done, but needless to say Kitsch had nothing to do with that.
All in all, the rest of the film was pulled off in spectacular fashion. The first hour filled with back-story and character development seemed to move at a decent pace. Just like the first Spider-man film, there is a lot of history with this character and time must be taken to do it right. If you can appreciate that for what it is you will thoroughly enjoy this first hour. The supporting cast (other than the two previously mentioned) was all well chosen. Even Will.i.am did a fine job with the John Wraith character. Liev Schreiber was a fantastic selection for Victor Creed (aka Sabertooth).
The special effects were, as expected, large and very well done. The only real time that the CGI felt “CGI” was when Wolverine was looking at his new claws in the mirror, but this was not a big deal. The movie ended very smoothly and does a fine job setting up where the first X-men film would pick up; or perhaps another Wolverine adventure before he meets Professor X and the X-men!
I will say this: it is about equal to the first Spider-man in terms of an origin story (remember that one didn't have any predecessors for people to compare it to), but it is not as good as Batman Begins (which did have some older films already made). As long as you understand this is an origin story and take it for what it is, this is a fantastic film!
Other examiner reviews: Las Vegas film examiner, Houston comic books examiner (this is a good review for those interested in comic comparisons, but be warned it contains a bunch of spoilers!)
Check out some reviews: Angels & Demons, Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Star Trek and Land of the Lost.
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