Wolverine

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' is, I assume, the beginning of a potential series of films filling in the back story of the mutants we know and love from the X-Men trilogy. This one, as you may have guessed from the title, explains the history of everyone's favourite clawed hero: Wolverine aka Logan aka Jimmy/James Logan. Now, I've never read the comics so I don't know how accurate it is but it begins with the genesis of Wolverine, as a sickly 10 year old in the mid nineteenth century who, after the death of the man he believes to be his father, unleashes hell on his killer and discovers he has extendable claws - at this point made of bone. It's not until over a hundred years later when Logan falls under the spell of one William Stryker and his 'Weapon X' programme that the fabled adamantium is fused to his skeleton and his claws become shiny blades. Before this though we discover Wolverine's connection with 'Sabretooth', as well as how he came to lose his memory prior to the events of the first X-men movie, and meet a host of exciting new mutants along the way.

As I said I'm not familiar with the comic books, but I am very much familiar with the first three films, and I can confirm that this is an excellent addition to the trilogy. Perhaps not up to the standard of X-Men and X2 but I would say it's definitely superior to The Last Stand. The history, as far as I can see, all makes sense and it very satisfyingly fills in the blanks in X2 and the beginning of X-Men, without taking too much artistic licence. The change of actor for the role of Stryker was a shame as Brian Cox is fantastic in X2 and I felt that Danny Huston just wasn't quite evil enough. I was also unsure about the 'is it or isn't it' romance between Logan and Kayla, there were a few too many twists and turns for me and by the end I wasn't really too fussed about them. However, where the chemistry really works is between the team of male mutants assembled by Stryker near the beginning of the film. Liev Schreiber does a solid job as Sabretooth and the relationship between him and Logan forms the backbone of the story credibly. I also very much enjoyed Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (later Deadpool) and was only disappointed by the very brief sequence where we actually see him in 'evil model soldier' mode. I hear rumblings of an origins film for Deadpool, however, which sound very promising. Wraith, played by Will I am, and Gambit, played by Taylor Kitsch, are also very cool characters who I would be delighted to see more of. Also, nice to see Dominic Monaghan back on the big screen as electricity-bending mutant 'Bolt'.

I feel like this film stands up well on its own and also supports the overarching X-Men legend to great effect. This is a promising start which I hope will lead 20th Century Fox to develop the series further. It's 2 hours of geeky, mindless fun, with the added bonus of a remarkably pumped Hugh Jackman, riding motorcycles and chewing on cigars, with his usual Wolverine charisma.

Comments

[Katy]

I have to post a comment to say that this was without doubt the worst film I've ever seen in my WHOLE life. Do not waste your money - stay home and poke yourself repeatedly in the eye with a knitting needle, it woudl be preferable, I promise!