Movie Review “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”
** 1/2 STARS
The gruff, ripped Marvel superhero Wolverine strikes out on his own in the “X-Men” movie spin-off starring series regular Hugh Jackman. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with his brother Victor Creed (who will later become Sabretooth), and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, with surprise appearances by several legends of the “X-Men” universe including “Gambit” and “Death Pool” (played by Ryan Reynolds below).
“Wolverine” is your basic summer blockbuster fare, the equivalent of cinematic junk food. The first 20 minutes of “Origins” had me pumped up, but somewhere in the middle you could hear the air escaping out of it like a deflating balloon. Even though the over-the-top action and fighting was top notch, this film failed to provide a strong plot to go along with all the incredibly intense action scenes.
I really liked the first half of this movie so much that I found it especially disappointing when the second half fell flat. It’s always a shame when fantastic actors and their characters don’t get their due. The biggest fault in “Origins” is that the script plays it too safe and it clings to the generic rules of the superhero movie universe. While not a disaster, “Wolverine” isn’t the claws-out, kick-ass summer adventure I had hoped it would be
“Wolverine” is nowhere near on the same level as “The Dark Knight” or “Iron Man”, but it does just enough things right to justify the price of a matinee ticket. Hugh Jackman is this film’s biggest redeemer; he is a truly likeable lead actor with screen presence and real menace.
“Wolverine” is not a bad film and it is an improvement on “X-Men: The Last Stand”, but it also feels like every other tired comic-book adaptation we’ve ever seen.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Gayest. Movie. Ever.