Seeking to further capitalize on the popularity of Marvel's favorite mutant group, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is a prequel of sorts to the X-men trilogy. I'll get right to the point, if you thought Bret Rattner's "X-Men Last Stand" was a mockery of the franchise, then "Wolverine" provides some redemption. This latest spin-off won't exactly offer anything groundbreaking but it is an improvement over Rattner's version. Director Gavin Hood‘s (King Solomon‘s Mines, 2004) "Wolverine" is just popcorn entertainment that combines the usual Hollywood fare with some comic book references.
Logan was born in the 19th century. He was in puberty when his mutant powers began to manifest itself and his life had a tragic twist when his father died. Being endowed with a fantastic healing factor that slows his aging, Logan (now played by Hugh Jackman) and his companion Victor Creed (Liev Schreider) fought many wars for many decades. After being recruited by a sleeper group led by colonel Stryker (Danny Huston) for an unknown mission. Differences caused Logan to abandon his post and he finds a simple but quiet life with a beautiful woman named Kayla Silverfox (sexy Lynn Collins). But Logan's past have caught up to him that resulted with his beautiful girlfriend being killed by Creed (who would later become Sabretooth). Logan is thristy for vengeance as he agrees to be part of a "weapon X" program that would further enhance his mutant powers.
The screenplay by David Beniott and Skip Woods combines the usual Hollywood mechanics such as revenge, love and betrayal to references from the comic book. The film carries some strong ties to "Origin", "Weapon X" and even issues from the X-men comic series. The film has its share of "iconic" comic book scenes. However, the film doesn't have any blood or gore as portrayed in "Weapon X". Familiar characters are a welcome treat to comic book fans as we see Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), Wade-Deadpool (?) (Ryan Reynolds) and William Stryker. Those who are "X-men veteran readers" would recognize Emma Frost, the Blob, Cyclops and the appearance of Logan's lost love Silverfox; these references are indeed a good part of our favorite "canucklehead‘s" life. "Weapon 11" and Xavier also makes an appearance. I was a little disappointed that the film didn't touch on Logan's time in Japan, but I suppose that if it did, it would slow the film's pace too much. The film also touches upon the element of friendship as brought into exposition by Creed and Logan's relationship. Creed loses a part of his humanity with each kill, and Logan tries to hold on any remaining sense of humanity. Creed embraces this fate he believes is his destiny while Logan only wants to stay within his brand of morality.
The direction by Gavin Hood was decently played and does feel energetic. Hood manages to keep the film's pace very compressed and full of forward momentum in its 90+ minute runtime. While the film is undoubtedly crippled by certain blunders and some holes, Hood manages to keep the film moving that viewers will take notice of its entertainment value much more than its very simple plot. Th appearance of its characters does pay some welcome "tribute" to the comic books but most of them did feel absolutely unnecessary than to be a simple comic book eye candy since there are too many to develop. Director Gavin Hood revitalizes the screen with elaborate stuntwork, cool fight sequences, great CGI effects, and a lot of explosions--all in an attempt to cover up its very weak plot. The performances were decent for the most part, although I thought Stryker made for a somewhat underwhelming villain. Danny Huston was good but not entirely convincing. Liev Schneider made a good "Victor Creed" and his chemistry with Jackman was pretty palatable. Jackman well, is Jackman, he looks and feels the same as in the X-men movies.
We will see Hugh Jackman all pumped up and oiled up to emphasize his nice physique, complete with "macho" posturing and facial expressions that look very reminiscent to the renderings of Jim Lee and John Byrne in the X-men comic series. Jackman does deliver as our favorite "canucklehead" although we have to take note than Logan should be a lot shorter, hairier and stockier than the actor. There is plenty of action scenes to be had with "Wolverine". The encounters with Agent Zero's group as Logan slices through a helicopter and Humvees are very cool to watch. The final encounter with Logan and Creed could've been a lot better and I thought it ended in a very perfunctory manner. The brawl on top of reactor was the exact exclamation point that Hood was looking for and he does somewhat achieve his goal.
I suppose "X-men Origins: Wolverine" does provide a credible backstory (in regards to Bryan Singer's groundwork) to our favorite mutant. Keep in mind that this is your usual Hollywood serving, beautifying up the film, and stays safe to be within the guidelines of PG-13. It does try to stay faithful to its source material but it does have major weaknesses. The action proves to be a good diversion and would likely impress action junkies. As a film, it does not offer anything memorable, but at least its wasn't too much of a travesty as "..Last Stand" was. Yes, it is better than Rattner's take of the X-men franchise but won't approach the status of becoming an instant "comic book adapted classic". "Wolverine" won't reinvent the X-men franchise but thankfully it doesn't hurt it either.
Recommended! [3 Out of 5 Stars]
