X-Men Origins: Wolverine (20th Century Fox)
The Rest of the Story
For those of you out there who have been hungering to know how Wolverine became Wolverine we now have the rest of the story. In X-Men Origins: Wolverine we learn the beginnings of the X-Men character that Hugh Jackman has so terrifically brought to life on the big screen. If you are one of those who didnt really care where he came from, well it is still a good action packed movie for you.
We first see James Howlett as a young boy suffering from an illness. He adores his father who basically takes care of him. Then one night Howletts father is killed by his friend Victors father. Victors father claims that he is actually James father and James mother confirms this. Victor and James take off into the night as two brothers on the run.
Next we see them as adults fighting in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam. They dont seem to age after they get to be adults. James aka Logan (Jackman) and Victor (Liv Schreiber) have each others backs but Logan constantly has to tamp down Victors more sadistic ways.
Eventually Logan and Victor have a falling out and Logan goes off on his own, but Victor is always looming in the shadows waiting to do harm to Logan or those he loves. Even when Logan becomes Wolverine and Victor becomes Sabretooth the enmity between them is extreme.
The film has lots of explosions, lots of battles, lots of amazing mutants and an okay storyline. You dont really care why Wolverine is who he is, you just care that he is who he is. Especially when that means he flashes those shiny claws and does battle in great locales such as Three Mile Island.
Schreibers Victor is a worthy foe for Jackmans character. He isnt as buff as Wolverine but he is much more evil and he almost drools when he gets to flash his teeth and act depraved. I could watch an entire movie about Sabretooth and be entertained.
Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch and Will i Am are also in the cast as various mutants but if you expect to see much of them, well think again. Danny Huston plays the evil military mastermind and he is fun to watch. His character figures prominently in Logan becoming the indestructible Wolverine. Still he seemed pretty indestructible before his transformation.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity.
Hugh Jackman certainly got into great shape for this role. Plus his acting is adequate. But even with his physique and the explosions and other action events this just seems like another Wolverine episode. There is nothing really special about it, just fun and mindless entertainment. If that is enough for you, then have at it.
I scored X-Men Origins: Wolverine a clawing 6 out of 10.
