Wolverine angry? A common misconception presented in this year’s X-men Origins: Wolverine.
No other movie this year has been so clawed at as this origin story spin-off on the X-Men franchise. Leaked footage, extreme pessimism, and all around fearful dread painted Wolverine out to be not to pretty of a picture. Fanboys around the world cringed at peeks of Deadpool and hungrily searched for any Cajun accent on Gambit, to no avail. When viewers obtained copies of the entire film, all hope was lost. Fears were justified for comic book fans everywhere, with ratings on Rotten Tomatoes going down a few percent points by the day. Obscenities were uttered on message boards alike, bans to see the movie were claimed and panda bear cams were abandoned for five minutes. However, despite all the harsh criticism and reviews already cluttering the internet, Wolverine does not fare as bad as promised. If you leave your comic book glasses at home, that is.
The Origins story seeks to destroy the shrouded mystery of Wolverine’s past and blows it wide into the open. Everything you wanted and didn’t want to know about mini Logan is explored full force in Quesada’s graphic novel. A fantastic and riveting read, X-men devotees around the world were finally given the missing pieces to Wolverine’s broken memory puzzle. In the graphic novel, it is revealed that Wolverine is actually born as James Howlett, a weak, sickly boy, to quite the family mess on a plantation. After some traumatic events unravel, involving his mother’s suicide and dad’s murder, his claws came out for the first time in all it’s splendor. The story then goes on to explain how his memory becomes lost (healing factor), and details out his relationships with childhood friends, Rose, and another companion, Dog (who is pretty much identical to Sabretooth and most likely is). Tragedy unfolds for Logan again, and the creation of Wolverine starts.
The film adaptation of Origins takes it’s notes from his Origin story as well as some random leaflets of the Weapon X storyline. The movie actually starts off fairly strong: a surprisingly graphic and heart-wrenching scene involving the death of his father and discovery of his claws, we learn that Logan’s friend Victor actually is his half-brother, who happens to sport some nifty claws himself. Though the movie took many liberties with its characters, this little spin actually makes a bit of sense with all the strong allusions to the origins of Sabretooth and Wolverine’s relationship.
Fast forward a few years. The men are now in their 40s. Permanently. Both Victor and Logan team up with a government organization under William Stryker and fight in a few of our history’s wars. If you aren’t acquainted with the comics, other characters on the black ops team won’t matter too much to you, save for Ryan Reynold’s saucy one-liners. The lack of explanation further adds to a disinterest in the other comrades. As a team though, Logan, Victor and the others exhibit an impressive show of dominating measly humans. Things get a little out of control when Victor takes too much pleasure out of killing off some enemies, and Logan leaves the bunch.
Logan then proceeds to forget about his dirty past and begins anew amongst a quiet town and a beautiful lass by the name of Kayla (Silverfox). After some silly tale about moons and stars and rainbows, the name Wolverine is born. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a pansy, but his name meaning some kind of exotic flower lends itself to some questionable behavior brought on by the writers. He’s supposed to be angry, right? Anyways, things get a little hairy when Kayla is ‘murdered’ and Stryker manages to manipulate Logan into coming with him. He also informs him that someone is tracking down members of the old team and killing them off. We know this is Victor. Ultimately, Stryker heads the Weapon X program, hoping to eventually create the ultimate weapon with the use of adamantium. So, Stryker and Wolverine come together for a common cause, some good fights take place, twists were revealed, new mutants emerged, explosions after explosions occurred, adamantium was injected, and boom boom some more. End of film.
Though the story started off fairly strong, things took a nosedive when we saw just how confusing things became, with some things even counter-attacking the earlier X-men movies. Too many characters were introduced and the strong plot line between Wolverine and Sabretooth kind of fell through the cracks. However, the chemistry between Liev and Jackman proved to be one of the most satisfying elements of the movie, and I think the story as a whole would have worked better if more emphasis was placed on their relationship and interactions. Liev did a fantastic job of portraying a sinister Victor and his presence oozed spice in every scene.
Another strong character and one of my favorite X-mens of all time, Gambit, managed to salvage some of the burns with a performance not soon forgotten. If you managed to forget he’s supposed to have a delicious Cajun accent and not possess telekinetic powers, Taylor Kitsch’s performance was pretty dead-on. With a striking physical resemblance to the character, Taylor steals the show and hearts of girls and fangirls everywhere. The special effects were a sight to behold, and it was nice to see his eyes light up red at points. If you ignored his fluctuating southern accent (I don’t know what it is, but it’s not Cajun), a devoted fan will be pleasantly satisfied with Taylor’s depiction.
Gambit aside, other characters didn’t get as fair treatment. Though some were moderately accurate, like the Blob and Silverfox (barely), some characters were outright disgraced. If you’ve seen the movie, you know who I’m referring to: Deadpool. Those not familiar with the iconic wise-cracking mercenary from the comics will immediately liken to Ryan Reynolds playful spin on the character. Deadpool’s signature taunts and jabs are successful in coining his “Merc with a Mouth” reputation, but his actual character in the movie strays far from the graphic novels. Baraka, er, Deadpool’s powers seem to be nothing more than what an innocent bystander could assume by his name. In this movie, his are actually a ‘pool’ of powers collected from the captured mutants in Stryker’s little island prison. Some writer, obviously completely unfamiliar with the character, played context clues and had a heyday with his liberties. Not once was there a mention of his cancer nor his regenerative abilities, unless you were one of the few that caught one of the ending ‘surprises’.
Another notable complaint is the distinct lack of Wolverine’s infamous rage and roars. Besides his trademark screaming scene in Stryker’s lab (which was barely noted because of his distracting naked-ness), I don’t remember any prominent bouts of moodiness and rage. His girlfriend dies. Logan grits his teeth. His girlfriend dies again. Logan grits his teeth harder. Oh wait, was that a roar?
Overall, X-men Origins: Wolverine was a typical, action-packed film that happened to be connected to the X-men franchise. It sported a couple of surprise appearances for fans, portrayed an interesting dynamic between Sabertooth and Wolverine, had eye-popping special effects, and a tiny pinch of humor. How Wolverine got his infamous leather jacket and motorcycle ‘tude was actually a touching surprise to the story that played out pretty well.
However, much loved characters like Deadpool were destroyed in the adaptation and facts seemed to be all over the place, contradicting both the comic and movie itself. (So, apparently an adamantium bullet is able to lodge itself into Wolverine’s brain when he himself can’t do damage to his own claws after trying. Oh yeah, and it also erases specific parts of his memory.) The visual presentation was well done, but ultimately it was nothing that I would put in an extraordinary box. And the music? Unmemorable.
See the movie if you’re a die-hard X-men fan and want to compare how the story unfolds for your own judgment. Otherwise, I’d say it’s worth a rental. If nothing else, Wolverine promises a drool-worthy gawk fest for girls (and guys?) everywhere.
X-men Origins: Wolverine
Twentiest Century-Fox
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity
Running Time: 107 minutes
Credits
Director - Gavin Hood
Writers - David Benioff and Skip Woods
Original Music - Harry Gregson-Williams
Wolverine/Logan - Hugh Jackman
Victor Creed/Sabretooth - Liev Schreiber
William Stryker - Danny Huston
John Wraith - Will I am
Kayla Silverfox - Lynn Collins
Frederick J. Dukes/The Blob - Kevin Durand
Remy LeBeau/Gambit - Taylor Kitsch
Wade Wilson/Deadpool - Ryan Reynolds
David North/Agent Zero - Daniel Henney
Chris Bradley/Bolt - Dominic Monaghan
May 7th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
“Though the story started off fairly strong, things took a nosedive when we saw just how confusing things became, with some things even counter-attacking the earlier X-men movies.”
Never to early to start ret-conning in the X-men.
Great review!
May 7th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Fantastic review, Melissa! You nailed it.
I disagree about the rage thing, though. It seemed like all Wolverine did was yell melodramatically—but I think the problem was what they were trying to go for and how it actually turned out. What I mean is, they were trying to portray his berserker rages, but when Wolverine goes berserk, he doesn’t just roar—he completely loses it. Of course, for a PG-13 film … all that blood and massacre wouldn’t work.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I don’t trust anything written by a guy named Skip Woods. Sounds like he should be doing musicals in 1943.
But seriously, the guy wrote Swordfish and Hitman. Neither movie was a pleasure. He also wrote the G.I. Joe movie, and that movie looks silly in the trailers.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
mmm. Ryan Reynolds.
May 7th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Sweet Review. That’s generally what I’ve been hearing, but you’ve definitely worded it the best. Most excellent.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I thought it was good, not great. I feel like if they had done this movie first, then the X-Men films I would have thought it was a lot better. But as it is, we’ve already seen a lot of Wolverine action in the team films.
I reviewed it on my blog if anyone wants to check it out: http://www.thenerdybird.com/2009/05/x-men-by-any-other-name.html
May 7th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Taylor Kitsch’s gambit was what I enjoyed the most in the movie.
As a long time gambit fan I was satisfied, but he needs to have a supporting role next time. He had a cajun accent, not too over the top like the animated series though, which is good because it was a cartoonish version of that accent and not a real depiction.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I have to disagree with you on some purely minor things. I think Wolvie roars aplenty. When Kayla “dies” he belts it out so that the entire forest can hear. I completely agree with your assessment of Jackman and Schreiber - they were stellar together and left me wanting more (no big surprise to female fans).
Taylor brought out almost all the dreaminess one would expect from Gambit. He did have some kind of accent but it definitely could have been better. I just get tired of reviews that say he doesn’t have any accent at all. The liberties taken with him were ok, not tragic, as it was with poor Deadpool.
Some of the toned down dialog for Deadpool may be due to the PG-13 rating. The Merc couldn’t have as much of a potty mouth with kiddies around. I really liked the initial Deadpool before he was Deadpool, just Wade with his dualing blades of glory. Deliciousness! I was rather shocked to find myself quickly forgetting about him once Gambit hit the screen though. And I might add Jackman’s muscle tone never looked better!
I liked the half-brother development. They were supposed to be as close as brothers so why not? Not a terrible change,imo. The fx weren’t great. In fact, the claws were god awful. And there’s really no way Wolverine would not have been blown off a tower by an optic blast if those were supposed to be equal to Cyclops. His “Wonder Woman” style of holding back the blast was ridiculous. I don’t find nearly as many plotholes as other fans do. So all in all, I gave it 3.5 out 5.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Liev Schreiber in particular did an awesome job from all the way through; he brought some genuine acting prowess to the whole production
May 14th, 2009 at 10:54 am
I saw it last night and liked it. I had similar problems that you had Melissa but over all I liked it better then the 3rd movie. The female love interest was really pretty too.
Hugh=drool
May 19th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I loved it, but I never judge movies against existing materials (the comics, in this case) or vice-versa. I let each take stand as its own take on the material at hand, as if one had little knowledge concerning the subject material.
One primary reason for that is because what works in a novel or comic won’t translate to film, and vice-versa. Changes have to be made to cram the amount of detail a writer can conjure to make a cohesive 1 1/2-2 hour movie. (Things would be easier if people wouldn’t complain about 2 1/2- 3 hour movies, which I love… but apparently that’s too long to sit having fun for some people! =P)
I thought Wolverine was like the rest of the X-Men movies- fun, no-thought-necessary, action-filled and well cast. The plot was good and everyone had their roles down great.
As to those who insist in comparing- how was Deadpool truly destroyed? Deadpool will be able to “reassemble”, and his healing will restore his original looks (at least, this would easily be justified based on his skills)- and it would be a clever way in a Deadpool Origin to explain why he ends up wearing his full costume… unpleasant memories of his formerly-marred figure. Regardless, Ryan Reynolds in the perfect guy for that role, he’s an amazing fit!
I look forward to further Wolverine movies (sounds like they want 2 more) and I’d love to see the rumored Deadpool Origin, Magneto… there’s a ton to pull from there!
(Oh, and the game rocks! Uh-oh! Spoiler for wita’s review! =O)
May 27th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I LOVE GAMBIT
and I didn’t like the one in the movie….
what about the eyes?!?!?!
the accent?!?!?!
what were they thinking????