My Movie Reviews

Release Date: 1 May 2009
Time: 1 hr 47 min
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG-13
My Rating: PG-13
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber
Grade: A

Synopsis: When choosing which mutant hero they would use to launch the X-MEN feature-film prequel series ORIGINS, the creators of the hugely successful franchise had a no-brainer of a decision in going with Wolverine. Not only is he the most well-known and popular X-Men character, but Wolverine--as brought expertly to life in true leading-man fashion by Hugh Jackman--was essentially the star of the three previous X-MEN movies. As the title implies, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is the back story of the fiery and conflicted Wolverine (né James Logan), whose mutant powers include killer claws that shoot from his knuckles and a regenerative ability that allows him to live seemingly forever. Taking a few mild liberties but staying relatively faithful to the comic-book source material, ORIGINS follows Logan from his first recognition of his mutant powers as a young child up through his infamous adamantium rebirth and the total memory loss that would subsequently fuel his angry quest. Wolverine’s story has enough intriguing details to allow for a grown-up psychodrama in the mold of THE DARK KNIGHT, and the actors on hand--including Danny Huston as Stryker and Liev Schreiber as Logan’s half-brother, Victor (aka Sabretooth)--have the chops to deliver. Director Gavin Hood, however, opts in favor of cinematic razzle-dazzle heavy on John Woo-style action-ballet and CGI glitz. From Deadpool’s eye-popping swordplay (the action-adventure equivalent of Riverdance) to the tightrope-walk of a fight scene in the film’s finale, WOLVERINE is a blockbuster action film in the most fundamental sense of the word. While some might complain that the film lacks the storytelling substance of the first two X-MEN films, if it’s bang you’re after, then this certainly isn’t a waste of your bucks.

My Review: This film was excellently done. They definitely kept the story in tact by going back and retelling the coming of Wolverine. After seeing the other films and then this one, I was glad that they came back and told this story. It finally makes sense where Wolverine came from after he did so much soul searching in the other films.

Hugh Jackman gives another great performance as wolverine and this film is packed with action as is expected. There is a love story that is intertwined throughout that plays excellently into the entire film. Overall, I was very impressed with the excellent job they did with this film.

Recommend: Most everyone should enjoy this. It can be a family film. If you have really little ones then they might be scared by some of the action.