X-Men
Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine -
Overview
Positives
Negatives
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Brief Review
The origins of Wolverine from the X-Men series is on display here with this high action, adrenaline-soaked blockbuster. The complex relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth is fascinating to watch and the two actors have good chemistry together. Other mutants including Cyclops make cameo appearances but to be honest sometimes it just feels like they're thrown in for the sake rather than to enhance the story. A good action blockbuster though.
Full Review
Released in 2009 as a spin-off to the successful X-Men films, Origins: Wolverine is a good title focusing on the birth of Wolverine and his complex relationship with Sabretooth. Set across 200 years with the mutant pair that never age, they fight through war after war before being snatched up by William Stryker. Stryker recruits these mutants for commando missions before Wolverine quits and falls in love with a young woman. After she is brutally murdered by Sabretooth, Wolverine goes on a revenge mission after undergoing the Weapon X program, turning him into Wolverine.
The story is good overall and the opening credits that show Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting through the American Wars is a neat touch and very well done. The way Sabretooth's character changes through these scenes helps to quickly establish the twisted nature of his personality without bogging the story down with too much background info.
This story is drenched in action and big set-pieces emanating from the opening scenes all the way through to the end. Although many might think an hour and 45 minutes is long enough, some scenes do seem a bit rushed and the film could have benefited from being pushed up to the 2 hour mark to space some of the scenes out. The action on the whole is fantastic and the fight with weapon XI is brilliantly done. In-fact, the action is so good it easily outshines X-Men: The Last Stand and in particular the fight in X-Men 2 with Deathstrike that this fight is clearly based on.
The whole film is better than the sequels to X-Men and is the type of film the two sequels should have been. The action is quick and fast-paced but not too overpowering with enough dialogue throughout to spice up the pacing. The romance isn't overpowering either but the theme of loss and revenge ripples throughout the story and the shocking conclusion to the tale doesn't have enough power to it and kind of fizzles out, which is a shame.
The other annoying thing are the minor mutants. The major players throughout are good and deliver their lines well but Gambit feels like he was thrown in for a wildcard rather than a story enhancer and the rest of the mutants including Cyclops do nothing for the story except act as bonus eye candy. The main thing the minor mutants will do is annoy the hardcore fans of the comics with the inaccurate backgrounds of some of the characters and the film could have benefited without any of them to be honest.
The special effects deserve a mention here as the subtlety that the effects are placed is first class especially with weapon XI and wolverine's claws which are so realistic its scary. The rest of the effects including the different mutant powers are also very well done and not too overpowering on the eye. The music is also good and suitably atmospheric but there's nothing that really stands out over everything else.
Overall, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a fantastic blockbuster for the casual viewer and the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth is fascinating to watch. The action definitely has the 'wow' factor and the special effects are top notch throughout. The film won't be for everyone and the inclusion of random mutants for eye candy will annoy some fans and the lack of a really explosive conclusion is also a real shame. However, this 2009 blockbuster is well worth a watch.