After 2006's “X-Men 3: The
Last Stand”, it seemed that this series was done for good, so I slowly
found myself losing interest in X-Men, and started looking at other things.
Batman for example reached all new highs in 2008 with “The Dark Knight”, and that more than anything reignited my interest
in his franchise. Then near the end of the 2000’s it was announced that the
X-Men were going to make a comeback, with all new theatrical movies, including some lone
outings for individual characters, and the guy to kick it off was none other
than my favorite of the X-Men ... Wolverine, in his first stand alone action
film. While I wasn’t exactly hyped at first, I was still very intrigued as he’s
a comic book legend, worthy of his own film, and with Hugh Jackman reprising
his signature role, things seemed to be fairly promising, and maybe this would
be just the film to reignite my fondness for one of my favorite superhero
franchises. Then I read the title “X-Men
Origins: Wolverine” ... and suddenly I got concerned.
Of all the
superheroes out there, Wolverine is probably the hardest one to do a proper
origin story for. His back story in both the comics and the media have changed
and expanded so much that it would be difficult to tell his story properly.
Plus, part of what made Wolverine so intriguing was that his origin was very
mysterious and clouded. We didn’t know much of his past, or what was even real
or altered. A movie giving us a step by step telling of his past would spoil that
mystique. In order for this to work, it would have to be something really big,
extremely tragic, very ambitious, and explores this character in ways that
we’ve never seen before. Did it succeed ... well, the short answer is NO. This
film quickly gained the reputation for being the absolute worst in the X-Men
series, and one of the worst comic book movies period. Even Hugh Jackman
himself was disappointed with the final product. I’d say it’s mostly disserving
of its reputation, but I really wouldn’t go that far to call it one of the
worst films ever made. The film honestly isn’t without some highlights, and
while it’s “sub-par”, I certainly don’t hate it either. So what makes this the stand
out week spot in the X-Men film series, let’s start at the beginning and find
out.
So, what would be
interesting to explore in this origin film, well, maybe his child hood, his
relationship with his brother, who would later grow up to become his arch enemy
Sabretooth, the many centuries of war he fought in, or his involvement with
Team X, which was the first mutant team he was a part of before he joined the
X-Men. Well, that’s all in there ... for about five minutes, but to be fair we do get
one hell of an awesome opening credit montage out of it. The first real problem
with this movie is that everything feels like it’s on fast-forward, and it quietly
glances over things that might be interesting. What we do get is an extremely
by the numbers plot that’s only setting up excuses for lots of action
scenes, and even those are mixed offerings. Here’s the set up, Wolverine is living the quiet (and boring) life with
his new lover Silver Fox. One day, she’s presumed murdered by Wolverines
vengeful brother Sabretooth, who proves to be more than a match for our hero. The
evil Colonel Stryker offers him a deal to undergo an experiment in which he’ll
become indestructible. Wolverine soon discovers that it was a trap, escapes, and vows
to hunt down both his wicked brother, and the evil colonel until he has blood for
blood. From that point on, it’s just a series of fight scenes, and not much
focus on our hero’s personal journey or character development.
Not only is the
story of a lone hero seeking revenge old and been done, but the film just adds
nothing new to the table. I could list a number of other films that follow this formula to the letter, including “Kill
Bill”, “The Mask of Zorro”, and “The Count of Monte
Cristo”, all of which brought something special to the table, either in style or a character journey to make them feel unique and fresh. This film just hits all the familiar beats, and quickly moves from one set-piece to the next. I will say that the character himself is still very
good. Wolverine still acts like an enraged animal in heated battle, and he still
has his cool moments, but he’s also very charismatic, and even has a subtle
sense of humor. Hugh Jackman is always great in the role, and this film is no
exception. Whenever he’s on screen, he’s putting his all into the performance,
and making sure that every action he takes is as fitting for the
character as he can possibly make it. The supporting cast unfortunately is only
half as good. The love interest Silver For is probably one of the most boring, and by the numbers leading comic-book love interests I’ve seen. Her lines are predictable, her chemistry with Wolverine is
stale, and it’s really hard to care for this women whenever something
supposedly tragic happens to her.
There’s no point
talking about the members of Team X, as they have nothing to do in the film, and
even the teleporting character John Wraith, played by Will. i. am of the Black
Eyed Peas is surprisingly underused. A young Cyclops is also shoe-horned into
the film for no reason, and it robs him of the chance to have his own origin film. Honestly, even though I was never a fan of Cyclopes, his back-story is deep enough, yet simplistic enough that it might have
actually worked better than an origin movie revolving around Wolverine. Of
course I need to talk about Gambit, because aside from Wolverine, he was always
my favorite of the X-Men. This is the cool guy with the supper charged deck of
playing cards that explode on impact. I loved him in the cartoon, I loved him
in the comics, and I’ve been waiting to see him in a live action X-Men movie
sense the beginning. In this film he’s played by Taylor Kitsch, and he's perfectly serviceable in the role. He’s charismatic, and he steels every scene he’s in with
ease. Unfortunately, he’s only in the movie for about ten minutes, which sucks, because it’s barely more than a cameo. It was great to see him at all, but I
just wish there could have been more of him.
Of course, every lone hero needs a villain, and this movie pits Wolverine against two. Well, there are some side villains like the gun wilding Agent Zero,
but who cares, it’s Sabretooth and Major Stryker that really mater. Sabretooth
is given more of a character arc in this film then the first X-Men movie, and
Liev Schreiber dose a respectable job in the role. He even has good chemistry
with our hero ... not great mind you, but there’s definitely something there
between the two. He also looks the part, and his performance adds a subtly quiet and creepy
side to the character, rather than just being loud and over the top brut. Less satisfying however, is our secondary
villain Major Stryker, who pretty much sucks when compared to Brian Cox’s
previous version of the character back in “X2:
X-Men United”. In that film, Stryker was far more terrifying, and
determined to see all mutants killed off. This films portrayal of Stryker is
more interested in mutants, and aims to harness all their powers, like some
typical Saturday morning cartoon villain. Danny Huston is a decent actor, but his performance in the
role is nothing special. It’s really just your typical boring evil general,
with typical bad guy motivations.
Another common
complaint from critics is that the visual effects weren’t rendered very well,
and ... yeah, there’s lots of moments where the effects look really bad. What
sticks out the most are the unforgivably bad CGI effects for Wolverines claws.
They’ve never looked more fake then in this film, and they always distract when their
on screen. However, for all the films poorly rendered effects, the film
balances out with some beautiful locations, and gorges cinematography.
Seriously, for the most part, this is actually a very good looking film. The
music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams is also really good. The opening track
called “Logan Through Time” is comprised of a choir singing “stanzas from an
ancient Norse poem in Old Icelandic” ... and it honestly gives me chills every
time I hear it.
How about the
fight scenes, can they at least entertain despite a weak story to support them? Actually, there’s two stand-out action scenes that are among my favorites in the
series, one of them being the climax which I’ll talk about in just a little, and
the other is the motorcycle chase. Ever sense the first movie, I’ve wanted to
see Wolverine in a car chase style action scene, and this didn’t disappoint. We
see him slicing through armored jeeps, taking out a helicopter, and lots of
explosions, most notably a clichéd, yet awesome slow-motion hero walk with a big
explosion in the background. The remaining fights are either too short, or so
un-engaging that they just come off as filler. We have a pointless scene where
Wolverine is boxing with a character called the Blob, which failed to deliver any excitement. Even the
fights between Wolverine and Sabretooth are surprisingly underwhelming, very
repetitive, and too short to really satisfy.
Okay, let’s
address the elephant in the room ... Deadpool, the sword wilding murk with the
mouth who’s nothing like his comic book counterpart. Honestly, even beyond his missing mouth, this character was so far removed from the real deal that I've always viewed him as his own original creation called "Weapon 11". So, lets all take a deep breath, we have the real Deadpool in the movie "Deadpool", and this Weapon 11 character is not him, and never was him. At the end of the movie, he and Wolverine
battle on Three Mile Island in a climactic final showdown. Unfortunately, Weapon
11 has more than just two swords, he also has a wide collection of different
mutant powers, and ... I think that’s awesome! I know I’m in the minority about
this, but I’ve always wanted to see a character that utilized several powers at
once. Plus, the final fight scene with Wolverine and Sabretooth teaming-up to
battle Weapon 11 is great. Its shot beautifully, it’s a big
spectacle, and even if the story didn't work all the way, there's still something satisfying about seeing two enemies joining forces in battle.
I will admit, the film has consistent surface level enjoyment, in that I wouldn't want to actively sit-down and watch it, but I also don't mind having it on if I'm either working-out or ironing clothes. I’m kind of a sucker for some of the basic action details on display, and the cast in general works. Truthfully, there’s just enough going on in the film to keep it mildly entertaining, and it’s still cool to see Wolverine break out the claws and fight.
Objectively speaking, “X-Men
Origins Wolverine” is still obviously a misguided film, subjected a clichéd written script, and was a rough first solo outing for one of my favorite Comic-Book characters. Thankfully, all the major problems with this film have become obsolete, largely thanks to the superior Wolverine and Deadpool movies we'd get down the road. For all this films faults, I really don’t hate “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” the same way most critics and fans do. It’s undeniably a weaker entry the series, and problematic from start to finish, but I’ve definitely seen worse. It's a movie that really should have never been made, but sense it’s here, I’ll go ahead and passively enjoy it for what it is. Plus, the movie was still a modest success at the box office, which guaranteed another film. Thankfully “X-Men First Class” followed, and cemented the franchises longevity, but I’ll talk about that next time.
Thanks for reading my review of the 2009 Comic-Book movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!
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