Like Wolverine, Hugh Jackman is very good at what he does - and what he does is bring to snarling life one of the best-loved comic book heroes of all time. Director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) delivers a flawed but entertaining look at the origins of the savage anti-hero.
The History of Wolverine
The film starts with Wolverine's childhood in 1845 and the triggering of his mutant abilities at a young age. As the opening credits roll James Logan (Wolverine) and his half-brother Victor (The future Sabertooth, capably played by Liev Shreiber) fight their way through several wars starting with the American Civil War and ending in Vietnam.
Thanks to their mutant healing abilities the brothers age slowly and recover instantly from any wound. These abilities do not go unnoticed during the Vietnam War and they are recruited into a secret government special ops team run by William Stryker (well-played by Danny Huston). When the mutant-filled team starts killing innocent civilians Logan's conscience kicks in and he has to leave both the team and Victor, who is clearly disturbed and enjoys the killing.
Logan retires to a quiet life in the mountains with his girlfriend and attempts to leave his violent life in the past. But both Styker and Victor have other plans and the action is soon back on track.
As things heats up Wolverine's origins are indeed reveled, most notably the story behind his adamantium skeleton and the memory loss he suffers from in earlier X-Men films. His history with both Stryker and Victor is detailed as well as his involvement with the Weapon-X project.
It's a lot to pack in, but writers David Benioff (25th Hour, The Kite Runner) and Skip Woods (Hitman, Swordfish) do a decent job assembling and re-tooling Wolverine's complex history into 107 minutes of screen time.
Can Wolverine be Hurt?
The difficulty with a hero that is pretty much indestructible is that it's hard to ratchet up much suspense. Wolverine doesn't need to do anything clever or surprising to defeat the bad guys - he just has to show up and keep fighting. Like Superman, the only way to really hurt him is through is friends and family. The problem is, Wolverine doesn't have any.
Realizing this the writers and throw in a love story while trying to make the brother-gone-bad angle work at the same time. Sadly there's no time to build a genuine romance, and it's obvious from the first scenes of the film that Logan and Victor were never that close, even as kids. So much for any meaningful betrayals or damsels in distress.
It's obvious that the filmmakers care deeply about the Wolverine character and tried to make the film more of a character piece than a straight action flick. Unfortunately it's their partial success at this emotional depth that makes the failure to achieve it all the more obvious. Instead of being merely forgettable, the sense that something deeper was grasped for and missed leaves you feeling unsatisfied as you exit the theater.
Hugh Jackman Delivers
The good news is that despite the lack of a deep emotional core, it's a lot of fun watching Wolverine rip up everything in sight with savage fury and explosive effects. Jackman delivers the Wolverine that fans want to see – snarling, vicious and unstoppable. The straight action parts of the movie (and there are lots of them) are big and loud and fun and worth the price of admission alone. As a big-budget action film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine delivers the goods.
- Directed by: Gavin Hood
- Written by: David Benioff, Skip Woods
- Starring: Hugh Jackman , Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Ryan Reynolds
- Running Time: 107 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG13
- Official Site: www.x-menorigins.com
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