X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Well, it’s nice to know that in his fourth outing as the character, Hugh Jackman has finally settled comfortably into the role that made him a worldwide star: Gone is most of the tentativeness, the ridiculous posing, and the fake action hero postering that hampered his performances in the first three X flicks. Jackman’s Wolverine is finally getting his own film here, and director Gavin Hood smartly eschews the allegorical overtones that marred Bryan Singer’s work to give us an entertaining, action-filled ride that helps explain much of what makes the character tick. Some may be put off and / or shocked that the Sabretooth character is in reality Logan’s brother who grew up with him and stayed by his side for decades, and it certainly blows continuity holes in Singer’s first film where the characters met with zero significance of their shared past. Fortunately, Liev Schreiber is more than a match for Jackman in the physicality department: His Victor Creed is a morally bankrupt monster who brings presence when confronting Logan and others, and also exhibits a good wry sense of humor as well. The film opens strong, with a prologue showing the two as boys (in 1840s Canada) and then continues through a very cool montage showing them in the different wars they’ve fought for our country (nice to know they were so patriotic). In showing their recruitment and activity in the Weapon X program, the film allows other mutant characters that Singer had overlooked to finally get a chance to shine as well: Well I Am is adequate as the teleporter John Wraith, while Kevin Durand’s Blob is an impressive piece of makeup FX work. Dominic Monaghan barely gets to register as the electricity-controlling Bolt, but Taylor Kitsch as Gambit brings a lot of style to a character that X-fans have gushed about for years. Daniel Henney is suitably evil as Agent Zero, and Ryan Reynolds makes the most of his screen time as the equally revered Deadpool, all of which help set up future movies as well. As Logan’s wife who gives him his moniker and also possesses psychic powers, Lynn Collins is lovely and pairs off with Jackman well, and Danny Huston as Stryker gives a more no-nonsense interpretation of the character than the whispered hysterics of Brian Cox in X2. Certainly there are some aspects of the story that come off as a bit confusing (What designated certain mutants for capture while others were killed? How did the human characters like Stryker possibly survive the meltdown at Three Mile Island??) but mostly things are held in check by the fast-moving story and good-size number of mutant fight scenes which allow for destruction and nice-looking FX. Fans of the past films should keep in mind that the story features a young Cyclops as well as a cameo from another major character. Overall, not as bad as the drooling comic book fanatics would have you believe, and certainly Jackman’s best and most assured performance in the part yet…
8/10