Today, it's Logan's run.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine recounts the history of Logan (once again played by Hugh Jackman), by far the most popular character in the X-Men mythos: from boyhood in rural Canada; to fighting alongside his crazed, animalistic half-brother, Victor Creed (played by Liev Schreiber); to his days as member of a team of mercenary mutants; to the Weapon X program that gave him his indestructible skeleton and claws; to finally losing his memory. There is also a doomed romance along the way between our hero and a schoolteacher named Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).
I wrote a short review of this film when it was released in May of 2009, saying this prequel felt more like an X-Men history lesson than a motion picture. Five years later, I stand by that assessment. I watched it again recently, and I still feel like I'm being schooled than entertained. The film moves from one defining moment in Logan's life to the next like some sort of highlights reel. The reveals of the mysteries surrounding his past, which had so much tease in the first two X-Men movies, are pretty weak. There are no build-up to those moments. They're just tossed in front of the audience without any weight to what's being shown. Another thing that hasn't changed: the visual effects are still terrible. Terrible. Not since Ang Lee's Hulk has computer-generated imagery in a big Marvel Comics movie look so amateurish. Between the effects and emptiness of the movie itself, Wolverine follows the previous X-Men film and the Fantastic Four sequel in this trend of 20th Century Fox cutting a lot of corners just to increase profit.
The film does manage to get a pass this time, thanks to Hugh Jackman's performance. It's fun to see Logan in different places character-wise. It's also cool to see that personality interact with those of other mutants, such as Taylor Kitsch's Gambit and Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool. That's right, kids, five years later and we're still waiting for that Deadpool movie. Liev Schreiber is great as Sabertooth. I blew him off when I first saw the movie, because it seemed to me Tyler Mane (who played Sabertooth in the very first X-Men) was dropped in favor of a bigger name. Now, I totally dig him. Creed is just seething with bloodlust and he loves it. He looks like (WWE wrestler) Randy Orton with muttonchops and claws. I think a better solo Wolverine picture would be one centered on the rivalry between he and Sabertooth. Jackman and Schreiber, respectively, have a great chemistry there. If Fox could have settled on just this one part of Logan's past- and have the balls to take these characters into R-rated territory- that would have been a film worth going wild over.
As of right now, we have X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is a rather slapdash movie. Hugh Jackman, nonetheless, gives it his all as the title hero, and takes the character into new places. That alone makes the film a adequate quick fix for X-Men fans.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
2 1/2 out 5 Cap shields
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