Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

When I read comic books in my youth, I always loved the “origin of” issues, which told me about the beginnings of my favorite superheroes. I was a big reader and collector of X-Men comics, of course, and have enjoyed the previous three movies to greater and lesser degrees. This movie is a prequel, the story of how the most popular of the X-Men, the character Wolverine, came to be, as well as the X-Men themselves.

Recently, we’ve been seeing superhero origin stories: Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Iron Man, and Hulk. So too is this movie. In it, we learn some of our hero’s motivations and why he has always been a bit foggy about his earlier life. In this movie, you return to his childhood and see just how far his history goes back. There are tributes here to The Dirty Dozen and even to Jonathan and Martha Kent from Superman’s origins.

Hugh Jackman, hot off hosting the Academy Awards, shows that he’s not just a pretty face who can sing and dance. In this movie, he’s as buff as he’s ever been, on a high-protein diet, with hour-and-a-half daily workouts.

Liev Schreiber, seen recently in Defiance, stars as Sabretooth gets to sink his teeth into his largest role since The Manchurian Candidate. He’s great at being intimidating and menacing.

The character Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) shows up, as well as the Blob, Zero, and a host of future X-Men and villains.

Lynn Collins plays the attractive love interest. Though she’s been acting since 2001, I’d not seen her before.

Ryan Reynolds, who we usually see in comedy roles, plays Wade/Deadpool with his usual wisecracking. 

Dominic Monaghan, who you remember as the hobbit Merry in the Lord of the Rings movies, appears as Chris/Bolt.

Filmed in New South Wales, Australia, the scenery is gorgeous. The special effects are rather different from those in many action films you’ve seen, and the fight sequences are quite acrobatic.

Sure, this is a summer popcorn movie. There is little plot to distract from the action.

Grade: B

You’ll like it if: you like non-stop action, fight sequences, vehicle chases, exploding things, with little time to breathe.

You won’t like it if: you prefer character development or have an aversion to violence.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com