X-Men Origins: Wolverine review

Wolverine is the first of a new wave of Marvel movies featuring their fabled X-Men characters that do not directly extend the original motion picture trilogy. Instead, the folks at Marvel opted to feature one of their most popular mutants in a prequel that is only distantly linked to the aforementioned trilogy. Though the movie is flat at times and has a couple questionable plot tweaks, on the whole it is an entertaining superhero flick and a good kickoff to the summer blockbuster season.

Without spoiling the actual plot of the film, the story centers around James Logan (a.k.a. Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman) and his relationship with half-brother and fellow mutant Victor Creed (Sabretooth, played by Liev Schreiber). The opening credits sequence follows the two in every major American military campaign from the Civil War to Vietnam. Already a few liberties have been taken with the source material: in the comics, Logan and Creed are not related, Logan is Canadian (a detail referenced later), and Logan was born in the end of the 19th Century and therefore could not have fought in the Civil War. These are minor quips that do not detract from the film's plot, but they are still notable to fans of the source material.

As the film continues it involves a myriad of mutants in its supporting cast, from Logan and Creed's time with Team X to the Weapon X program and all the good action bits that the writers have given director Gavin Hood to work with. In fact, for a movie supposedly focusing on one hero, the supporting cast of mutants is just as diversified--if not more so--as any of the previous X-Men films. That is not a bad thing at all--in fact its great to see a lot of these cameos. The only problem is that a lot of the characters are so interesting that you kind of regret that the movie has so many and can only realistcally focus on Wolverine and Sabretooth.

For those that are in it though, the cast is phenomenal. Will.i.am makers his acting debut doing a spot-on portrayal of Wraith, Taylor Kitsch embodies fan-favorite Gambit, and the writing liberty taken with the ending aside, Ryan Reynolds absolutely nails the jabbering assassin Deadpool, albeit sans his bad-ass red-and-black suit from the comics. Lynn Collins provides some emotion between all this meat as the stunning Silver Fox, and other characters such as Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Toad, and Emma Frost make notable cameos as well. With every one of the characters the only regret is that their performances could not be showcased enough, particularly with Reynolds' Deadpool. At least Gambit still has potential to appear in future X-flicks, maybe even his own Origins story (don't hold your breath just yet though; assuming Wolvie makes enough green, Magneto is already next in line).

To sum it up, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is your pretty standard summer superhero movie, and if you've seen the previous X-Men films you know pretty much what to expect. Perhaps not as awesome as X2, its also nowhere near the abomination that was X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Its very solid and thoroughly entertaining with a couple forced plot elements, but the superb acting and diverse cast really carry the movie. Don't expect anything truly groundbreaking in the genre, but do expect to get $10 well spent.

Overall Grade: B