X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review

My expectations were pretty low heading into "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and the movie managed to both deliver and disappoint. (Oh well. At least my mom really liked it during our Mother's Day outing. Then again, maybe she just liked the part where Wolverine ran around naked for a few minutes.)The movie is a prequel to the "X-Men" series that director Bryan Singer started (and that really kicked off the blockbuster comic book hero adaptation boom) in the early part of this decade and tells the origin story of James Howlett, the little mutant who would grow up to become Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

At least, it’s SUPPOSED to give us the backstory of how Wolverine got to be the adamantium-covered icon he’s become.

Other than a clever opening-credits sequence that neatly sums up about 100 years of Wolverine’s life with half-brother Victor Creed (Live Schreiber), the movie seems more concerned with showing Hugh Jackman shirtless, (hello ladies - and guys) having Wolverine ride away from explosions in slow motion, and hastily introducing comic book characters of varying degrees of popularity (hey, there’s the Blob!) before doing away with them (oh, he’s gone).

These include a wiseass-y Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, (gone WAY too soon - what a tease!) John Wraith (played by a not-terrible Will.I.Am), and Gambit ("Friday Night Lights" Taylor Kitsch in a crowd-pleasing, yet forced and underwritten appearance).

In trying to give us Wolverine’s backstory, introducing (semi)popular characters into this storyline AND giving us a peek at mutants from the original "X-Men" movies, this film just tries to do too much and eventually collapses under its own weight as any sort of legitimate flick.

However, it makes for a pretty entertaining dumb action flick.

It’s no secret that Hugh Jackman loves playing Wolverine, and he once again makes for a completely credible action hero now that he’s been given a canvass to kick even more ass than usual. Since Jackman is a very good actor, I was a little disappointed to see that this opportunity was used more to show off his biceps than to showcase his dramatic chops and have him really explore the character. Focusing on the action stuff is also dramatically foolish because a) we KNOW he’s not going to die and b.) the fact that he literally can’t get hurt takes some zing away from some of the fight scenes.

Fortunately, the movie has Schreiber as half-brother Victor Creed (aka the future Sabretooth). At first, I didn’t think Schreiber LOOKED enough like Sabretooth and I feared the indie-friendly actor might mail in his performance, but I should’ve known better. Schreiber’s a pro and he ends up being the best thing in the movie by far. He’s genuinely scary as Creed (no small feat as he’s sharing the screen with the imposing Jackman) and generally appears to be acting in a better, more interesting movie.

I wish I could say the same for Danny Huston, as Gen. Wiliam Stryker, the man who recruits Wolverine and Creed into an elite mutants-only squad and eventually gives Wolverine his "Extreme Makover: Adamantium Edition." Stryker has the potential to be an interesting character, but Huston is mostly given nothing to do - and does nothing with it. Faring only slightly better is Lynn Collins as Wolverine’s love interest whose murder spurs him to yell into the sky dramatically and vow revenge against his brother.

Still, I have to give credit to director Gavin Hood (in his first big budget feature) for staging some fun, ridiculous action scenes. I usually don’t favor actions sequences that look more like ballets and have a general disregard for the laws of physics (unless they take place inside a Matrix and there’s an explanation) but some of the stuff Hood comes up with is genuinely good. Then again, some of the stuff he comes up with is also really stupid. And I’m not just talking about the action sequences - this is one of those movies that gets worse then more you think about it, not better - so just don’t think about it.

Obviously, not every movie has to be Oscar-bait - this is especially true in the case of a big-budget, comic book action movie like "Wolverine." However, after stuff like "The Dark Knight", "Iron Man" and even Jackman’s own "X2: X-Men United" that genuinely elevated the genre, it’s somewhat disappointing to see "Wolverine" take the dumb, simplistic approach.

Then again, not every superhero movie needs to have an unwilling hero at its center, fretting about his destiny - sometimes it’s fun to watch a guy blow stuff up and walk away in slow motion.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine...C+