Review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) by Justin And Denise S — 24 May 2016

X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2009.

?? Watched 25 May, 2016.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine has so much going for it. The cast is well-rounded, sometimes surprisingly so: Hugh Jackman gives it his all as always, and Liev Schreiber and Taylor Kitsch are solid as Sabretooth and Gambit, respectively. The origin of Wolverine himself is an interesting story, and has potential for a very powerful movie that has a nice balance of action and drama, as well as ties into Bryan Singer's trilogy.

So what went wrong? First and foremost, it's simply an unfocused mess of a film. That aforementioned intriguing origin story is only partially told in the manner it could be: the rest of the time, the film is busy cramming in other plot points and characters with very limited appearances. They're introduced more for fan service than actual development of the story, and it takes away a lot from Wolverine as a character. It doesn't help that they aren't all that faithful to their comic counterparts, most notably the complete wasting of Ryan Reynolds as a mute, costume-less Deadpool. Not only is it narratively muddled, it's a visual mess too. Action sequences often look unfinished, and the CGI intensive sequences are just ugly as a result. Director Gavin Hood struggles to keep coherence during these scenes, filling each one with too many cuts over such a short amount of time to the point where it's almost nauseating.

All in all, it's just a messy film. The X-Men franchise has had its fair share of ups and downs, but it'll take a lot for the franchise to ever stoop this low again.