Review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) by Stephen Z — 05 Aug 2014

You know, this is a movie I want to like. Wolverine is one of my favorite comic characters. But the more I watch it, the more I dislike it. As much as I want to like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", I cannot because this had so much potential to be great, but instead, this film turned out to be a train wreck.

"X-Men Origins's" real problem is how it was written. This is a POORLY written film. Note the emphasis. Much like a video game, this film is just boss level after boss level, which is not engaging. Worse still is that the action is dull. Another major writing problem is that there are too many characters. They threw in a bunch of new characters, and of course, just like with X3, too many characters = poor character development. It even affects the character development of Wolverine, which is unfortunate considering THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE MOVIE! While Hugh Jackman still gives a solid performance, he is poorly written.

The rest of the cast doesn't fair much better. Liev Schreiber does an alright job as Victor Creed. Ryan Reynolds is an excellent fit as Wade Wilson. He is funny and sarcastic, just like he should be, though I can't get onboard with the visual design of Deadpool. And Gambit...oh, Gambit. One of the best mutants in the comics, butTaylor Kitsch's performance is bad enough, and it's only made worse by how badly Gambit is written here. The rest of the cast made no impression on me.

And one last complaint I have about this film is the CG. Hey bub, it's atrocious! I have never seen such terrible CG in an X-film. Wolverine's claws especially look bad, and considering that's his trademark, that's a big problem.

About the most fun this film has to offer is an early action scene, where Team X infiltrates a Nigerian compound. It's a really fun scene, and helps to introduce all of the characters and their mutant abilities.

There is no reason this film should have been this bad, considering how well-received Wolverine was in the X-Men trilogy. This film is enjoyable enough, if you can turn your brain off and not think about all of its flaws and absurdities. I don't recommend "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" to the casual moviegoer. Fans of the X-Men may enjoy it, as long as they are prepared for how badly this film ruins Gambit and Deadpool.