Review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) by Jason H — 28 Feb 2014

At the time of release (pre 'X-Men: First Class') the first in a proposed series of origin tales, X-Men: Wolverine is quite obviously about the character of the same name. Arguably the most famous of the X-Men (why do you think the cartoon is called Wolverine and the X-Men), the character was central to the first three 'official' X-Men movies and was also Hugh Jackmans break-out role. It's not a surprise, then, that he was chosen to be the vanguard of this new series.

The film was leaked on the 'net before general release: I never saw (or wanted to) see that, so am instead going to concentrate on the cinema release (you know, the one with *all* the FX in place ...).

From my understanding, it's also best decribed as *a* origin tale, rather then *the* origins of Wolverine. Again, my understanding is that key characters and events have been taken into of context and moulded, if you will, to fit the story. Because of this, I know people (no names - you all know who you are!) who saw it and were annoyed by that fact, and others who are refusing to see it at all. On the other hand, I also know people who saw it (again, no names) primarily 'cos Hugh Jackman stars ...

So, how does the film suit those of us who DON'T fancy Mr Jackman, and who have only a 'broad-brush' knowledge of the X-Men comics? To be honest, I quite enjoyed it. While it's not the best film I've ever seen, I have to say that I didn't notice the time going in. I can live with the internal discrepancies (and plot holes), since my knowledge of the X-Men comes from half-remembered childhood cartoons and from the first three films. It's quite obvious, of course, that this film ties in the best with the second of those three films, since that is the film that deals primarily with Wolverines amnesia. THIS film shows how Wolverine came to be Wolverine, and how that amnesia comes about (admittedly, that probably could have been handled better). There's no doubt it's an action film rather than a drama: explosions, gunfights and brawls happen left, right and centre more or less throughout. In many respects, I could see how the events would fit into the game-of-the-film (which I've heard is quite good), right down to the boss battle!

In short, sit down, stick tongue firmly in cheek (and ignore plot holes) and enjoy!

2013 update: it will be interesting to see how the events of this are tied in to the upcoming 'Days of Future Past', which (supposedly) ties to two separate eras (if you will) from the original films and this, with the 60s set 'First Class'.