The first big summer release of 2009 delivers big action, big special effects and big mutants. Unfortunately it doesn’t address some big questions. How are Wolverine and Sabertooth growing up as kids at the beginning of the film, but ageless after the first 20 minutes? How does adamantium change the shape and look of Wolverine’s claws? How many Twinkies did the Blob have to eat to get that big, that quick? And why, every time I say or hear ‘Wolverine”, do I think of Red Dawn. (Which I just learned is set to be remade next year.)
Wolverine is Sharp
Look, the bottom line is this: if you love comic book movies, you’re going to love Wolverine. If you’re a comic book purist and pick apart every comic book movie, you’re going to be frustrated and complaining about the demise of the franchise. I loved the movie. I thought it was fun and had great pacing to the tension between story and action. It gives you just enough back story to make it worth telling. And it introduced some new (to the movie goer, not the comic reader) characters that were pretty awesome like the well played tough but mysterious Gambit (Taylor Kitsch, Friday Night Lights TV show), an interesting but too quickly disappearing Wraith (Will Am I of Black Eyed Peas band fame) and the makes-the-movie fun, wise-cracking Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, Adventureland and Van Wilder). But overall it focuses on Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, X-Men 1,2 and 3, and Australia) and his brother/buddy/enemy Sabertooth (Liv Schreiber, Defiance). Here’s hoping that we get to see a future film with a lot more Gambit and Deadpool involved in the story. Wolverine and Sabertooth get top billing and do a great job carrying the movie. But Gambit and Deadpool give it the intrigue that gets a little lost as they focus on one hero.
There are a ton of great action sequences beginning with a fantastic war montage at the beginning of the movie that shows you just how old Wolverine and Sabertooth really are. The fighting continues as you see a special unit of super heroes formed for a secret branch of the military. And then the darkness begins as the true nature of what is being done is revealed. As the gap between the X-Men movies and Wolverine’s story is bridged, there is plenty of brooding, anguish and destruction to keep you from feeling like this is just a fun stroll down memory lane for our hero.
But memory lane is what Wolverine is searching for in his X-Men role. And while Origins provides some clarity to the audience, the answer to Wolverine’s amnesia at the end of the movie is pretty weak. I left wondering how Colonel Stryker is able to shoot so confidently that he can erase Wolverine’s memory of his past, but not impact any other brain functions…So, there are definitely some plot holes. But if you are looking for tight plot lines and deep congruent stories, you probably aren’t a comic book fan in the first place.
Go see this on the big screen. It’s meant to be enjoyed for what it is: an action packed escape from reality.
Rating: 
