X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Just a little context first. I’m a pretty big X-Men fan, having learnt most of what I know about the series not from the comics, but rather from the outstanding, and incredibly faithful, animated series of the early 1990s. I’ve actually only read one X-Men comic and that was the Wolverine Origin miniseries – which is drawn on heavily for the opening scenes of this new film.
Bryan Singer’s X2: X-Men United is one of my favourite superhero films of all time, combining impressive action scenes and special effects with pertinent social issues. My love for X2 was such that I was absolutely gutted by X-Men: The Last Stand, which trod all over beloved characters, promoted the idea (via Rogue’s storyline) that bland normality was to be desired, and basically ruined the trilogy.
Given that the series ended on such a disappointing note, my excitement over spin-off film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was muted. Especially as more and more popular Marvel characters were added to the cast roster. This suggested the film, like Last Stand, was going to be another long session of “Spot the mutant,” where characters would appear for approximately one minute, show off their powers and then disappear without any development whatsoever.
I’m pleased to report though that although it is far from perfect, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is actually quite a bit better than the abomination that remains X-Men: The Last Stand. Beloved characters do still flit across the screen for the most part, but they are generally treated with some respect. Of the cameos, I found the scenes with Tim Pocock’s teenage Cyclops to be the most enjoyable, especially as the character’s leadership potential, an important element in the X-Men comics, starts to shine through.
Although Emma Frost (Tahyna Tozzi) comes across as a bit of lightweight (she is supposed to be one of the most powerful mutants in the world), her portrayal doesn’t deserve too loud a fanboy, or fangirl, whine. That dubious honour goes to the treatment of Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). Although the film character has his comic counterpart’s impressive powers and glowing red eyes (on occasion), he’s just so disappointingly generic. Gone is the scruffiness and the womanising, but worst of all is the absent Cajun accent. Everything that made Gambit such a loveable rogue in the comics has been filed away to leave him a bland, personality-less pretty boy.
To a certain degree the same claim can be made about Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. I enjoy Jackman a lot, but he isn’t called on here to do anything new with the character – one of the most popular badasses in comic book history. The Wolverine of the X-Men movies, and here in his solo film, is just too nice, too balanced. There is little to no sense of his cynicism, as well as his struggle with innate savagery. Although he goes through a great deal of mental and physical anguish in X-Men Origins, at no point does Wolverine go feral, which is what comic fans would expect him to do.
Of course, the film’s PG-13 age restriction doesn’t help matters. Despite the fact that characters are regularly laying into each other with claws, elongated nails and samurai swords, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a disappointingly bloodless film. Not once are Wolverine’s shiny CGI-claws shown coated, or even speckled, in blood.
Admittedly I was quite bored for the majority of the film, as the plot trundles along from fight scene to fight scene. Once in a while, however, a moment with an exceptionally high coolness factor would jolt me out of my malaise. Mostly these moments involved Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool character , so needless to say I’m very excited for a film (already confirmed) centred solely on the “Merc with a Mouth.”
Liev Schreiber is also a lot of fun as Sabretooth, Wolverine’s arch-nemesis. The character can be a bit over-the-top at times, and receives a horrendous CGI-animation treatment at points, but Schreiber’s portrayal is a lot more interesting than the big dumb brute Tyler Mane played in the first X-Men film. The filmmakers have successfully captured Victor Creed’s competitive streak and general vindictiveness.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is definitely not this year’s Iron Man or Dark Knight. It’s too flawed and lacks the complexity for that. This said, there’s enough in the film to keep the average, popcorn-munching cinemagoer content. Demanding comic book purists, however, may have a harder time embracing this adaptation.
As a final note, remember to stay in your seat until after the film credits have rolled to watch one of two short epilogue sequences, focused either on Wolverine’s further travels or Deadpool’s fate.
Bryan Singer’s X2: X-Men United is one of my favourite superhero films of all time, combining impressive action scenes and special effects with pertinent social issues. My love for X2 was such that I was absolutely gutted by X-Men: The Last Stand, which trod all over beloved characters, promoted the idea (via Rogue’s storyline) that bland normality was to be desired, and basically ruined the trilogy.
Given that the series ended on such a disappointing note, my excitement over spin-off film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was muted. Especially as more and more popular Marvel characters were added to the cast roster. This suggested the film, like Last Stand, was going to be another long session of “Spot the mutant,” where characters would appear for approximately one minute, show off their powers and then disappear without any development whatsoever.
I’m pleased to report though that although it is far from perfect, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is actually quite a bit better than the abomination that remains X-Men: The Last Stand. Beloved characters do still flit across the screen for the most part, but they are generally treated with some respect. Of the cameos, I found the scenes with Tim Pocock’s teenage Cyclops to be the most enjoyable, especially as the character’s leadership potential, an important element in the X-Men comics, starts to shine through.
Although Emma Frost (Tahyna Tozzi) comes across as a bit of lightweight (she is supposed to be one of the most powerful mutants in the world), her portrayal doesn’t deserve too loud a fanboy, or fangirl, whine. That dubious honour goes to the treatment of Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). Although the film character has his comic counterpart’s impressive powers and glowing red eyes (on occasion), he’s just so disappointingly generic. Gone is the scruffiness and the womanising, but worst of all is the absent Cajun accent. Everything that made Gambit such a loveable rogue in the comics has been filed away to leave him a bland, personality-less pretty boy.
To a certain degree the same claim can be made about Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. I enjoy Jackman a lot, but he isn’t called on here to do anything new with the character – one of the most popular badasses in comic book history. The Wolverine of the X-Men movies, and here in his solo film, is just too nice, too balanced. There is little to no sense of his cynicism, as well as his struggle with innate savagery. Although he goes through a great deal of mental and physical anguish in X-Men Origins, at no point does Wolverine go feral, which is what comic fans would expect him to do.
Of course, the film’s PG-13 age restriction doesn’t help matters. Despite the fact that characters are regularly laying into each other with claws, elongated nails and samurai swords, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a disappointingly bloodless film. Not once are Wolverine’s shiny CGI-claws shown coated, or even speckled, in blood.
Admittedly I was quite bored for the majority of the film, as the plot trundles along from fight scene to fight scene. Once in a while, however, a moment with an exceptionally high coolness factor would jolt me out of my malaise. Mostly these moments involved Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool character , so needless to say I’m very excited for a film (already confirmed) centred solely on the “Merc with a Mouth.”
Liev Schreiber is also a lot of fun as Sabretooth, Wolverine’s arch-nemesis. The character can be a bit over-the-top at times, and receives a horrendous CGI-animation treatment at points, but Schreiber’s portrayal is a lot more interesting than the big dumb brute Tyler Mane played in the first X-Men film. The filmmakers have successfully captured Victor Creed’s competitive streak and general vindictiveness.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is definitely not this year’s Iron Man or Dark Knight. It’s too flawed and lacks the complexity for that. This said, there’s enough in the film to keep the average, popcorn-munching cinemagoer content. Demanding comic book purists, however, may have a harder time embracing this adaptation.
As a final note, remember to stay in your seat until after the film credits have rolled to watch one of two short epilogue sequences, focused either on Wolverine’s further travels or Deadpool’s fate.
Comments
I heard the Deadpool prologue is cool; the one with Wolverine is just lame.
For the record we got to see the lame Japan-set epilogue. And we were the only people in the cinema who waited until the very end.