X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – Review

When you consider comic book adaptations, there is either good, lighthearted fun – which is Marvel or dark and ominous – which is DC. X-Men Origins: Wolverine tries to be both. Gavin Hood attempts to deliver on the quick witted, and funny characters that Marvel has to offer, i.e. Wade Wilson and Wolverine, as well as trying to bring the seriousness that is the dark and brooding origin of Wolverine.

The thing that works so well with X-Men Origins: Wolverine is that it ramps up on the action, and downplays the niceties of the comic genre. Obviously they are still in there, because it is a comic book movie, but given the character it is well balanced. Which in my books is a good thing. Wolverine is a character of brutality and savagery when engaged in fighting and tense and witty when not.  There are actors that portray particular characters in a franchise, that you cannot picture someone else playing, the first that comes to mind is another one of Marvel’s franchises –  Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, the next is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Now, I’m not saying that I am fond of Jackman as Wolverine; but what I am saying is who else could portray him any better?

However, there are some flaws with the movie, aside from the appalling CGI (refer to the last twenty-five minutes). There is also the screaming at the camera that Jackman does, a bit too much, throughout the movie. Not to mention, the added emotions that are forced upon us far too much without giving us a proper amount of time to decide on which side we are on. Now this isn’t really a grievance in any direct way; however, there is an abundance of X-Men in this origin story of Wolverine. Now the real gripe I have is I would have enjoyed more Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson), and more Gambit.

All in all, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is far from a perfect movie, but it is definitely not a terrible origin story. Given the appalling CGI, the acting is still decent; there are plenty of jokes to keep you entertained between the enormous amounts of action sequences. But apart from these small, but somewhat significant pitfalls, I won’t be doing any screaming at the screen. I would recommend, if you haven’t watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that you do give it one viewing. Hey, Wolverine takes on a helicopter!