Wolverine
Rating: 4/10
Running Time: 107 minutes
US Certificate: PG-13 UK Certificate: 12A
I like Hugh Jackman, and Ive always enjoyed Wolverine, the character, in the X-Men movies and comics. And its not that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is really that bad or anything. Its got action and story galore, and plenty of Wolfie doing his thingits just that it feels like a movie that was made mostly for the cash value and merchandising. I mean, I know its blockbuster time and all in the movie season, but even when X-Men films seemed somewhat cheesy and a bit flimsy as compared to their comic starts, they still seemed to have some of their heart in the right place. This prequel kind of just seems to exist as a franchise entity.
Theres a lot of plot, but its really not all that interesting. Basically, theres some tragic stuff that happens in the life of young James Logan (Jackman), he learns he has a half-brother named Victor (Live Schreiber), and he has some bone claw things that make nifty weaponry during the years he and Victor fight through all the major modern wars. Victors kind of a violent guy, though, and his wild ways land the boys in big trouble, only to be rescued by a man named Stryker (Danny Huston) whos rounding up other mutants on a mission. Logan quickly learns that he doesnt want to be any part of what theyre doing and tries to live his life far away from them, but of course it all goes awry, and he ends up with a new skeletal system, a cool moniker like Wolverine, and a nasty drive for revenge.
If all you want is action, this is an OK 107 minutes of time. Even then its not much, and for a film with a budget the size of something really, really big, its amazing to me that a few of the CG effects were actually noticeable. And honestly, yeah, its a movie about Wolverine, but I think I saw his claws WAY too many times to care. His story isnt that interesting, as far as superhero stories go, and as a character, again, Ive always liked him, but he was never, say Gambit (who couldve been so much better and more had he been written and casted differently). All of the other X-Men films have had their flaws, but they balanced their shortcomings by making us care about the mutantswe felt the pain of the outcast mutant/hero, forced to save the world in a world that hates them. Overall, this just feels like a lot of history shoved in between some vaguely entertaining action that looked good in some instances, mediocre in other.
It's Got: Hugh Jackman, some OK action, and a little humor at the farm.
It Needs: Better Gambit, better story, and more heart.
Summary
I guess its a kick-off to the summer movie season, but Wolverine is basically a CG film with less than stellar CG where a mildly interesting character is given the task of carrying an entire film, and sadly, hes just not enough.