[4.9/10] Hello friends! Do you enjoy well-done but mostly pointless action? Do you like seeing people with superpowers fight each other for poorly-defined, mostly perfunctory reasons? Are you tired of things like characterization and plot getting in the way of explosions and hand-to-hand combat? If so, do I have the film for you!
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the cumbersomely-titled first foray of the X-men films into solo spinoffs, earns its less-than-sterling reputation. That’s not to say it’s unwatchable. There is plenty of well-staged superhero action and enough things to laugh at even when the film isn’t genuinely good to keep it entertaining. But it is a giant mishmash of clichés, convoluted twists, and barely-sketched characters.
The best analogue for XMO:W (which, I maintain, should be pronounced “ex-moe”) is an eighties action film in the vein of a Rambo sequel. Take away the super powers (which most films in that genre seemed to pretend their protagonist had regardless), and this is pretty much a generic old school action hero story. The former soldier gets tired of the killing, tries to get away, and then goes on a revenge rampage against his former allies after they won’t let him out of the game.
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, giving a performance with none of the charisma, charm, or gravitas he’d shown in other work in and outside the superhero genre) is a standard macho movie protagonist. He has his girl, he has muscles, and he just wants to be left alone. Of course, that can’t happen, and after a cheap fridging (and later, a ridiculous un-fridging) he’s back to his old ways.
The dialogue of the film matches the hackiness of its plot. Jackman spits out action flick one-liners like there was discount at the gently-used script shop down at the studio. No line is too hackneyed, no quip too generic, for XMO:W to include it in its cavalcade of tropes. The characters deliver exposition at awkward times that feel like the movie should have just put up a title card explaining what happened a la silent films. And if the loud, obvious dialogue doesn’t get you there on its own, the film will be sure to repeat any cheesy or silly lines to make sure you know that Wolverine is remembering them too.
Rest assured, XMO:W will not let its talented lead convey any internal emotions on its own. Instead, it’s quite content to use voiceover, clips from events that happened ten minutes ago, and supporting players restating obvious facts to make sure you know precisely what every major character is thinking or feeling in a given moment. Never has a film been so certain to telegraph each minor sentiment with so heavy a hand.
It doesn’t help that peppered in amid the four major characters (Wolverine, his brother Victor, his tormentor Stryker, and his girlfriend Kayla), are what seem to be and endless supply of shoehorned-in X-men who have more power than personality and are quickly run through as soon as they have enough screen time to justify an action figure.
Ryan Reynolds makes his debut as Deadpool, though the character bears little, if any resemblance to the fourth wall-breaking trickster who rocked the box office in his own solo spinoff. Instead, he gets a few solid quips before disappearing for the bulk of the movie and returning as an unrecognizable, uninteresting obstacle for Wolverine to overcome. Taylor Kitsch brings all the marble-mouthed woodenness of Tim Riggins to his portrayal of Gambit, a character who is supposed to be smooth and suave, and only succeeds in offering the worst Cajun accent you’ve heard this side of a community theatre version of A Streetcar Named Desire. The rest of the film’s disposable players range from the ridiculous (The Blob), to the flavorless (Zero), to the clearly overwhelmed in the acting department (Will.i.am).
So what does XMO:W do well? When it’s not trying to tell a story or create compelling characters, it can deliver some surprisingly effective action. While it’s pure cartoony ridiculous, the sequence where Wolverine fights his military-grade pursuers on a motorcycle is high-octane fun. Various fights between Logan and Victor have a certain heavyweight bout quality. And an early scene in the film where Wolvy, as part of an elite mutant strike force team, invade a building and take out its various guards in turn, provides well-choreographed, exaggerated but entertaining superhero fireworks.
The film’s opening is really where it soars. An opening scene from Logan’s childhood sets the stage for the nominal arc of the film where Wolverine tries to decide whether he’s an animal or a good person, and there’s urgency and punch in it. An introductory sequence of Wolverine and his brother in wars throughout the ages has a certain panache and verve otherwise missing in the rest of the film. And the few interactions between Wolverine and the rest of that strike team and in the early going create character dynamics and humor that are dropped in favor of paint-by-numbers one liners later in the film.
The theme of the film is a simple one – with Wolverine borrowing a page from the Hulk and trying to control his anger and make peace with his demons so that he doesn’t use his powers for ill. To that end, Kayla is the angel on his shoulder, helping him restrain himself, and his brother Victor is the devil, relishing the killing they do as soldiers and encouraging his brother to give in. All of this supposed thematic exploration is shallow at best, and is lost in a sea of contrived episodes to explain everything from Wolverine’s adamantium claws to his motorcycle jacket, with lots of other pointless X-men cameos thrown in for good measure.
It’s not hard to see why the powers that be did a soft reboot of the X-men universe after this one. Jackman is a star, and occasionally his talents shine through the dreck, but in a franchise that needed a course correction after the misfire of X3, XMO:W instead gives the audience a bucket-full of poorly crafted cornball action, with a convoluted climax on top. It’s a good thing Wolverine has a healing factor, otherwise I don’t know how the character would have been able to recover from being in such middling crud.
Wolverine isn't Bad, but it's not as good as it could've been.
Like the 3 other X-Men movies quite good an enjoyable.
Had mixed reviews, but im just a suckernfor Hugh Jackman's movies
They didn't do only a below average movie… They also runied Dead Pool!
Whoever greenlighted this project should be moved over to daytime soaps production. At least there he can't ruin anything...
It's probably easier to list what's NOT wrong with this travesty than to use several hours ploughing through all the horrible writing, the god-awful special effects, and misrepresentations of the comics this one supposed to be based on etc. etc. etc.
The two thing that was passable in this movie was Hugh Jackmans Wolverine and the fact that the movie had a running time under 2 hours.
The worst is that the movie is totally unnecessary as they wipe the slate clean at the end. Do yourself a favour and just pass on this one.
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" didn't quite hit the mark for me. I've been really enjoying the X-Men series so far, but this one fell a bit flat. It's a shame because Wolverine is such an awesome character, and Hugh Jackman totally owns the role. But for some reason, this movie just didn't do it for me. I found it kind of boring, which was a letdown considering how much I was looking forward to it.
The finished movie is still somehow worse than the leaked, CGI-less workprint, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.
All I could think, towards the end, was "poor fucking Taylor Kitsch." I know he hasn't been hurting for roles in the last 15 years, but damn he just could not catch a break with roles he took in movies that could've/should've been huge. Gambit in one of the worst X-Men movies ever made, the titular John Carter from a sci-fi classic that would get dumped in theaters without any of Disney's massive advertising budget, giving one of his greatest career performances not attached to Friday Night Lights in the first season of True Detective that wasn't the first season of True Detective. Dude is such a great actor, but his post-Friday Night Lights career has seen his talents wasted on projects that wouldn't help his career.
And my first thought right as he caught up to all the kids being rescued by Xavier was: "Sorry, you're too late, Gambit. Back to the "incredibly popular/powerful mutant overshadowed by Wolverine" pile, just like Cyclops."
Also, how do you cast Ryan Reynolds -- one of the most well-known mouthy and sarcastic actors of the time -- as one of the mouthiest and sarcastic mutants in the X-Men canon only to sew his fucking mouth shut?
Casting Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was about the only thing right about this movie. Because it at least it made him want to give Deadpool the adaptation the character deserved. Thank fuck that Reynolds didn't care that much about Hal Jordan.
Really good sequences but the pacing is so bad, an hour feels like 2. Everything else for me is fineeee. Especially Hugh Jackman. His portrayal of Wolverine is one of the best portrayals in the history of portrayals, but that pacing, it kills everything this movie gives. Even deadpool and he's indestructible.
apparently people hate this movie? i actually loved it. sure it was a bit weird seeing this timeline’s deadpool but other than that it was actually super enjoyable.
there are a lot of bad choices in this movie but tbh on a rewatch with the knowledge that this timeline gets retconned for deadpool proper i can almost tolerate it. almost.
A flawed but decent movie that doesn’t fit with the first X-Men movie. Since Sabortooth doesn’t even mention being related to Wolverine in that movie.
It’s a shame that Liev Schreiber wasn’t just cast in that role from the start though. Since he steals the show. Ryan Reynolds probably would have as well if he got to be Deadpool done right.
this movie is pretty forgettable It's just so full of unnecessary side characters side plot lines The best parts of the movie are The friendship and eventual falling out of sabertooth and wolverine if the movie was just about that it would be a whole lot better
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a strong adventure film that delves into the mysterious past of the most popular X-Men character. The film follows the exploits of James Logan, who joins Col. Stryker’s Weapon X program in order to seek revenge for the death of his lost love. Hugh Jackman is joined by a strong supporting cast that includes Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, and Taylor Kitsch. However, the special effects are remarkably poor and the storytelling is muddled. And as a prequel, there are continuity problems with Wolverine fitting into the established X-Men mythology. Still, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a fairly solid action film that’s plenty entertaining.
I need to start with..........this film is not as bad as people say it is as Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) is always great in this role and trust me he still kills it in this film. As an origin film, it is pretty solid but I do agree that the opening credits are the best part of the film and that definitely would have made a much better movie seeing all the wars.
Let's start with the good though, I actually think the casting in this film is pretty good as Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth) is solid casting, Will.i.am (Kestrel) is not bad, Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson) is fantastic until they ruin him and Taylor Kitsch (Gambit) is great casting but wasted big time. Also, the film does have some solid moments that will definitely satisfy comic book fans and if it wasn't for the janky CGI I definitely think it would get a little more love.
Now for the bad, the writing in this film is meh at best and if it wasn't for this cast I think it would've fallen completely flat on its face but it could've been worse as some of the characters are done well and some of the scenes are handled fine but it needed better writing/direction. Also, this film feels so damn rushed and I imagine that has a lot to do with the studio trying to do quantity over quality and I really feel like they should have focused on Wolverine and Sabretooth during the war as that would lead into the next film so smoothly.
To conclude though I still think it's a solid enough movie to grab some popcorn and just don't overthink it.
Just about passable.
I never felt bored while watching 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', which is why I can't give it a lower rating. The action is well done and it gives the satisfactory amount of enjoyment, shame the CGI isn't quite up to scratch though. As with the preceding three 'X-Men' releases, I really do enjoy watching Hugh Jackman as Wolverine - he is certainly the best thing about these films.
With all that noted, the film does definitely have issues. I didn't overly like the new characters and the plot didn't truly fulfil what I was expecting/wanting from an origin story, even if it is fairly fun to watch. Elsewhere, Ryan Reynolds is introduced as his well known character, I look forward to seeing more of him in the role - here, he's fine.
Four films in and there's a slow decline ongoing, hopefully 'X-Men: First Class'* at least regains footing with the opening two productions. *I'm watching these in release order.
/copied directly from my Letterboxd review\
Hugh Jackman IS The Wolverine. There is no way around that. We had different Batman, Spiderman, Superman and the all worked more or less. But someone else playing Wolverine seems impossible.
Having said that, I really like this movie. It's not Oscar material but I found it to be entertaining. The flaws being pointed out by others are there at times and it's up to anyone what to make of it. Personally I would say that the majority of superhero movies have them. There are only a few great ones alltogether. All in all still way above average.
Some doubts (sorry for my ignorange) before the adamantium Logan was invincible? Because when he fights with Victor in the bar he doesn't have any serious injuries. And how did they survive the firing squad?
One of the best X-MEN movies.
Movie was all over the place character wise. I guess if you take it out as a stand alone film, it was alright.
My favorite movie and characters
There is some God awful CGI and the story is dull. They wasted Deadpool and Gambit. Hugh Jackman does his best and he has great hair. I think the opening credit scene with the war montage was the best thing in this.
It was a pretty solid movie up until the ending where the wheels totally came off the tracks.
This is a completely awful movie and an atrocity what they did to Deadpool. There is nothing redeeming about this piece of trash...and to the people who are voting the movie high because you think someone is hot...I mean come on...what kind of crap is that?
I'd kinda like a sequel with gambit... would be nice.
Worst X-Men movie by far.
@aisalicaway :)
You are talking about Taylor Kitsch
You will see him again soon in:
"Battleship"(2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/
and "John Carter"(2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/
Also you should watch "Friday Night Lights"
http://trakt.tv/show/friday-night-lights
A really outstanding drama series where he had his break-through/premiere.
oh my! Gambit's hot!!
Shout by DeletedBlockedParent2014-10-05T20:05:06Z
Best X-Men movie to date. Do not listen to the comic fanboys here. Excellent screenplay, story and music. This is Wolverine's origin story and they have done an excellent job. I wish there was an origin story for Cyclops too.