This time last summer, audiences were treated to a high-quality action flick with “Iron Man,” a trend that continued into July with the release of “The Dark Knight.” But unfortunately, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” doesn’t meet the standards of last summer.
The year’s first summer blockbuster is a spin-off of the popular “X-Men” franchise that focuses on the backstory of Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, reprising his role from the original trilogy). Gifted with healing powers and retractable bones in his hands that extend into claws, Wolverine’s mutation causes him to age very slowly. He and his brother, Victor Creed aka Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) have fought in every war since the Civil War.
After fighting in Vietnam, Wolverine and Sabretooth are discovered by William Stryker (Danny Huston), who tells them he wants them to be part of a special team. This group includes other mutants such as Chris Bradley aka Bolt (Dominic Monaghan), who can control electricity, John Wraith (Will i Am of the Black Eyed Peas), who can teleport and Wade Wilson aka Deadpool, a wisecracking swordsman.
When Wolverine realizes that Stryker is more concerned with training his team of mutants to kill people rather than help people, he leaves and ultimately finds love with Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). But his happy new life comes to an abrupt end when Sabretooth returns and kills Kayla.
Focused only on revenge, Wolverine swears to take down Sabretooth. Stryker promises to make Wolverine indestructible by encasing his skeleton in a metal called adamantium. But Wolverine soon discovers Stryker hasn’t been honest about his plans for him and becomes involved in something much bigger than the revenge he sought.
“Wolverine” is entertaining enough, but it’s just a disappointment compared to “X2: X-Men United,” regarded by many as the best film in the original trilogy. The action sequences in “Wolverine” are very exciting, particularly a memorable scene in which Wolverine flies through the air toward a helicopter. But while the action in “X2” is just as intense, that film also manages to combine it with an intriguing story and well-developed characters.
As a fan of the “X-Men” films who has never read the comics, it was interesting to get more of Wolverine’s backstory, but much of the plot was predictable and not particularly cohesive. A script with dialogue so wooden it makes a proven thespian like Schreiber seem like a mediocre actor has to be flawed.
Overall, the performances are solid considering the material the actors are given to work with. Jackman, obviously comfortable as Wolverine after four films, is still as charismatic and forceful in his performance as ever. Huston, who has proven he can play antagonist before in films like “30 Days of Night” and “The Constant Gardener,” is a fantastic loathsome villain.
But one of “Wolverine’s” strongest points is its supporting cast, which is substantially underused. The film has a wealth of interesting characters that are never fully developed. The best parts of the movie are Reynolds as Deadpool and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit, both of whom have a criminally small amount of screen time and perhaps deserve to be the central focus of their own films.
The filmmakers likely felt that as a solo project, Wolverine should have the majority of the screen time to himself, but it just doesn’t work without fully-developed characters for Jackman to play off of. What makes the original “X-Men” films so enjoyable is their ensemble nature, their blend different of personalities and powers.
The film may have intense action and a strong cast, but without the ensemble aspect of the previous films, not even Wolverine can save this spinoff from falling a little flat. C
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