X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Eric's Review: 64

Director: Gavin Hood

Run Time: 107 min
Rating: PG-13

Overall Enjoyment: 7

Having not followed the "X-Men" comic book series and having little clue as to what the "official" origins of Wolverine really are, I feel like I was approaching the movie from a position where I would have a higher chance of enjoying it. I think I did. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" seems to be about as good as anyone can expect a non-thinking, blow-everything-up summer blockbuster can be. However, the movie's special effects - of which I will mention later - hindered my full enjoyment of the film. Also, some of the inconsistencies the movie has with other "X-Men" movies in the series detracts quite a bit as well. Also, I must acknowledge that I am by no means a fan of the character of Wolverine.


Acting: 6

The acting in "Wolverine" is par at best. Hugh Jackman gives a somewhat convincing and interesting performance of the same character he has already played in three other movies, but everything feels a little dry. The horrible writing does not help the horrible delivery of said writing by the movie's cast of "Isn't that guy from?" and "I think I've seen him before" actors.


Cinematography: 5

What cinematography? This is about as flat of a movie as you can see. Once again however, I would be surprised to see interesting camerawork in a film about a half-naked man with claws in his hands. It's what you can expect from a summer blockbuster, nothing more.


Writing: 5

Also, it's about what you would expect from a summer blockbuster, nevertheless slightly above the level of "George Lucas" or "monkey with a pen." The writing in the film will very easily take you out of the movie-going experience which unfortunately bodes unfavorably for the film's Oscar chances. However, if you thought "Transformers" had clever philosophical dialogue then you should feel right at home.


Plot: 7

The plot was relatively interesting and did encompass a well developed story between Logan and Victor (Wolverine and Sabretooth). This realtionship does not seem to make sense in realtion to the other "X-Men" movies because there is no obvious relationship between these two character in the first movie of the series. For us non-X-men fanboys, I don't really understand if there is any other meaning as to why Logan and Victor seemed to stop aging for 150 years other than the simple fact that they are mutants. Also, changes his name to Logan anyway? All plot holes aside, this does give a little more insight into Wolverine's character and does offer a twist or two to make it somewhat interesting.


Soundtrack: 8

I actually did enjoy the soundtrack. Composer Harry Gregson-Williams does a masterful job of introducing melodies that appropriately couple with the mood of any given scene. I am a firm believer that a good soundtrack to make a good movie a great film. In this case, it makes a mediocre movie and slightly above mediocre movie.


Special Effects: 5

"Wolverine" deserves a "5" for special effects because some of the movie's CGI looks like it's from 1995. There is one scene in particular where Wolverine examines his new claw like blades in a bathroom and the CGI looks particularly aweful and even seems to float around on his hand. "Woody," the talking doll from Pixar's 1995 release of "Toy Story" looks better. At a time this would all look fine, but not in 2009.


Editing: 7

The movie's editing is one that that did not take me out of the experience. I can't exactly tout "Wolverine" for its editing, but at least it was pieced together well enough that I didn't notice it.


Sound Design: 8

The sound in "Wolverine" is pretty good and sadly the best aspect of the presentation. Everything from sound effects to music was pieced together very well even with a film featuring some pretty obscure sounds.


Climax: 6

Dare I say disappointing? I wasn't ever really sure when I was seeing the climatic end of the movie. The entire plot is driven between this conflict between Logan and Victor, but then a third character is introduced for the apparently sole purpose of leading into that character's solo movie. It all feels just tacked on especially when you know there will be no definitive end to this feud since Sabretooth appears in the first "X-men" movie. Also, I'm not a huge "X-Men" fan, but I could even tell that Gambit's role was shortchanged. He appears to have really interesting powers and is a fan favorite, but he only receives about 10 minutes of screen time. That is a shame and a slap on the face to fans.

Movie - 64