X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Directed by Gavin Hood
Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds
Rated PG-13
Release date: May 1, 2009

When X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked onto the internet and the flood of angry fanboys littered the interwebs forums with negative reactions, I was one of the many fanboys that were hesitant to go see the film in the theater. But mulling it over, I realized that many of the comic book films that I actually like are ones no fanboy will admit to liking (e.g., Watchmen, Daredevil, Fantastic Four), so I decided to jump feet first into the movie.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine explains the film in a nutshell. The movie tells the tale of how the mutant James Logan (Hugh Jackman) became Wolverine, the Adamantium-laced killing machine we all know and love. Want to see Wolvie as a small child with bone claws? Fall in love with a Canadian hottie? Fight in various World Wars and battle his brother turned nemesis Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber)? It is all here in the movie filled with action, surprises, and a tale of a man who has loved, lost, and killed along the way.

While not on par with other comic movies like The Dark Knight or X-Men, Wolverine is certainly not a boring movie. Written by David Benioff and Skip Woods, there are many exciting fight scenes and thrilling moments (most notably the insertion of Adamantium into Wolverine’s bones) that will whet any fanboy’s appetite. The direction by Gavin Hood is also solid. I especially liked how he set up the war montage at the beginning of the movie, which was visually impressive for the guy’s first action movie. This, along with the inclusion of fan favorites Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), and many others should more or less make up for some of the movie’s problems.

This film is by all means, not perfect. It suffers from a severe case of the Summer Blockbuster Film Flu. The explosions are huge; the dialogue is extra cheesy (“Drinking to Forget?” “No, I’m drinking to remember”) and some of the special effects are just downright awful. In some cases, the green screen is very evident and on more than one occasion, Wolvie’s claws looked like they were added in during post-production. Plus, some of the action sequences are just too over the top, even for a comic book movie.

Depending on how one feels about the liberties the screenwriters took with some of the characters’ powers and origins (Deadpool in particular) though, many of the serious problems can be overlooked. I know it is hard for fanboy/girls to take, but many moviegoers are not aware of the major changes that Deadpool was given or the slight alterations on Gambit’s powers. They are not comic book fans themselves. As a comics fan, do I like the changes? No, of course not. Everyone involved in the film would love to appease the comics fans but at the end of the day, they want to make a movie entertaining enough to put moviegoers in the seats and they have done just that. I doubt an average movie fan would not watch the film because Gambit has suddenly developed an ability to walk on walls. It just won’t happen.

Whether you love or hate the film, one thing is very clear: Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. Every time he is on the screen, he just raises the movie up twelve notches and makes the movie fun and entertaining. You can tell he is a huge fan of the character and it definitely shows when you see how much effort he puts into the role. The man just embodies the role in every way.

The other actors in the cast do their best to hold their own in Jackman’s presence, with varying results. Reynolds’ (in his first drama/action role without his beard!) Deadpool and Kitsch’s Gambit hit the mark, even with the changes to the characters, both big and small. Deadpool’s fight scene with Wolverine and Sabertooth is one of the highlights of the film. Listen up filmmakers: SOMEONE GET RYAN REYNOLDS A SUPERHERO MOVIE TO STAR IN AS THE LEAD SO HE DOESN’T BECOME MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY!!!! Liev Schreiber’s Sabertooth and Danny Huston‘s William Stryker are satisfactory villains but just aren’t menacing enough for Wolverine. Hopefully for the sequel, better villain casting will come along for the ride. Even Will.I.Am‘s John Wraith is tolerable, despite my personal hatred for musicians who try act.

If I had to sum up X-Men Origins: Wolverine in one line, I would have to say that Wolverine is the best at what it does, but what it does isn’t always pretty. Wolverine is the perfect embodiment of a summer popcorn movie and has comic cameos that any fanboy would love but it’s the script’s summer blockbuster tendencies and bad special effects that keep the movie from rising up to the occasion as X-Men and X2 once did.