Sporadically Good

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2009)

Wolverine certainly starts strong with an incredible opening credits sequence to rival that of Watchmen and we learn the sordid past between Sabretooth and Wolverine in a very short space of time without it feeling rushed.
I must say, for the most part, the first half of the movie is pretty good, we see the morals Logan holds and Jackman portrays this very well, along with all the emotional angst in his life which is incredibly believable the whole way through. However lackluster performances from the other mutants that seem randomly thrown in detract from this in a major way. I do like how names and places aren't rubbed in the audience's face saying "Look how many mutants are in this movie!!" but they may as well have.
Until the halfway mark, things are very well done, it's more story- driven than effects driven which makes for a competent film. About the point where Gambit is introduced is where it all goes to pot. Story elements are thrown pointlessly in left, right and center, special effects are throw in for the sake of having them (with some very, very dodgy, obviously green screen moments), the climax is a complete flop and it all takes, dare I say, the believability away from the movie.
And I think that's my main point. The story was believable because Hugh Jackman does do an incredible job and you really feel for his character and his very sad past. But even his acting skills cannot save the sordid mess that was hastily pasted on top.
Bottom line: Wolverine is an okay film. Not amazing but not horrific. It's better than X-men 3, but it turns into a very similar film near the end which nearly ruined everything good it had going for it.