Wolverine Declawed

Rating: 3/10 (8 May 2009)

I'm no die-hard X-Men fan. I read the comics for awhile when I was a kid, watched the cartoon, and had a basic understanding of the mythology. I thought the first film was good without ever really reaching its full potential, the second was MUCH better, and the third... well, I try not to think about that one actually.
I have nothing against Hugh Jackman in the role. He's an adequate actor and physically a good match for the character (though fanboys would probably argue). But like I said, I'm not a nitpicker when it comes to these characters. I didn't have as much an investment in X-Men as I did other comic books. So while all the popular complaints thrown at the film regarding Deadpool, Gambit, Emma Frost, Cyclops, etc. do irk me a bit they were by no means a deal breaker. All conflicts over film vs. source material aside, this just isn't a well made movie. Period.
After a seemingly irrelevant first scene (seriously... tell me the point. Where was the payoff later?) there's an even more ludicrous opening credits sequence that while fun to look at it carries very little emotional weight. Nothing's at stake. There's no motivation for any of it in play. Do these guys just like blowing stuff up and killing that much? On the surface the changes they made to the Wolverine/Sabretooth relationship make sense. One character embracing his animal instincts and the other fighting them is a cool dynamic. But it's not one that's ever really allowed to play out in a satisfying way. Wolverine never comes close to the edge. There's no moment where we think he might give in and compromise his humanity. There have been traces of that trademark "berzerker rage" smattered throughout these films but they were teases at best. The real Wolverine has yet to show up in a movie. And here was a story begging for him. One free from the baggage of previous installments. They could have done something reminiscent of Clint Eastwood in The Man With No Name trilogy. But no, it's just our usual huggable, soft, family friendly Wolverine. He's less threatening here then he was in the trilogy. At least then he had the mystique of an unknown past. This movie's biggest revelation? The X-Men's "baddest" member is really a bit of a softie.
Stryker's black ops team is brimming with potential but don't get too attached to these guys. Look, I get it. The movie's called Wolverine. There wasn't room to tell all their stories. So why include them at all? Don't show an audience how potentially awesome a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool movie would be and then be surprised when they cry fowl for ditching him five minutes later. Same goes for Gambit. Why keep crowding the story with more mutants when there's barely enough time to flesh out the two we're supposed to care about? The Weapon X scene has a few moments that cause a genuine stir but honestly it was handled so much better in X2. There it seemed dirty and scary and dangerous.
And it just keeps getting worse the more the plot tries to advance itself. Ridiculous double crosses and plot twists ensue and pretty soon we reach an out of left field climax that provides a silly deus ex machina for Wolverine's memory loss and supremely unsatisfying ending for our bad guys.
To be fair, Liev Schreiber does a lot with very little. He seems to be having a lot more fun with his character than anyone else. And while there's still no explanation for how Victor became the caveman Sabretooth was in X1 I really did enjoy his performance. And as I mentioned before, Ryan Reynolds was great even if he was essentially the same character he played in Blade: Trinity. His action scene was also the only one that got a smile out of me. Although the thought of these guys riding up in the elevator on their top secret mission still makes me laugh.
Look, I don't mind the idea of more Origins movies or even another Wolverine movie. As long as they make as much of an effort on the basic premise as they did trying to figure out how to shoe horn a bunch of cameos into this one. The bulk of my disappointment rests squarely on the script.
Iron Man and The Dark Knight showed us we don't have to accept the old "pretty good for a comic book movie" attitude. These can be great films period. Wolverine is not. And there's no excuse for that.