Despite some good moments, this superhero movie isn't so super

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2009)

I didn't expect much walking into the theater. In fact, until recently, I had no intention of seeing this movie unless it happens to be on TV. But, as things turned out, it was either this or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past or rewatching Terminator Salvation. I chose this.
And I must admit that it isn't as bad as I expected it to be. It had its share of praiseworthy moments, and even a few mild chuckles. The actors were decent for what they were given and many of the parts of the movie that worked were largely due to the charisma of the cast, especially Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Though he was adequate in the first three movies, I felt like this was the first movie where Hugh Jackman really became Wolverine, perhaps because the film focuses entirely on his character, whereas in the previous movies, there had been only limited attention given to the character of Wolverine, even though he is probably one of the most essential characters in the franchise. If it weren't for Hugh Jackman, Wolverine would almost certainly feel like a one-dimensional character. If given a better script, he might have really made Wolverine a noteworthy character. There has been talk of another X-Men movie focusing on Ryan Reynolds's character, Wade/Deadpool, and it's not hard to see why. Although he's absent for the majority of the movie, in the few scenes he gets, Reynolds brings an energy to the screen that immediately attracts the audience to his character. In addition, while not quite as impressive as either of the aforementioned actors, Liev Schreiber is well-cast in the role of Victor Creed, Wolverine's brother. He exudes the right amount of menace without making his character a completely one-dimensional villain.
Of course, the special effects are pretty good, though sometimes it's a bit too heavy on the CGI. Many of the battle sequences are over-the-top and too long and a scene at the beginning showing the U.S. invasion of Normandy beach during WWII can't compare to the opening of Saving Private Ryan, though it's doubtful that the film-makers intended to surpass that classic scene.
I think the biggest flaws of Wolverine are 1) the fact that it felt like two-and-a-half hours, though in fact, the movie is only two hours long; 2) the script, which, while slightly better than the script for the previous X-Men movies, is unremarkable and often rather preposterous, particularly during the climatic battle, when it constantly resorted to contrivances; and 3) the fact that there are so many characters that we don't care much about any of them, though this is less of a problem than in the previous X-Men, where there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of them all. Also, as in the other films, there was a weak performance or two and at least one unnecessary character. In the other movies, the weakest performance belonged to Halle Berry, who always felt immensely miscast and almost robotic as Storm, and there were too many unnecessary characters to count. In Wolverine, it's a contest between Lynn Collins as Silver Fox, Wolverine's obligatory love interest, and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit, though his poor performance could also be partly contributed to the fact that his character was pointless even for X-Men.
All in all, while it isn't a waste of money and time, thanks in large part to excellent performances from many in the cast particularly Jackman and Reynolds, Wolverine has numerous glaring flaws. Unless you are a fan of the X-Men comics or movies, wait until better movies come your way.