Hugh Jackman returns as the iconic Wolverine, but this time he stars in his own spin off/prequel showing how he lost his memory and got his claws.

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2012)

This is a movie that will leave people divided, some will love it, others not so much and I understand both views. When I first saw this in theaters back in '08 I was disappointed by it but I decided to give it another chance and went to see it a second time and this time I liked it. So I see both good and bad in this. First let me say I'm a huge x- men fan and I loved all the previous movies. The good thing is that the film stayed pretty true to Wolverine's comic book origins. Weapon x, sabbertooth, silver fox and deadpool are all there. One great thing is that Wolverine is simply a interesting and cool character and he was well set-up in the previous films. The film starts off strong showing wolverine and sabbetooth as kids in the mid 1800's, they discover their powers and that their half brothers, which leads to the opening title showing the two fight in many wars as mercenaries, from the civil war to Vietnam. I like the idea of making Sabbertooth and Logan brothers, because in the comics the two were mortal enemies, their rivalry is legendary. So to make them brothers works well. Also like true enemies their more a like then they admit, both have animal like powers, healing powers and anger issues. Lievi Shreiber was a good fit as sabbertooth, he played it more low key then I imagined Sabbertooth but he captured his viciousness. Bad thing is he is never called sabbertooth he is only called by his real name Victor Creed. And there's no connections between the sabbertooth played Tyler Mane in first film and this one, which is disappointing because in the first film they hinted at a past relationship between Sabbertooth and Logan. However we meet Logan's love Silverfox, but unfortunately she's never called by her comic book name, but by her real name, Kayla. They did a good job at showing their relationship. The plot twist with Kayla was a little cliché but worked for the movie and I like the casting. The film shows Logan's old team of mercenaries,it was brief but they appear individually through out the film. Wil.i.am has a nice part as one of the mercenaries. Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson aka deadpool, who is a fan favorite for comic book geeks. Wade is known for being a mercenary with a wicked sense of human. Reynolds was perfectly cast in the role and had some great lines, although I think they should of gave him more dialog. Best line is when Ryan/Wade says about his swords "Bring a couple of these to your ex- girlfriend's wedding and they will never ever forget it". He appears later in the film as deadpool but he dosen't wear his trademark outfit, they should of had him wear the outfit and give him dialog. The film has a great villain in William Stryker played by Danny Hunston. Bad thing is there's not much similarities in the way Huston plays him to how Brain Cox played him X2. Cox had a southern accent and Huston dosen't for one. However he makes for a really a good villain. His true plan is not revealed right away and he does a good job at manipulating Logan. The films reveals wolverine's real name as James "jimmy" Logan, shows why he volunteered for the adanatium fusion, how he got the name wolverine, how old he is and how he lost his memory. I find some of these reveals a little anti-climatic but still satisfying. The film does a good job at truly capturing the concept that wolverine more or less can't die. Hugh does a good job at playing Logan. He plays him different in this one then in the others films, which is good,'cause Logan's in a different life. He's more brooding and more muscular here. Hugh is good at making Logan a sympathetic tough guy who wants to live a normal life but can't find it. We also get to see two legendary x-men characters, the blob and gambit. I like the actor playing Fred Dukes aka the blob, the evil mercenary from TV's lost. I like his look but I did't like how they explained his weight gain and the fight between blob & logan could of been better, the blob is a great villain but under used here. Gambit, my favorite x-men character is played by Taylor Kitcth. Overall he was good here, although he didn't speak french like in the comics but Taylor gives him a nice southern accent and he looks just like gambit from the comic books. I like how he fit into the story and I like seeing him in his home of New Orleans. I wish they would of showed him use more of his trademark game cards but I like his cane and seeing him playing poker and the fight between him and logan could of been better and no mention of him being a thief. However, I like that they went with wolverine having bone claws. Overall I think the movie is good. I understand how some people thought it was lackluster but I still enjoyed it. It had a good score and good cinematography. For me it was better watching it the second time. I think the problem is that the movie feels a little anti-climatic in a way but still gave us a good look into wolverine's origins.