www.thefilmbuffs.tumblr.com - SPOILERS

Rating: 4/10 (30 September 2013)

It was universally accepted after the X-men trilogy that Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, much like Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. His performance was a standout of the saga, and it would be foolish for Fox not to exploit that to make serious cash. Whilst Wolverine's origins were flirted with in "X-men", and their surfaces scratched in "X2", the story was never fully explored. Gavin Hood was the man chosen, even over Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner, to bring Wolverine's tale to the big screen, and finish off what was started in 2000.
After watching Wolverine discover his bony, partially see-through claws as a young boy and running away with his brother Victor, we are treated to an impressive segment with some artistic VFX and camera work showing Logan and Victor fighting through the wars of time. The two are then placed in front of a firing squad for dissent, which they survive, only to be enlisted in the special program of a certain William Stryker, along with other powerful mutants including Wade Williams (Ryan Reynolds). Their actions are eventually too distressing for Logan, who retires to pursue a quiet life with a beautiful woman, working as a lumber jack. However, Logan's peace and solitude is shattered when his past life catches up to him, and he must seek revenge against his brother for destroying his world.
Before you watch "Origins", you have to disregard the political and social undertones from the X-men series. This is not a film about mutants, humans and morals. This is a revenge action thriller based around one mutant's rage against those who seek to destroy his livelihood. Jackman lives up to the premise of the film. His aggression has evolved into something quite terrifying, if a little melodramatic at times (not helped by some very poor directing) and his physical performance and appearance is quite incredible. Performing most of his own stunts and extensively working out/ gaining weight further solidifies the dedication Jackman has for the role. Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth) fits nicely opposite Jackson for scenes of conflict, but I never felt the relationship they had as brothers was believable. Their co-operative fight against weapon XI at the conclusion was well scripted and choreographed, but the dialogue in the rest of the film never expressed the hurt a person would feel when his ideals clash against their brother strongly. In other words, the conflict was ignored on an emotional level.
The rest of the film follows a similar tone as the brothers' relationship, if you treat it exactly as it is, you'll enjoy the action and some of the special effects, but you'll miss out on any substance. I say some special effects because some are also quite horrendous: Wade Williams sword scene in Lagos, Wolverine walking away from the exploding helicopter (ruined what was a brilliant action scene) and several shots of Wolverine's claws were all pretty poor. There is also no chemistry between any of the cast worth shouting about. The story which gives Logan the idea for his alias is actually quite comically scripted (it's meant to be romantic) and acted, while the rest of the cast give Schreiber and Jackman nothing to play off of in terms of acting quality. Really, the other mutants in Stryker's team are written in purely for name dropping and thickening a very thin plot after their original involvement. Gambit's portrayal was embarrassing; after the cries of many fans to have him introduced, the result was short lived and fairly pointless (he was essentially just a personal skivvy for Wolverine who knew some card tricks and was a nuisance in a fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth). However, contrary to most, I actually enjoyed Reynolds portrayal as Wade Williams; he was annoying and not overtly comical, yet had a playful innocence which gave character to Stryker's otherwise scowling, "high- protein diet" team.
Storywise, Origins was thin, and could really have been wrapped up in about an hour if it wasn't for the seemingly last minute throw in of as many names as possible (the film was about Wolverine's origins, I'd personally have liked to have seen Cyclops and Emma Frost get separate films, thank you very much). The twist wasn't predictable and gave the end of the film a much needed shot in the arm, but was farcically conceived. Logan's lover "dies" brutally and bloodily at the hands of a savage mutant with claws for fingernails, yet doesn't have a single injury? Surely something else could have been arranged as this was just borderline silly, as any sane person would have made such a connection and smelled foul play on the lover's part. There have been complaints about how Logan loses his memory via Stryker's adamantium bullet, however I think it was a reasonable explanation that the bullet would have caused non-fatal trauma severe enough to cause Logan's memory to be affected. Although, such a bullet would have appeared in the x-ray process in "X-men (2000)", so there's maybe a continuity case if we're being picky.
In the music department, "Origins" is a marked improvement from the original trilogy. Stand out scenes include the Lagos theme for Stryker's crew and the close of the film after Wolverine regains consciousness.
In all, if you like explosions, rippling muscles, well choreographed action scenes and borderline cheesy romance, all with a dash of the supernatural, but you're not a big fan of substance, writing or depth, then "Origins" will be a welcome addition to your DVD collection. If you were a fan of the subplot of the previous X-Men films, detailing the social struggles for mutants to be accepted, and the struggles of humans to accept them, then you'll watch the film but probably won't enjoy it on a level beyond admiring Hugh Jackman's performance as the Wolverine.