Better than I expected

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2009)

Disclosure: I am not an X-Men aficionado. I like the movies, but I do not follow the comics or other sources of canonical "lore," so I don't have any preconceived notions about how a story should be treated. But I have enjoyed the movies (OK, not so much the third, but as a matter of film-making, not because I necessarily considered it blasphemy against something I hold dear.)
That said, I found this to be a fairly entertaining look at the origin of the most famous of the X-Men, Wolverine. The plot was a little thin, but did have enough sudden turns to hold your interest. Some nice set pieces showing him and his brother (well-played by Liev Schreiber) in various wars could have been a bit longer than the few seconds each got, but were adequate to demonstrate the growing tension between the two brothers as they matured over the course of 200 years. The long-awaited scene where he gets his adamantium skeleton was nicely done, but would have benefited from being a bit darker and more graphic.
The other mutants were a bit pointless, and at some points even comical (who'd have thought there would be a crossover to "Fat Bastard" of Austin Powers fame?) And the role of Gambit was completely pointless, unless he is, as I suspect, a larger character in the comic arena, and had been demanded by X-Men fans who missed him in the other three movies. But his character did nothing helpful that anyone else couldn't have done. Cyclops seemed to be there as nothing more than foreshadowing that he's getting the next "origin" movie.
If the movie had one weakness that stands out, it would be the CGI. Guys, we're a couple decades into this now; there's no excuse for the blades not looking real. It's silly to have cartoonish-looking blades, especially in the shots where they weren't seen protruding from Logan's hands, and real metal could have been used (the farmhouse bathroom, for example.) Another example of poor effects was Patrick Stewart's uncredited cameo as Dr. Xavier. Although I imagine people are more difficult than metal, his face was so airbrushed to make it younger (even worse than in X-3) that I really do not know if it was all CGI, or just a live shot with bad retouching work. No Oscar for you, guys!
All in all, though, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will be an adequate beginning to the summer blockbuster popcorn movie season, and will do well enough until "Star Trek" launches next week.