An average story about two brothers

Rating: 6/10 (1 May 2009)

Wolverine is one of the main heroes of the X-Men and the idea of a movie focusing on his "origins" was bound to be one that would receive much support from fans of the series. However, X-Men Origins: Wolverine may be a movie that most fans will compare to X-Men The Last Stand, a less than impressive accomplishment since there was great expectations for the movie.
Logan (Hugh Jackman) and his brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) are two brothers with unique powers. Escaping their Canadian childhood home in the 1840's, the two brothers will spend the next 100 years fighting in every war from the American Civil War to Vietnam. Ignoring the fact that these are Canadians who seem to like fighting for America, the two brothers find that their talents and abilities make them the perfect soldiers. Victor, more so than Logan, finds a taste for blood that eventually turns off Logan who himself has grown tired of the constant fighting and death.
A mission in Vietnam ends with the death of a superior officer and a death sentence. However, the invincibility of the two brothers attracts the attention of Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston) who would rather see the two of them work with his own team of soldiers. Men, who like Logan and Victor, possess special powers that make them stand out. The problem, for Logan, is that this leads to more death and a feeling of revulsion. He abandons not only Stryker's team but also Victor.
Years later, Logan has made a comfortable life in the Canadian Rockies with his girlfriend Kayla (Lynn Collins). Tragedy soon follows Logan and, when he believes Kayla has been murdered by Victor, Logan will take the first steps that will lead to the creation of Wolverine. Logan has been fighting the beast within for years but now he will see that he has to unleash it in order to solve the mystery of Kayla's death. Not only will he become the weapon he always had the potential to be, Logan will discover that vengeance will not always bring redemption.
The problem is that there really isn't more to draw us into the story. Instead of focusing in on the transformation from "man" into "animal", X-Men Origins instead uses overblown special effects, explosions, and pointless camera shots of slow motion rage. An average movie about two brothers, X-Men Origins suffers from not enough depth. There isn't enough time spent on the history of Logan or Victor to make us care about their relationship. A better movie would have focused upon their past instead of jumping straight to the present. What other experiences did the two share that lead them to two opposite lives? There is more to the story but we never see it. There is a sense of rivalry between the two but it is never explained except that Victor seems to suffer from low self esteem. The use of other minor mutants only distract since their stories are never explained either.
A disappointment that compares to The Last Stand, fans will not be excited. The X-Men series will have to ensure that the next movie is able to live up to the standards of the first two movies.
6/10