Solid but Not Spectacular

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2019)

2 May 2009. Perhaps its the medium of film, but oddly enough, X-Men Origins: Wolverine just can't compete with the newer medium of television. Take the television series "Heros" which can extend any plot or character by multiple times over a number of years and a single movie even if its a prequel, it can't compete except supposedly for the special effects and big budget expenditures. The action is decent, the plot commendable if not perhaps falling trap to its own devices. Wolverine leaves some questions unanswered, uses plot twists to manipulate the audience's emotions from laughter to anger and back to sympathy. The problem with this movie is that in its effort to surprise the audience, keep it off-balanced, the plot itself becomes part of the problem as the twists and turns become themselves unlikely and unreasonable, if not emotional surprising and gyrating. This action-adventure feels derivative, with a lot of the action just a rehash of the same, some of special effects even seeming to be over to top and not comfortably believable even in the realm of big blockbuster movies. The effort in inject emotional intimacy, connections is also commendable, but not always successful. The brother relationship always felt awkward. Those innocent bystanders who get killed also seem more or less token plot devices. Overall, this is an enjoyable blockbuster, if not superbly accomplished or establishing any sort of classic status. 7/10.