Pretty good for an origin story

Rating: 5/10 (1 November 2011)

I'm no big fan of origin stories. I just want movies to get on with telling stories about established characters, instead of going through the motions with stuff we already know will happen. As it goes, though, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE isn't too bad at all. It's a lightweight piece of fluff that descends into THE PHANTOM MENACE style inanity for the effects-heavy climax, but until that point it's a watchable film, trading on Jackman's easy charm and his engaging character.
There's plenty going on in the film as the story progresses, and some of it is interesting, the rest less so. Wolverine's attempts at a romantic relationship are a definite draw, but the scenes of his rebirth in Stryker's lab feel repetitive after we already saw much of it in flashbacks in the original X-MEN trilogy. There seem to be too many extra superheroes (Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch) added into the mix who don't really go anywhere and feel like an unnecessary presence. Occasionally the film veers into complete nonsense, like the boxing match with Kevin Durand in a fatsuit: something out of an excruciating Eddie Murphy comedy, not a superhero film.
Still, Jackman is good here; he seems relaxed, happier with the role than in the past. He's no great actor, but he has the kind of likability that made Van Damme a star back in his day. Liev Schreiber also contributes a strong turn as the feral Sabretooth, a villain with more depth than you might imagine, although Danny Huston is nothing more than a stock bad guy. Others, like Dominic Monaghan, are completely wasted. The film is well paced and the effects are occasionally impressive, but a lot of the CGI work is unforgivably shoddy (the bit with Schreiber jumping along a corridor is worse than similar scenes in BLADE 2, a decade previously). Nevertheless this stuff doesn't matter so much when you've got a film as easygoing and likable as this.