This is the reason why I don't associate myself with men who's finger nails are longer than mine

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2010)

You know in 2009 it seemed like we really didn't have a decent string of movies, the first movie that was supposed to kick off the summer blockbusters was "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and it didn't get many good reviews. I love the X-Men series personally, so I suppose I was a bit scared to see this in the theater when it was released because my friend said she was disappointed by it. Figured that it would be a better rental vs. theater. So I watched it the other day on TV and I have to say that actually it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But I do see where the disappointment was as it seems like Origins relies more on the visuals vs. Logan's story and also the ending is so rushed that you don't seem to care about it's characters. Logan aka "Wolverine" is one of the most fascinating characters in X-Men, his past is something that everyone is interested in. But instead while we get a strong performance by Jackman, it seems like it's more about "revenge, revenge, revenge" once again, such a cliché. What could have been a very smart story was a little too rushed in some areas and restricted in others.
In 1845, James Howlett sees his father killed by Thomas Logan. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from James' hands, and he kills his father's murderer, not realizing that Logan was his father all along. James flees with Victor, the abused son of their father who is now James' brother. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietnam War. Major William Stryker approaches them, and offers them membership in Team X. They join the team, but the group's questionable actions and disregard for human life cause James to leave. Six years later, James, lives in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla. Colonel Stryker locates Logan and warns him that someone is killing members of the team. Shortly afterward, Victor murders Kayla and attacks Logan. Stryker offers Logan a way to beat Victor; Logan undergoes an operation to reinforce his skeleton with a virtually indestructible metal. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker orders Logan's memory erased, but Logan overhears and fights his way out. Now filled with revenge, Logan is out to kill both Victor and Stryker for all they've done to him.
Now I thought the action scenes were great, a little over done at times, but it did keep the suspense up. Also like I mentioned before, one of the things that saved this movie for me was the strong performance by Hugh Jackman. He is a commander in an action lead role, it's interesting how versatile he is, he goes from Broadway to Wolverine. Also Liev Schrieber does a good job as Victor, Wolverine's brother, even if he was more growl than dramatic. One of the scenes that ticked me off though is how he "attacks" Logan's love, Kayla. She's showed later on that she wasn't killed and only used to trap Logan, but it's so easy to tell that she's part of the plan as we see Victor coming close to her, he's clearly a threat and she looks like "OK, did you have to ruin my car for the plan?". She was a lousy performance and in no way strong enough for the role. Danny Huston does a good bad guy, but once again one of my favorite scenes that doesn't make any sense, granted we wouldn't have a movie but, he tells his soldiers how they are going to shoot him to erase his memory. Why not shoot him right as he's screaming hysterically out of the tank? Not a strong story, but good action and a good lead kept me interested, it's a 50/50 for X-Men fans, but most likely are going to have the same opinion as me.
5/10