Not X-Men's Proudest Moment, Not Their Worst

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2011)

After the massively disappointing (though box office success) X-Men: The Last Stand, Fox needed something to improve their franchise name. So they turned to the fan favorite hero who also happened to have just been featured in the massive Marvel crossover House of M and even had his own series, Wolverine. Logan was the center of the last three movies so they logically assumed a movie of his own would be just as successful. They thought wrong.
X-Men and X2 were successful because they were intelligent and well made stories. Wolverine did have a major part in the stories, but he wasn't the only one. The Last Stand was over packed with characters and story so that no one, not even Wolverine, had a decent character arc. And honestly, he was only featured because most of the other main cast were killed off or unceremoniously pushed to the side. Now in the comics, Logan has had a lot of success in individual series. But the movie contained none of what made those comics good.
The story is an abbreviated version of Logan's early life through Weapon X. Problem is, each and every phase of his life is so incredibly interesting that each could warrant a film of their own. Origins is, in my opinion, one of the best stories Marvel's ever put out and on equal level of DC's Batman: Year One. Here, it's paraphrased in the first five minutes, and all the mystery and intrigue of the comic series is bluntly stated. His time on Team X is also very interesting. Here, it's over in the first thirty minutes and only one mission is shown. Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith is, again, one of the best stories you'll read. Here, over with in the first half without anything that made that story engaging. The whole movie is like the CliffNotes version of the comics. You get the basics but none of the heart and soul of it.
The explanation for how Logan loses his memory is atrociously bad. I won't spoil it, but it boggles the mind that the producers came up with something so dumb. It's factually inaccurate, especially within the universe the movies have set up, and just a hair beneath deus ex machina. Origins had a very appropriate explanation that revealed a lot about who he is. If the producers went with that this movie would have been much more Christopher Nolan-esque.
Wolverine also has one major problem that The Last Stand did, far too many characters. And again, the more characters they add the less time to develop any so that basically all become stagnant. Logan has a story but doesn't really evolve. Nor can he since the previous movies established that he will be reset at some point. Stryker in X2 was one of the best villain in film and expertly shows the true enemy of the X- Men. Here, he's simply a maniacal bad guy and almost a mad scientist stereotype. The others (Blob, Maverick, Agent Zero, Gambit, even Silverfox) are simply there to move the plot forward. Fan favorite Deadpool is most disappointing. Like everything else, he's so briefly shown that can't have the time to be the anti-hero fans know and love. Ryan Reynolds was perfect casting. But he only gets two scenes and nothing much to do besides be a guy with swords.
On the other hand, I will say that they did a terrific job with Sabretooth. In X-Men he was simply a big thug who for whatever reason disliked Logan. This version was far more faithful to the comics as he and Logan were personally connected and actually got to play off each other. Liev Schreiber was terrific casting. If there's one good thing to take away from this movie, it's Sabretooth.
Hugh Jackman gives another great performance. I still can't imagine any other actor in that part. If only he had a better story to work with. But besides the aforementioned Reynolds and Schreiber, no one else stands out. No one is particularly bad, but no one is more than just okay.
Finally, this movie really should have been R. I understand all the stuff about studio marketing, the teen audience, etc. But Wolverine is Marvel's bloodiest superhero followed far behind by Blade and Punisher (both of which had R rated movies). This shouldn't be a Saturday morning cartoon show where Wolverine can only punch foes and uses his claws to open doors. This is supposed to be long before the X-Men where he still lets his anger get the best of him. Plenty of movies, much like Blade, have proved that R rated can be financially and critically successful.
That being said, this film isn't the worst I've seen. Certainly Daredevil, Ghost Rider, The Last Stand for example are far less entertaining. The action is exciting. Seeing people use powers against each other is always cool. And it does open the gates for Wolverine's early history to those who don't know the comics.
The film is tolerable. Nothing as good as X-Men, X2, or First Class but certainly a step up from The Last Stand. It could have, and should have, been better. I certainly hope the upcoming sequel (as I write this) is better. But being someone who grew up on the 90s X-Men series and the comics, I do say I enjoy watching this simply because I do like Wolverine.