Great action, formulaic story

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2009)

This movie started out pretty great, but then seemed to be losing some steam by last 1/3 of the movie. Hugh Jackman was great as were his enemies (esp. Liev Schreiber who plays his brother) - all were believably villainous and intense, but somehow the story stopped being engaging. Things became so formulaic that I realized I've seen this plot line one too many times.
Basically, the story tells us the background story about X-Men character Wolverine's childhood through adulthood. He doesn't have a memory of his past and this movie tells us the story of why.
There's a great revenge-themed plot involved, but it just doesn't have a great crescendo. Wolverine/Logan's vengeance quest ramps up great in the beginning and middle, but seems somewhat empty or hollow afterwards. All the classic elements were there (hateful enemies, explosions, good people in jeopardy ... etc.) - but that's the problem - it's too formulaic ... to the point of being utterly predictable.
If you're an X-Men's fan, you've probably already seen this film (or nothing's going to stop you!), for everyone else - it's got some great action and F/X scenes that make a solid first half, but it delivers a story you've already seen a 100 times before.