Silly, But Relentlessly Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2019)

I don't even feel guilty loving this one. In fact, I'd actually argue that it's the most underrated X-Men film by a landslide. That's not to say that it's great, it has some significant script problems especially in regards to structure and a story that often gets unfocused and messy to put it kindly. Studio interference did a real number on Origins: Wolverine (Do I even really talk about what this film did to Deadpool?) and there are points where it gets even too stupid for its relatively low ambitions. It's also pretty visually ugly to look at (Though no more so than half the MCU.)
That being said, there's still a lot to enjoy here for me. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a fun, silly throwback to cheesy 80s action films much in the same manner that the similarly maligned Doom was and, when viewed under this lens, a lot of its more goofy moments make sense. It's less interested in following the (misguided) approach at social commentary the previous movies fumbled around with that being its own unique vision; a tribute to testosterone-infused cheesefests like Commando or Cobra. It's the kind of movie where the hero fights a helicopter before slowly walking away from an explosion without looking. Where characters say lines like "I'm gonna cut your goddamn head off" and "Nobody kills you but me" with the straightest of tough guy stares.
It's silly.
It's deeply silly.
But you know what? That's fine.
After 3 movies of unintentionally offensive and brutally tone deaf attempts to exploit real life Civil Rights movements for laughable attempts at allegory, I'll take a big, dumb action movie that embraces its dumbness instead of masquerading as something it's not. And dumb as they are, those action scenes have some spectacle. They have some weight and creativity to them. Say what you want, but not many writers in Hollywood today would put a scene in their action movie where the hero slices a steel ladder to bits while his enemy is climbing it or where he cuts through a lab naked before jumping into a waterfall.
That's not to say that the film doesn't have anything to bite on outside of its over-the-top cheesiness. Liev Schrieber's Sabretooth is one of the best acting performances in a superhero movie to date, bringing depth and menace to a character relegated to mere dumb brute status in previous films. Victor Creed has always been one of my favorite mutants in Marvel and he's done absolutely perfectly here. His relationship with Wolverine is probably one of the most complex and interesting in any of the X-Men movies and Schrieber balances his conflicted jealousy and disgust for Logan wonderfully. Cheesy nature of the film aside, Schrieber is both frightening and surprisingly three-dimensional in his portrayal of Wolverine's spiteful, sadistic and cunning tormentor. It's everything I could have wanted out of a portrayal of one of my favorite supervillains.
It's weird thinking of this film as the only one of the original 4 X-Men movies to give Logan a strong character arc, but it really is. It's interesting to see a character renown for his status as a lone wolf slowly lose his naivety and trust in others until he literally becomes nothing but a shell of anger and rage, no identity left but his anger and propensity for violence. I do think there is some degree of depth there and, clunky as the journey is, Indo think it remains intact through the end product.
I'll even go on record and say I prefer Danny Hutson's Stryker to Brian Cox's. Is it accurate to the comics? No. Not even a little. Is it an enjoyably over-the-top and insanely fun mad scientist take on the character that totally fits the insane 80s action tone the film is going for? Is it something I'll take over Bryan Singer's laughable oversimplification of what real world political bigots act like? Yes and Hell yes.
You know what? I'll go even farther. I like Will.I.Am as John Wraith in this film. Once you get over the fact that he's famous for being the lead singer in a terrible R&B band, he actually pretty accurately captures the charisma and wisecracking sense of humor of Wraith from the comics. His chemistry with Jackman is off the charts too.
So those are my thoughts on Origins: Wolverine. It's an entertainingly overblown, often funny 80s action film that for some reason was released in 2008 with some strong character arcs and mind blowing action sequences.
And at least, at LEAST, it didn't try and somehow tie the mutant fight for Civil Rights to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
...I can't believe I actually had to say that.