in between what is and could have been...

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2009)

so , i just watched wolverine and i really don't have a hundred percent sure what i make of it.
first, the plot: the movie spans from his childhood mutant manifestation to the moment he loses his memory. and while this actually answers a lot of questions about the enigmatic character, the delivery was painfully lackluster (the painful part being that i really wanted to like this film despite not being the biggest fan of the title character).
i don't however feel it is entirely the director's fault. the script could have been better. i know nothing about film making, i freely admit that, but in some parts, some scenes that could have been more powerful sort of fizzled, and i think it was the script. to an extent, i was not won over by some of the camera work. again, i don't know much about making movies, and i can't quite put it into words after only one screening, but it seemed a little choppy, reminiscent of Brett Ratner's very fast paced short scene technique in X men 3. i understand that there was a lot of material to get through but, it just felt off.
while taking into account that this was a movie about wolverine, some characters were really undeveloped despite being well acted (all of them). while i was thrilled to have gambit in the movie world (finally), i cannot for the life of me tell you what his motivations are in this movie, or who he is.
the movie overall wasn't that bad. at best i say it suffered form overhype. i for one was expecting something killer and sublime from perhaps the most popular of the x men ( and 20th century fox's cash cow). in truth, minus a few questionable moments like Scott's magically heat bearing rays, and Emma's apparent lack of telepathy. it tells a rather good story. questions are answered, and there is a look into the man before he became "the animal". it's just not done to the best of it's potential.
what the movie gets right is effects. i won't even go into them because you will remember them and others will wax lyrical about them. nutshell; they were good. what was missing was soul; i left the cinema thinking, "it's official, no one does an x-men film like Bryan Singer.
yes, x men and X2 weren't without fault. and i was bitter about storm being shafted in the first two movies. but for an initial non fan, he gets the characters and a relatable way to tell their stories.
overall, after putting these not too random thought together, i think it's an okay, solid movie. just don't expect a masterpiece.