Choppy but good

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2009)

From the three X-Men films that have been made, I've shared mixed feelings towards them. I thought the first was good, the second excellent, and the last one poor. To catch up on what filmmakers have decided to do with another X-Men, I went to see it. Personally, it was not a bad film, nor was it amazing.
I've never read the comic books, but I found the movie's take on Wolverine's story to be very interesting, particularly with how the open titles run as Wolverine and his brother Victor Creed fight together during the different wars, beginning with the Civil War and into Vietnam. The visual effects and the work of the cinematographer made this sequence stunning, turning what would be a boring part of the film into an important aspect of it.
The one hour and forty-seven minute film did fly by, and the plot did feel choppy, but it managed to hold together, covering a lot about Wolverine's life as well as tying in some things that were left in the dark about the other films. I wish the movie was longer so to go more in-depth about his life, but then again, it's an action flick, not an action drama.
The overall performances were good. Hugh Jackman, once again, is fearless as Logan/Wolverine, and Liev Shreiber, as his brother Victor Creed is equally as stunning. Lynn Collins as Silverfox is also a nice addition. But the other supporting characters did not do much for me. They were there, but before they could be developed, they are either killed off or are not shown again. In fact, some of the supporting characters had no real point to the film, for an example, Gambit. All he does is fight in one meaningless battle against Wolverine and flies an airplane at the end.
And for a movie that has plenty of great CGI, the effects used on Patrick Stewart in his surprise appearance is absolutely horrible. I know he's getting up there on age, but using visual effects to make him look younger was a horrible idea. Other than these few quagmires, I found myself enjoying the film.
My rating: *** out of ****