My favourite X-men Movie

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2012)

I will have to say that this is my favourite of the X-men movies. It seemed very slick and flowed quite well, and though there were a few continuity flaws (these mostly arising from First Class) all in all it was a heaps enjoyable movie, and in fact when to see it at the cinemas twice. The opening credits where we watch Wolverine and Sabretooth fight in pretty much every war up to Vietnam, and also the scene where he leaps off the jeep that had just been struck by a rocket, and then rip the rotors off of Agent Zero's chopper is probably the most memorable scene in the movie.
Being a movie based around the origins of Wolverine we can assume that it is going to be action packed, and it does not disappoint. The movie opens in the 1840s where Logan's (at this time he is called James) father is murdered by Victor's, and is then told that Victor is actually his brother. Victor Creed turns out that he has similar abilities to Logan, in that he has retractable claws and has a regeneration ability. In the comics there is no relation between Sabretooth and Wolverine, however it is very rare that movies will closely adhere to a comic book series (I am doubtful that Spiderman will ever appear in an X-men movie).
We also learn about how Wolverine gets his adamantium skeleton, and also learn how old he is. In the first X-men movie all we are told that it is impossible to determine his age as his regeneration ability also grants him longevity, though in the third movie, when Beast considers him a youngster, the grunt from Wolverine suggests that he does realise that he is actually quite old, though does not indicate how old he really is. Calculations made by fans of the movies put Wolverine's age to about 170 years plus.
This movie is about vengeance, but also about submitting to one's animal side. When we meet Sabretooth in the first movie (and there is no guarantee that Sabretooth is actually dead) he is much more animalistic and communicates mostly with grunts, however there is some acknowledgement of an animosity between him and Wolverine. It is also noticeable that Magneto does not entirely trust Sabretooth, due to his reversion to an animal nature. However Wolverine is completely the opposite. He does struggle with his animal nature, however he makes the choice that he will not slay innocents, at which point he walks away from the Weapon X team. His decision to settle down with a woman (who turns out to be a mutant named Silverfox) is an indication that he wants to be human as opposed to an animal.
We also meet Stryker in this film, as he is the main antagonist. He is obviously much younger than the Stryker we meet in X-2, however there are references to his son being a mutant and that it was because of his son's mutant powers that his wife was murdered. However in X-2 it is his desire to wipe out all mutants, where as here he is genetically experimenting with mutants to create the ultimate weapon. This weapons turns out to be Deadpool, who has a mix of abilities with a mouth that is sealed shut (the Deadpool character suffers from verbal diarrhoea).
I finally must mention that one of my favourite X-men, Gambit, makes an appearance in this film, though it is more than a bit part, it is not a huge role. It is a shame that Gambit never made an appearance in the later movies, but then the later movies are set 15 years after the events in this film, so whatever happened to Gambit in the films, it appears that he never joined the X-men.