A Disappointing, Clumsy Mess of a Film

Rating: 2/10 (5 December 2012)

Well, where to begin? I am not even sure what to say, but I know how I feel about this film. For one thing, the title is not very artistically conceived, and I consider that a retrospective harbinger to the issues present in the film itself. After the interesting opening scene, the entire "let us now recap decades of story action in one montage" begins the trend of trying to tell far too much story far too quickly, without regard for finesse. Telling a good story is often helped by limiting the scope, allowing more time to really look at the characters and get inside their minds.
The whole "look" of the film is very "glossed over," with a certain sort of sheen to it that I find nauseating (similar to Lord of the Rings, but much worse here). Perhaps that is a technique to help the visual effects blend in, but to me it just makes all of it look fake. And then there are sequences such as the one in which Wolverine flies through the air, slicing through helicopter blades with his claws. Now, I know that adamantium is the stuff, but come on. That is bending reality too far, and I could not suspend my disbelief to accommodate it.
There are lots of characters, and while the cast and acting are all pretty good, the story is what trips them up. Gambit is unsatisfying. Stryker seems pretty vanilla compared to his portrayal in X2, but that may be excused since he is younger here. I am not an X-Men know-it-all, but the whole film just feels to me like a mess of far too many elements being thrown together in hopes of something good emerging. Who was editing this film? I assume that time constraints were in play.
The one thing that I think is truly great about this film is the brief segment in rustic Canada, where Logan/Wolverine is working as a lumberjack and spending quiet moments with Lynn Collins' character (Silverfox?). There are some absolutely beautiful scenes, in particular the one at night where she tells him the Native American lore about the moon...and the Wolverine. They could have made a *great* film by focusing on that aspect of his backstory, but instead decided to cram nearly a century of time, tons of peripheral characters, and a relentless barrage of often ridiculous action sequences in a couple of hours. Sigh. I cannot recommend this as a good film. For an X-fan, it is of interest in the same way as Star Wars Episode I is of interest to classic a Star Wars fan...
For the record: (X-Men 9/10) (X2 10/10) (The Last Stand 4.5/10) (First Class 9/10)