Not as bad as you think

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2009)

First of all if your going into this movie expecting Dark knight or a faithful uncompromising adaption of the Wolverine: Origin comic books you are going to be disappointed. Actually if you are expecting the best movie of the summer your are certainly going to be annoyed. If you want to see Hugh Jackman kick ass as Wolverine then you are going to have a good time. This film succeeds as a Hollywood blockbuster that has the spirit of the Marvel character without leaving non fans in the dark. I imagine the target adolescent audience will eat this up and that is the purpose.
As a long time reader of Wolverine and the X-Men I have always had to take these movies with a grain of salt. I have learned to let go of the fact that Jackman is TOO big to be Wolverine(in the comics he is known as the short guy with an attitude) and prefer to judge the films as a re imagining of the comics to conform to a 2 hour movie. I disagree with some of the other fan boys who say X-MEN ORIGINS:WOLVERINE is totally unfaithful to the comics. Bastardized yes, but if you have read the Wolverine solo comics you will notice some of the parallels: young James Howlett killing his real father, Sabertooth killing Wolverine's 1st love Silverfox(later a plot twist(sorry)), the unbreakable metal bonding scene uses lines directly from the Weapon X series, etc. Even though Jackman does not fit my particular image of Wolverine he along with the films creators have used the bits from the comics to demonstrate their appreciation for the history of the character while creating a story that can be told in a coherent 2 hours. As far as Sabertooth is concerned Liev Schrieber may not look like the character but he does a superb job of giving him life unlike the Sabertooth of the 1st movie who was merely a henchmen and comic foil.
There are obvious problems: the CGI is dated, there are plot holes and typical Hollywood clichés. Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is a real charm but his character is killed much to early. The treatment of Emma Frost in particular is enough to make any X-Men fan want to pee on the screen. I am a big enough fan of Gambit to be happy his character was used at all. Overall this movie is on par with the first movie, better than Last Stand but no where near X2. Thanx.