Definitely could have been much better

Rating: 6/10 (4 May 2009)

The Wolverine character was first introduced - cinematically - in Bryan Singer's first X-Men movie. There, he was presented as a tough, violent individual who knew very little about his past, and even less about how he got his awesome powers. That was part of the film's charm - that one of its main characters was a complete mystery, and the way this mystery was treated was very effective. The purpose of Origins is to reveal this mystery, but I'm not sure if it was a very good idea in the first place.
Unless you know nothing about he movie, you probably know that it eventually shows Logan taking part of the Weapon X program - it shows how he gets his adamantium skeleton and claws. The thing is, this part of the movie should have been treated as more important. There's no suspense towards this very significant transformation. No anticipation. The sequence itself last little more than 15 minutes, and ends up with Logan escaping - quite easily - from Stryker's grasp. And then, I also thought his lack of memory had to do with the experiment itself, but it doesn't. The way his amnesia - which is a very important aspect of the original X-Men flicks - is explained is one of the most disappointing aspects of the film - a very idiotic and ultimately senseless explanation indeed.
If there's one level I thought the movie worked beautifully, it's action-wise. There are quite a few action set pieces, and every one of them work on their own right. Granted, I'm not saying there's anything particularly groundbreaking in here - actually, movies like the aforementioned Iron Man and The Dark Knight and even The Incredible Hulk were more successful because they were actually capable of gathering suspense - but it all looks pretty cool. The thing is, I actually never though any of this characters were in danger - although that's maybe because both Wolverine and Victor are almost immortal beings. Visually, there's nothing particularly striking - the CGI is at times competent and at times a little too attention-calling (the final set piece in the nuclear reactor comes to mind), and the physical effects, including make up for a particular nemesis, aren't bad.
Hugh Jackman is, as always, excellent in the role which gave him fame. He knows the character, and maybe that's why the film works more than it should considering its mediocre screenplay. Liev Schreiber is surprisingly good as Victor - the man's made a career playing more cerebral, less physical characters, but in here he proves he's really excellent at playing ruthless villains. Danny Huston doesn't exactly channel Brian Cox's "version" of Stryker, but he's good nevertheless. Taylor Kitsch is lame as Gambit, and Ryan Reynolds (who's actually really good) is wasted as Wade Wilson. Considering both their characters were some of the most anticipated by the fans, their limited screen time is a really bad move by the filmmakers.
I was really entertained by X-Men Origins: Wolverine, mainly because Hugh Jackman is so damned good at playing the titular character and because, although the action sequences were pretty ordinary, they looked awesome. Compared to some of the comic book films I mentioned earlier in this review, though, it's a pretty big disappointment. Considering everything that has been told in comic books about this character, much more could have been done with an origins motion picture, but the filmmakers decided to focus on action and violence... so there you go. The funny things is, director Gavin Hood is not an action director, so why bring him? And to think that I thought his presence could make the film focus more on character than on fights, explosions and CGI.