Visceral Comic Book Mayhem

Rating: 5/10 (4 May 2009)

A visually lavish, special effects laden, feast offering more than enough to keep genre fans satisfied. Director Gavin Hood, after his assured mainstream debut with "rendition" will surely have the studios after him as he delivers the goods in blockbuster format.
The opportunities raised by "going back to the beginning" are largely eschewed in favour of big set piece action scenes, with some of the scene setting sequences bewildering. Lyn Collins, as Silverfox is cruelly under used in a curiously emotionless picture. The fraternal relationship between Wolverine and Victor lies largely unexplored, until we are reminded that "brothers look after each other".
Skillful, well paced editing combined with tremendous action sequences keep the 107 minutes zipping along, but ultimately this is for aficionados only. Fewer explosions, and greater characterisation, would have gone a long way.Under developed and over produced is a neat summary,8/10 for the visuals, 3/10 for the story.