Plot: B
Special Effects/Stunts: C-
Similarity to Comic: B
Director: Gavin Hood
Comic Company: Marvel
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds
Rating: PG-13
See the IMDB page
See the Rotten Tomatoes page
I don't think when I was growing up as a kid I ever imagined Wolverine's origin being quite like this. This movie wasn't bad, it had a decent plot line, a decent cast, and was probably more like the X-Men comic books than the X-Men trilogy movies were, but there was just something a little... off.
The Good: When this movie was in theaters I saw it twice, which isn't something I normally do. Why did I see it twice? Because of the plot, the action, and the sheer fascination of seeing the beginnings of one of my all time favorite Superheros. The cast was okay, Hugh Jackman was great as usual but nobody else really stood out. I'd give the award for second best performance in this movie to the old man who takes Wolverine in after he runs away from the military base, and that guy was only in a few scenes. Liev Schreiber played a good Sabretooth, in fact I liked him better than the guy they had play Sabretooth in the original X-Men movie. The character of Gambit was a nice surprise in this movie as was the actor who played him, but this movie fell into the same trap that the others kind of did where they get a few good actors and the rest of the enormous cast is played by no name actors, which are hit or miss.
The plot was pretty good in this movie, considering they finally went away from the humans vs. mutants theme. The only reason I gave it a lower rating is because of a few inconsistencies with the other movies and the fact that it really had nothing to say, mostly it was just mindless action.
The Bad: Will i Am is not an actor, he is a "musician" riding the fame train right into a movie deal. He wasn't all that bad, it was just distracting trying to figure out who he was the entire movie. It's like if Lady GaGa walked onto the set of a romantic comedy and played a character that served absolutely no purpose, it's just weird. Also, they changed the actor who plays Stryker, I don't like it when movies change actors for the same character.
The real problem with this movie wasn't the cast or the inconsistencies with the other X-Men movies, it's the special effects. Some of them looked great, mainly the ones without CGI, but the computer effects looked HORRIBLE. I heard something about how they had to rush this movie into theaters because it got leaked online and that's why the effects were bad. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but there is almost no excuse for CGI this poor in 2009.
The Interesting: Let's start with the obvious. This movie does not fit in with the original X-Men trilogy. Why? Simple, because 'X-Men: First Class' screws it over. In First Class Xavier gets shot and paralyzed, yet in this movie (and X-Men: The Last Stand) he's shown walking. Also in First Class, they show Emma Frost as a full grown adult woman, in this movie (which is set later in time) they show her as a teenage girl. If First Class had just left some details alone this movie would make a lot more sense in the grand scheme of these movies. I know, I know, this movie and First Class are supposed to be "reboots" of the X-Men movies, so they're not supposed to line up with each other or the original trilogy, but for the sake of the viewer at least TRY not to confuse us. And now I'm hearing rumors of another Wolverine movie where he goes to Japan and trains with Samurai, good luck tying that in, Marvel.
There are so many continuity errors in this movie as well. Canadians don't talk like they're from the Southern U.S.A., so don't try to make them that way, they'll probably be pretty offended. At the very end of the movie (after the credits) Stryker is put under arrest for killing the general, he then shows up in X2. I'm also intrigued that the original X-Men movie of 2000 had way better special effects for Wolverines claws than this movie did nine years later, somebody dropped the ball. And no Stan Lee cameo? Is this even a Marvel Movie?
Conclusion: I'm going to categorize this movie under "mindless action" because it really doesn't connect with the other X-Men movies well at all, even though they made it similar enough to feel like it is. Putting this movie on a shelf next to the original X-Men trilogy is like putting an N'Sync track on a Backstreet Boys CD, it's similar, but just doesn't have the magic.
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