X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The first X-Men film was fun and well-made though with a beginning-of-the-franchise-not-yet-properly-finding-its-feet feel; X-Men 2 was very, very good indeed and an example of a bigger and darker sequel better than the original(even if it wasn't quite perfect either) and X-Men 3 The Last Stand while nowhere near as bad as its reputation was disappointing(after being so impressed by the previous two) and a step-back in the franchise. X-Men Origins: Wolverine had much going for it but while it is nowhere near a bad film it could have delivered more, considering that this was an origins prequel story. X-Men Origins: Wolverine does have good things, it's well shot and edited(if a little rapid in a couple of the fighting sequences), the special effects are nicely executed and not used too much and the dark, gritty style of the previous three films is wisely maintained, nothing overblown or static here. The opening sequence is robust and exciting and gives you the sense of "looks like we're in for a treat here", most of the action sequences have tension and thrills especially at the end(which also makes a real effort to tie up loose ends), Sabretooth/Victor and Stryker are well-realised and there are a few good performances. Wolverine may be too ambivalent character-development-wise but Hugh Jackman's charisma and grizzled demeanour is pitched perfectly, Liev Schreiber brings real meat, toughness and menace to Victor/Sabretooth and Danny Huston as the villain Stryker is both classy and ruthless and does them very effectively, Stryker avoids being too one-dimensional. Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch do what they can and are quite good.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine does suffer however from a lot of the same things that X-Men The Last Stand had. The script is very contrived and in a worse way than X-Men The Last Stand, emotional moments are forced, exposition and any explanations are underdeveloped and any bits of humour are on the broad side(X-Men 2 especially avoided this and had a much more even balance). The story has some good atmosphere and good scenes and has some tension, but it does try to cram in too much and things feel rushed and not as developed as they ought. Gavin Hood does reasonably admirably in the action but very like Brett Ratner he is surprisingly not as comfortable in the non-action scenes, in a way that the writing and story, that should give the film depth, are sacrificed by the action(again mostly very good, apart from ones that did lag and you couldn't always tell who was who). Apart from Sabretooth and Stryker (Wolverine was written much better in the first two films but Jackman's presence did make up for things), the characters are disappointingly written, especially Deadpool who had a lot of potential but disappears just like that and appears even more abruptly much later at a stage where you think they've forgotten all about him. Gambit was also treated fairly insignificantly, and other characters like Blob and Kayla(Lynn Collins' acting is wooden in this part) are pretty useless. It doesn't have the too many characters problem like The Last Stand did but it like that film doesn't develop or write the characters well but not as insultingly. On a side note one positive review said that they couldn't understand why The Last Stand and this got criticised for the characters and the first two get a free pass; actually the first two films have been criticised for under-utilising characters and bad acting in them, namely Cyclops and Storm, but at least they tried to respect the characters and not distort them or deprive them of personality like this and Last Stand did(and this is NOT coming from a comic-book purist, far from it, you don't even need to have read an X-Men comic to have this criticism). Harry Gregson-Williams' score has some excitement and induces some suspense but at other points it's too over-bearing and strident, of the X-Men films this film had the least effective score in my opinion. Will.i.Am being cast in an X-Men film would cause alarm bells and his performance is not any better, it felt out of place.

To conclude, could have been better but it's not that bad. 5/10 Bethany Cox

It has a very good storyline, the non-stop forward-moving pace works well and gives it a tone that works better then other, longer movies. It's very well directed and the acting (small, medium, and large roles) is PERFECT. I would have loved to have seen more of Gambit and Wilson even though that might have screwed with the pace that I just mentioned. The very best movie of 2009 regardless of genera. This is so gritty, real, and heartfelt that it even craps on the last film (Last Stand) and I actually enjoyed that film. Overall this movie was the best that I've seen this year.

There is not one wasted line, visual, camera angle or development in this entire movie. Everything serves to advance the plot. It was tight and lean and superbly done. I truly think that this is the best prequel movie of all-time. How could you not like it? From the new mutants to all of the special effects to the crisp pace… I loved it. I loved the ending. You can obviously see the attempt to tie this film to events from the trilogy but it all works neatly and tightly. Wolverine is the first movie this year that I want to see again. It's one heck of an entertaining movie.

10/10 superb!!! I can't wait for the DVD... I hope there's also a director's cut but I can't imagine what they could've possibly left out of this fabulous film.

The early years of James Logan (Hugh Jackman) , and his sibling Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) , two mutant brothers , born two hundred years ago, and fighting in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. And being set in 1845, the 1860s, the 1910s, 1944, 1973, and 1979. Subsequently , featuring the strong rivalry with his brother Victor Creed , his service in the special forces team Weapon X led by Stryker (Danny Huston) . The latter is a U.S. Colonel who recruits them and other mutants as commandos and his experimentation into the metal-lined mutant Wolverine. Then Logan quits and turns a logger, falling in love for a local teacher (Lynn Collins) .Things go wrong when Logan refuses to rejoin . When he's most vulnerable, he's most dangerous. The hero. The fugitive. The warrior. The survivor. The legend. The fight of his life will be for his own. When enemies rise... when immortality ends... the ultimate battle begins.

The story is more complex and thoughtful to follow than previous entries for newbies and takes itself seriously and displays interesting characters involving through the movie and some new mutant . Fine acting from dual starring : Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine and Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed , both of whom suffering childhood trauma and have only each other to depend on . Furthermore , appearing other superheroes as prisoners of Striker's Island as Gambit , Cyclops , Emma and Deadpool who was only going to cameo, but the role grew after Ryan Reynolds was cast , and , of course , an essential guest star : Sir Patrick Stewart as Prof. Charles Xavier to become rejuvenated thanks to digital efects by computer generator . It has great action some brief fitting humor and it also has good intrigue. The script provides a well-executed and exciting final and tied the threads were leaving along the film . Based on Chris Claremont , Frank Miller comic books strips from "Wolverine" and suspenseful and twisted screenplay by Skip Woods and David Benioff of Game of thrones . The film had started out as a prequel to X-Men (2000) , but later he decided to make it an independient Wolverine film with some strings relationed with X-Men series .The film contains an impressive, breathtaking ending battle with plenty of computer generator effects . The great duo of protagonists Hugh Kackman , Liev Schreiber are well accompanied by a nice support cast, such as the beautiful Lynn Collins , the usually villain Danny Huston , Kevin Durand , Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch , Daniel Henney , Ryan Reynolds , among others.

Thrilling and rousing musical score by Harry Gregson-Williams . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Donald McAlpine . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gavin Hood delivering a decent filmmaking .Overall, this has a good look, some nice action, a little bit of humor andoverwhelming final battles . Director Gavin Hood does a good job pulling it all together . Gavin was born in South Africa , he is an actor and producer, known for Tsotsi (2005), Eye in the sky (2015) and Official Secrets (2019). Rating : 7/10

This film reminds me of Phantom Menace. You probably like it more when you're younger, but as you get older, the flaws are more apparent. The movie is weak and although it's not awful, it's so mediocre and on that fine line, that you might as well say it's bad. It's the weakest of all the Xmen movies and then X3 after that.

The previous movies alluded to the idea that Wolverine was barely holding back his more intense rages. That struggle is what makes him so compelling - that with just one slip up he'd be more animal than man. So what I wanted from Origins was that crazy Wolverine that the current day guy was afraid of. Instead they presented a pretty levelheaded guy who just liked to fight, but not that much.

Also, they totally botched the purpose of the Weapon X stuff. Namelythe purpose of the program is to subjugate mutants by treating them like objects, not people. So even if they wanted to go with the whole "level headed Canadian" for the first part of the movie, he should have been turned into that crazy, out-of-control animal after Weapon X. This way I could see his humanity stripped away, revealing the animal inside, and thus showing me why he's afraid that it'll get out again.

Alas, his response to volunteering for the program is more of a casual confusion at his new, sharper claws. Basically, they missed the point of the character.

I have no idea as to why people bash Wolverine. I think its an extremely well made, highly entertaining movie with great acting and a fitting storyline. Its also pretty dark and uncompromising in many scenes.

The fight scenes are brutal and intense which makes them really awesome.

I was actually surprised by some of the plot twists. Great.

The opening title sequence should win some kind of award. Gave me goose bumps. The editing is perfect.

Only complaint is the few plot holes towards the X-men trilogy.