X-men Origins: the fail begins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DVD))

Member Name: hewhoisme

Product:	X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DVD)
Date:	12/08/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning graphics

Disadvantages: The writers.

I always felt that superhero movies, like video-game adaptations, are cursed to inevitable failure. Although X-men Origins does not suffer of this as much as films like, say, the Hulk or Catwoman, it still reeks of damnation, pretty much confirming me in my belief that marvel comics simply don't belong on the big screen.

X-men Origins follows the story of James Logan (later known as Wolverine), and the events that lead up to the first, and possibly the only, successful X-men film. Hugh Jack plays the part of Logan, a young mutant with practically unlimited regenerative abilities and a penchant for stabbing things. After escaping from a literal broken home with his brother Victor, who shares Logan's nigh immortality, the two set out and blaze a path through the decades, before being snapped up by obvious bad guy William Stryker and "team X," a rag tag group of technopaths, sharp shooters, and Will.i.am. Not unsurprisingly Stryker's 'anti-terrorist- group' turns out to be up to no good, causing Logan to have a moral crisis and disappear into the horizon, unintentionally leaving Victor with abandonment issues. Years pass, Logan falls in love, and all seems fine and dandy, until his past unexpectedly hunts him down and sends him on the ever-predictable quest for vengeance, a decision that ultimately leads to the razor clawed hair-gel addict we all know and love. What follows is 107 minutes of intense special effects, variable acting, Ryan Reynold's further type-casting himself as 'the loudmouthed yet lovable wise guy,' and generic villains doing generic villain stuff. Basically, it's your average superhero movie.

As you may have guessed I'm not a massive fan of this movie, although I will admit that it is better than X-men 3. Then again, even the apocalypse would be better than X-men 3. Although the special effects are nothing short of spectacular, and some of the acting is quite engaging, the film does have many pitfalls. For a start there's the hideous plot line, which follows the typical 'hero escapes from shady past, falls in love, loses love, vows vengeance, starts a vendetta with estranged brother, and eventually battles a freak of nature with a stupid name' format of most comic book adaptations, which makes the entire performance somewhat farcical. The storyline is also incredibly rushed, containing more than the arbitrary amount of plot holes and clunky dialogue, giving the impression that the writers created a last minute botch to fit in with proceeding trilogy, without looking at the overall fluency. And finally there's William Stryker, who suffers from the most laughable case of bad guy logic I've ever seen. The overall image, in all honesty, is pretty grim.

X-men Origins is pretty much your average run-at-the mill superhero movie, just with much better graphics. The story is rushed, the plot is laughable, and it often leaves you settled with that distinct sensation of emptiness you get when you realise you've just wasted a part of your life. In summary, it's pretty much exactly what I expected.

Summary: Stands up to the proceeding triology, which really isn't a compliment.