Wolverine wants revenge!!! (X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DVD))

Member Name: mrbusy62

Product:	X-Men Origins: Wolverine (DVD)
Date:	07/11/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good background story

Disadvantages: none really

I wasn't sure what to expect of this as I had enjoyed the X Men films but found them a little too comic bookish-ish. My wife wanted to see it because of Hugh Jackman.

The film opens in a by gone era and shows a young Logan and Victor Creed showing more than a little sibling rivalry. Interestingly though they are not aware that they are brothers until Wolverine's real Dad comes in and shoots his assumed Dad. Wolverine then kills his real Dad and the two boys run away as they fear what will happen. Interesting point is that Wolverine's blades are bones at this stage.

The opening credits take us through several wars where the two brothers fight side by side until the present day when Stryker enlists them on a mission to obtain a valuable piece of meteor from an African village.

When things get ugly Wolverine quits and we see him living a normal existence as a lumberjack with a a very pretty woman, Kayla who is more than a little mysterious. There are some big clues to what will happen here and as usual my wife was second guessing and she picked up a fair few clues and had half the film sussed before the final showdown.

Wolverine then volunteers to have an experiment done in order to become the ultimate fightin machine and this is when we see the adamantium being attached to his skeleton and Wolverine is born. He then sets out to kill Victor creed in revenge for him having killed Kayla.

As you would expect with any X Men related film the set pieces are by far and above the best part of the film. Whether it is Ryan Reynolds weilding a sword or Hugh Jackman on a bike being hunted down they are exilirating and on the whole believable. There is of course the mutant element but interestingly the word is rarely used.

What sets this apart is the innocent of outsiders, or humans. There is not the same racial tension between humans and mutants though it is starting to emerge and it made for a more innocent but realistic movie. Seeing how Logan gets his bike and jacket is very touching, if not a little disturbing and we found ourselves wanting to scream at the TV.

One of the more played doen characters is that of Gambit and I'm hoping if there is a sequel that we get to know more about him.

Fans of X Men will be glad to see that Scott Summers makes an appearnace as a young boy as does another old friend. There is not the same hatred between mutants though it is surfacing towards the end of the film and the hatred for Stryker is well placed and cleverly built upon.

Acting wise I can't really fault this. There are some characters who do little except push along the story and there are others that you wnat to see more of but get bumped off.

It's not X Men, thankfully. It looks a little raw and it's not a case of nice shiny weapons and fancy gadgets or suits. It has a grit about it and this helps it stand alone.

Any gripes, the only unanswered question is why Logan never knew his real father before he did. That left me a bit perplexed, but otherwise the story fills in Logan's history nicely and makes a little more sense of the other X Men films.

All in a good movie that suspends believe where it has to but keeps it real for the rest of the movie.

Summary: Strong action movie