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X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Cert: 12, Run time: 102 minutes approx, Cast: Hugh Jacken, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds. Director: Gavin Hood
Before the “oh no, not another spin off” alarm in your head starts ringing, any viewer should pause and reconsider approaching this film. The truth is, it is one of those films that is affected by the viewer’s expectations, to an extent that causes the more observant viewer to question the general effectiveness of this film.
Saying that, the likelihood of someone watching this film with absolutely no background context their minds is very low. The X-men and the Wolverine characters are well established, even to the people who have never read a marvel comic (such as the writer of this review), especially due to the three recent X-men films. Everyone will have some expectations. They are likely to expect a grittier X-men, but the film does just about steer clear of being that unoriginal.
The title “X-men Origins” does suggest the potential for some artistic depth. An in depth explorations of the past of a major character in the X-men, with a heavy emphasis on character development , is what I should be able to describe this film as. Ideally what you would be reading right now would include descriptions of the interesting new directions this film goes in, or the total difference from the X-men , but none of these things apply. The plot is mediocre, culminating in a (spoiler alert...well, pseudo spoiler alert, after all, this will come as no surprise) final confrontation with the enemy. In this case it’s a new mutant which uses all of the mutant powers from a variety of mutants whom were held captive while their mutant powers were harvested. The end result is a teleporting, invulnerable, fighting machine with arms that can become swords and the ability to shoot laser beams form its eyes.
Yes, it is unfortunate.
And no, it doesn’t ruin the film to the extent one might expect.
The small plot twists, the way in which the plot develops and the character’s various motivations for their actions are reasonably satisfying, even if the thing they lead up to is totally ridiculous.
So, to somebody who may, for whatever reason, not expect that much out of it, one would assume that the plot’s lack of credibility would not be much of a problem. Not that this would be a good thing, a film with this much potential should achieve more, but even this opportunity to make an impression on some people was squandered.
To put it simply, the film writes cheques it cannot cash. It manages to do this by having an incredible title sequence that shows all of the different major wars the apparently immortal Wolverine and his brother Sabretooth (portrayed excellently by Liev Schreiber) have experienced. The alteration in quality after this should disappoint anyone.
Technically the film is strong, with visually effective CGI and a variety of visually gratifying shots. The dialogue is passable and the plot does make sense, but to add yet another speed bump, the delivery is rushed. Catalytic events that move the plot forward are delivered briefly, almost as if an afterthought, inserted solely for the purpose of joining sections of the plot together at an unsightly seem. The performances range from excellent to barely adequate and the entertainment value is quite high, despite the artistic flaws.
So, overall it is a very disappointing piece with just enough quality to save it from being a bad film.
The end result?
A film, which, after being viewed, leaves the viewer in danger of feeling absolutely nothing.