During my childhood, I actively collected comic books and X-Men tended to be the series I gravitated to the most. I found the characters and situations more complex and really caught onto what they were trying to say about society as a whole through this dramatized world of mutants and would be heroes and villains.
The one character in X-Men canon who seemed to be the most popular was Wolverine. In comic book form or through the hugely popular animated series in the 90s, Wolverine was the embodiment of cool. His gruff demeanor and his give two shits attitude is why my friends thought he was the best thing about the band of mutants but, despite his popularity, I felt like other characters had much more depth. His backstory is interesting enough but not worthy of him being the focus of most incarnations outside of the comic book series. On the cartoon series, he was clearly the star and by the time the X-Men movie was released in 2000, he was front and center again. This would carry on throughout the first 3 films and would continue in various spinoffs from those movies.
The one thing that makes the character work in the films, despite my general indifference to him, is Hugh Jackman. He has tackled the role since 2000 with true dedication and his loyalty to the part is pretty palpable. This is why I didn’t totally scoff at him getting his own spinoff film after he was clearly the star of the first 3 ensemble X-Men movies. The promise with 2008’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine was that Jackman would go full Wolverine in his own film since he had to share the glory with the rest of the ensemble in the previous three films.
As we know, Origins received a bit of a polarized response from fans. It made enough money to call it a success but a lot of fans found it to be a mess. I re-watched it again in preparation for the release of Logan and I feel about it now how I felt it back in 2008. It’s a bit of a mess but it’s still an entertaining mess and it’s not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It’s clearly a series of ideas that don’t quite materialize the way they should but some solid performances and decent action make it worthy of a revisit.
Wolverine opens in Canada’s Northwest Territories in 1845 and introduces us to mutant half-brothers Logan and Victor, who go on the run to help Logan avoid a murder charge. An opening credits montage shows them fighting in various conflicts: the Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam. During the ’70s, the two of them (played as adults by Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber) are recruited by army honcho William Stryker (Danny Huston), who is assembling an elite team. When Stryker’s methods become too brutal for Logan to countenance, he breaks from the group and retreats to a remote part of Canada, where he works as a logger and lives with his lover, Kayla (Lynn Collins). But Logan’s past pursues him, and it catches him in the form of Stryker and Victor, who has become disillusioned by what he believes to be his brother’s betrayal and abandonment.
Origin stories tend to be hard for the superhero genre to get right because sometimes they get bogged down by a series of introductions before the meat of the story can really take off. Origins has the disadvantage of being an origin story and a prequel, which kind of ruins the mystique of the character a bit. In the previous films, he was better when you got vague hints about his past but Origins sets out to answer questions and doesn’t do so in a truly compelling way. The prequel problem is that some of these characters appear in the films that take place after this so there isn’t much tension in regards to what happens to them here. We know that Logan doesn’t remember anything about his past by the time we meet him in X-Men and the reasons for that are only adequately entertaining to discover.
The film also forces a connection to the previous films. We encounter a young Cyclops and of course, Victor will pop up as Sabretooth (albeit with a different actor in the role) by the time we meet him as mere henchmen in Magneto’s brotherhood of mutants. There are ways to throw in these roles and make them interesting but, in the case of some of the more X-Men related cameos during the film’s climax, it feels a bit forced. Stryker is another character first introduced to us in X2 with great depth by Brian Cox but he lacks the same complexities in this film. The comparisons just add to the fact that this film doesn’t have the same gravitas on display.
Despite the lack of true character development and a sloppy narrative, Origins is mostly always entertaining. There isn’t much of a lull in the actions and while it doesn’t break new ground, it elevates the pulse when needed. The first major action sequence (featuring a cool cameo by Ryan Reynolds in his first incarnation as Deadpool) is a truly visceral experience and it’s wonderfully executed by director Gavin Hood. The fight scenes between Logan and Victor are also well done but they are given more weight by what the actors bring to the roles.
Hugh Jackman keeps a lot of what is going on around him afloat. He has been vocal about his issues with the film but you would never sense his disappointment watching him on screen. He’s magnetic in the part and is a big reason why the film warrants even the slightest recommendation. Matching him in a big way is Liev Schreiber as Victor a.k.a. Sabretooth. Tyler Mane played him in X-Men but that role only required him to perform in a physical capacity. Schreiber brings some much-needed layers to the part and honestly a lot of weight to some of the narrative that works. The most interesting thing about the film is the Logan and Victor relationship and both actors make you wish they focused more on that. There are other supporting players here but the only one worthy of a mention is Taylor Kitsch as Gambit. Fans weren’t exactly hailing him as the definitive choice for the role since they have wanted him in these films for a long time now but I thought he held his own. His scenes are fun, even if he feels shoehorned in to please fans who simply want to see Gambit in action.
In the end, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a flawed endeavor but I can’t deny that it mostly held my interest despite its sloppiness. There are isolated moments that allow it to work on some level and, if anything, it allowed Wolverine to have room to grow in future films that got the narrative and tone right.
Reel Talk gives X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.5 Reels
