X-Men Origins: Wolverine **** (2009, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston) – Classic Movie Review 806

Pecs gleaming and locks glowing, Hugh Jackman growls and glowers to comic-book perfection as James Logan, who becomes the fighting machine known as Wolverine, a hairy bloke with handy killer claws, nifty healing powers and primal fury.

So here we go with X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009 with the first chapter of what could be a virtually endless saga, starting with the story of how it all began for Wolverine as a little boy in the 1820s. It swiftly moves on to the 1970s, when he and his new mutant Team X face extinction from his own brother, Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) – who becomes Sabretooth – and the evil military genius Captain William Stryker (Danny Huston).

With the story exploring the hero’s dark side in the manner of the revamped Batman films, director Gavin Hood’s grandly sombre, grown-up movie takes itself desperately seriously. That means it’s lacking a sense of fun, and, with the three main stars all in their forties, it also lacks teen appeal. Against that, Jackman is a total force of nature. Even the lovey-dovey stuff with heroine Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins) doesn’t stop him. And the action is heart-stoppingly pounding, the effects are gloriously special and the film’s look is astounding.

Though there are plenty of subsidiary characters, they are all kept in the background. It is annoying that Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Dominic Monaghan as Chris Bradley/Bolt, Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau and Tim Pocock as Scott Summers have so little to do because they are very lively in small but key star support roles.

And that means the film’s the Jackman, Schreiber and Huston show all the way. As such, it is in safe hands. They are classy actors who can all act their way in or out of any situation. Give them a lot of stylish stuff to do, like here, and they’re great.

Whatever the quibbles about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and there really are hardly any, it is so much better than X-Men: The Last Stand.

Jackman returned for the X-Men: First Class prequel in 2011 (uncredited), The Wolverine in 2013 and again in X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014. On 14 May 2016 it was announced that Patrick Stewart will appear in Wolverine 3, Hugh Jackman‘s third and final standalone film for Wolverine. It was released on 3 March 2017 as Logan (2017).

Ryan Reynolds finally got his own movie as Wade Wilson – Deadpool (2016) and a sequel, Deadpool 2 (2018).

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 806 derekwinnert.com

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