Following the 2006 "The Last Stand", this movie returns to the roots and gives the backstory to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. The appeal of the character was clear from the very first moment he entered the range of the X-Men movies, and Jackman's recent popularity certainly helped to make him the most likely candidate for the first Origins-story. But the movie franchise is deeply spoiled: it is enjoyable for those who have never picked up a comic book dealing with the X-Men or read about the portrayed characters, but as soon as you get involved in the original story going back to the first issue in 1963, you find yourself utterly at loss here. "The Last Stand" picked up some pieces from Joss Whedon's initial run on "The Astonishing X-Men", but the characters were all over the place, with people dying who were supposed to be alive, others not even showing up although they were the center of the comics' attention.
The movie franchise expects to be seen as completely separated from the comic books and to be judged on its own. So, how does "Wolverine" do, all on his own, without the support of other beloved characters like Storm or Kitty Pryde?
It starts out well enough. In the Canadian woods, mid-19th century, James Logan's coming-of-age starts with the killing of his father. He runs away with his older and much more sinister brother, Victor (played by Liev Schreiber), to fight in four wars. James, the movie argues, does it for the fun of getting into a fight, while Victor, the psychopath, enjoys killing. Ironically, the latter turns out to be more attractive to the US military. While Logan leaves this life behind to live peacefully with his wife in a wood cabin, once again returned to his native Canada (after he replies to "your country needs you" - he actually is not a US citizen), Victor becomes part of a program to hunt down mutants. The combination of military, deeply flawed invidivudals and a strive for power in the name of security usually doesn't turn out so well, and here, the whole thing gets really messy. Logan is set up to accept becoming a guinea pig - and receives the treatment that turns him into the indestructable bastard we have come to like in the recent movies. As Wolverine turns all extra-terrestrial metal to take revenge on his brother, the movie turns into a chaotic affair that lacks where even "The Last Stand" succeeded. PopMatters points out that there is not one single strong female character, as the movie has a very manly, macho kinda premise, but not only are there no strong female characters, the introduction of one of the most interesting women of the comic franchise is wasted too (Emma Frost, later to become a super-villain and then a member of the X-Men, turns out to be the little sister of Logan's wife).
"Wolverine" is the backstory that is supposed to get the character where he was at the beginning of the first movie: unwilling to be part of anything bigger, brooding, content when he had his cigar and his beer. This movie tries a bit too much: Schreiber's Victor remains shallow, a villain without any real motivation, who is pissed off that his little brother doesn't follow him and a psychopath but there is no deeper exploration of why exactly his is so flawed (and he might just be the more interesting character of the two brothers). The movie sets up the situation in which Xaviers school for gifted youngsters is formed: with a group of kids who have just experienced what it means to be different and to be hunted down by the government for that reason. That story seems to bear more potential than the conflict between the two brothers.
2009, directed by Gavid Hood, starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i am, Lynn Collins, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch, Daniel Henney, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Pocock, Tahyna Tozzi.
The movie franchise expects to be seen as completely separated from the comic books and to be judged on its own. So, how does "Wolverine" do, all on his own, without the support of other beloved characters like Storm or Kitty Pryde?
It starts out well enough. In the Canadian woods, mid-19th century, James Logan's coming-of-age starts with the killing of his father. He runs away with his older and much more sinister brother, Victor (played by Liev Schreiber), to fight in four wars. James, the movie argues, does it for the fun of getting into a fight, while Victor, the psychopath, enjoys killing. Ironically, the latter turns out to be more attractive to the US military. While Logan leaves this life behind to live peacefully with his wife in a wood cabin, once again returned to his native Canada (after he replies to "your country needs you" - he actually is not a US citizen), Victor becomes part of a program to hunt down mutants. The combination of military, deeply flawed invidivudals and a strive for power in the name of security usually doesn't turn out so well, and here, the whole thing gets really messy. Logan is set up to accept becoming a guinea pig - and receives the treatment that turns him into the indestructable bastard we have come to like in the recent movies. As Wolverine turns all extra-terrestrial metal to take revenge on his brother, the movie turns into a chaotic affair that lacks where even "The Last Stand" succeeded. PopMatters points out that there is not one single strong female character, as the movie has a very manly, macho kinda premise, but not only are there no strong female characters, the introduction of one of the most interesting women of the comic franchise is wasted too (Emma Frost, later to become a super-villain and then a member of the X-Men, turns out to be the little sister of Logan's wife).
"Wolverine" is the backstory that is supposed to get the character where he was at the beginning of the first movie: unwilling to be part of anything bigger, brooding, content when he had his cigar and his beer. This movie tries a bit too much: Schreiber's Victor remains shallow, a villain without any real motivation, who is pissed off that his little brother doesn't follow him and a psychopath but there is no deeper exploration of why exactly his is so flawed (and he might just be the more interesting character of the two brothers). The movie sets up the situation in which Xaviers school for gifted youngsters is formed: with a group of kids who have just experienced what it means to be different and to be hunted down by the government for that reason. That story seems to bear more potential than the conflict between the two brothers.
2009, directed by Gavid Hood, starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i am, Lynn Collins, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch, Daniel Henney, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Pocock, Tahyna Tozzi.
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