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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 116
Released: September 15, 2009 |
| Our Price: $10.18 |
| Used Price: $6.00 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
This prequel explores wolverines past & events that influenced him before the weapon x program bonded his skeleton with adamantium. After the death of his girlfriend wolverine seekd vengeance. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/15/2009 Starring: Hugh Jackman Ryan Reynolds Run time: 107 minutes Rating: Pg13
Description of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Single-Disc Edition):
Wolverine, fan favorite of the X-Men universe in both comic books and film, gets his own movie vehicle with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a tale that reaches way, way back into the hairy mutant's story. Somewhere in the wilds of northwest Canada in the early 1800s, two boys grow up amid violence: half-brothers with very special powers. Eventually they will become the near-indestructible warriors (and victims of a super-secret government program) known as Wolverine and Sabretooth, played respectively by Hugh Jackman (returning to his role) and Liev Schreiber (new to the scene). It helps enormously to have Schreiber, an actor of brawny skills, as the showiest villain; the guy can put genuine menace into a vocal inflection or a shift of the eyes. Danny Huston is the sinister government operative whose experiments keep pullin' Wolverine back in, Lynn Collins is the woman who shares a peaceful Canadian co-existence with our hero when he tries to drop out of the program, and Ryan Reynolds adds needed humor, at least for a while. The fast-paced early reels give an entertaining kick-off to the Wolverine saga, only to slow down when a proper plot must be put together--but isn't that perpetually the problem with origin stories? And despite a cool setting, the grand finale is a little hemmed in by certain plot essentials that must be in place for the sequels, which may be why characters do nonsensical things. So, this one is fun while it lasts, if you're not looking for a masterpiece, or an explanation for Wolverine's facial grooming. --Robert Horton
Stills from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Click for larger image)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Single-Disc Edition) Reviews:
Relatively Enjoyable 
2009-11-28 - There are some very bad action films and some very bad comic book adaptations. So, relative to much of the sorry entertainment that comes ouf of Hollywood, this movie was fairly decent. It wasn't great and it's probably my least favorite of the X-Men movies, but it was an enjoyable story. From my perspective, the only real problem with it is that it covers too much material in too short of time. In particular, it would've been much better if it had focused more on the relationship between Wolverine and Sabertooth. Their conflict is never fully explained.
Longing for a more thrilling snikt 
2009-11-28 - The Canuck who goes "snikt" is back and in his own feature film, and my tepid reaction goes along the lines of "Um.. oh.. huh." X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is serviceable enough, but in no way does it elevate the X-Men film franchise to new heights. There's always peril in disclosing a character's mysterious past, that the doing of it may possibly sabotage the character's existing appeal. Sometimes, things are better left alone, better left to the viewer's imaginations lest the reality not live up to all the fun speculations. In having long-withheld details from his murky past finally revealed, Wolverine ends up being less interesting. And the big, exciting reveals end up not so big, not so exciting. For a vehicle featuring a mutant berserker who's the best at what he does - which is fighting - X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE lacks punch.
Hugh Jackman isn't bad as Logan. Okay, I had to get over the fact that Logan in the comic books stands at only 5'3," and not 6'2," which is Jackman's height. Because, for me, part of Wolverine's appeal is that he's often the smallest runt in the place and still he tears up the shizzy. Another thing is that Jackman doesn't quite convincingly demonstrate that utterly berserko rage that Logan succumbs to. So, not feral enough, vicious enough, scruffy enough, or, yeah, smelly enough. Hugh Jackman isn't bad as Logan. But he's too, I dunno, elegant? Tame?
The film begins somewhen in 1845, which is when young James Howlett's (Wolverine/Logan's real name) mutant abilities first truly kick in. We note James' popping of his retractable bone claws, the tragedy in his home, the panicked dash thru the woods, the show of togetherness by Victor Creed, James' older half-brother, and then we're off to the opening credits to catch brief glimpses of James and Victor adventuring thru various wars down the decades. Thru the years Victor (a very good Liev Shreiber) becomes increasingly bestial and amoral and you could see James growing more and more concerned about this. It was never gonna end well between the two. If you read the X-Men titles, you know this, that Wolverine and Sabertooth are the bitterest of enemies.
In telling Logan's story, the movie skips key junctures in his past, or since this is the movie version, maybe Logan simply never did venture to Madripoor or get married in Japan. During 'Nam, we do see him and Victor being handpicked by Colonel Stryker for Team X, a black ops unit peopled with hardened mutants. We witness Stryker's interest in the rare metal alloy known as adamantium, and we fans know how adamantium impacts Wolverine later on. The movie cherry picks (and sometimes throws a curve on) elements from the Wolverine mythos. We follow Logan as he encounters Silverfox and later undergoes the excruciatingly painful Weapon X experiment. The film peppers in various superhero scuffles as Wolverine and Sabertooth separately throw down with various mutants, all this culminating in a showdown on Three Mile Island. But the disappointing thing is that most of the action sequences don't get you up as they should.
I get the sense that Gambit and especially Deadpool were spotlighted with eventually having them star in their own movies in mind. Except that Taylor Kitsch underwhelms as Remy LeBeau. On the other hand, Ryan Reynolds as the mouthy merc Wade Wilson is very promising. Ryan Reynolds is at his scene-stealing best and, in one scene, as Wade Wilson furiously deflects bullets with his flashing swords, he solidifies himself as the baddest dude in a roomful of bad dudes. So I'm sold on the Deadpool movie. Actually, that whole sequence in which Team X invades a well-defended structure in Lagos, Nigeria counts as the most scintillating action sequence in the film. However, what they later do to Deadpool is just too much. I also wasn't down with the out-of-left-field reimagining of Blob. A fun thing, though, is that I once again get to play the "Identify that Cameo" game. Most prominent are a young Cyclops and Emma Frost. But see if you could pick out the others.
The movie gives us a momentary glimpse of Logan being happy, the operative word being "momentary." We see Logan suffering a tragic loss and giving in to his inner rage and losing his inhibitions. And yet, as portrayed by Hugh Jackman, when Wolverine loses it, in my eyes, he doesn't lose it enough. The PG-13 rating may also be to blame for this. Word is that a sequel is already underway. I'm crossing my fingers for an Alpha Flight sighting.
Lastly, Wade Wilson just cracks me up. Mouthy as he is, he doesn't really get a chance to mouth off. However, he does manage to get on Sabertooth's bad side when he observes that Sabertooth has the "fingernails of a bag lady."
Cut Down to Size 
2009-11-26 - He's a superhero who breaks every stereotype. He smokes, drinks, kills without mercy and threatens even his comrades. So it's about time that Marvel's fiercest mutant gets his own movie. The first of the new "Origins" film lineup, it reveals Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) long, choatic past and the transformation that made him the badass comic fans know and love. The film also explores his ties to William Stryker (Danny Huston) as well as his history with Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber), which never came up in the X-Men movie trilogy (just one of many plotholes).
This film starts off well enough, with Jackman in all his roughneck, adamantium glory. Halfway through, however, director Gavin Hood shakes things up a bit. And by 'shake up,' I mean throwing other X-Men characters like Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) and a young Scott Summers (Tim Pocock) into the mix with no regard for story continuity or logic. And then there's Hood's version of special-needs merc Deadpool; the only thing he did right was sew his mouth shut. And even that doesn't compare with the movie's climax, which should have done more lasting damage to Wolverine but doesn't. So while Wolverine is still the best at what he does, Hood apparently is not.
This film is rated PG-13: Violence, Adult Language.
Outstanding Quality and content, the movie was silly though...
2009-11-24 - I am an avid comic book fan and I make no excuses for the lack of cohesive storytelling. However the fight scenes and special effects were excellent. The acting wasnt oscar calibre but it fit into the action genre the way it needed to.Wolverine was tortured by his past, Sabretooth was ruthless and menacing and Silverfox was the one who did it all for love. The others did a bang up job too. Everyone from Agent Zero to Deadpool played their parts to perfection. Bravo. The content was awesome. The character profile that actually had the character talking as thier characters, nice touch.The deleted scenes needed to be just that. The interview of Lien Wein and Stan Lee was great. It's a nice touch to see the creator of Wolvering get his just desserts. All in all great product fora great low price. Thanks Amazon.
Amazing 
2009-11-20 - I am a BIG fan of Blu-ray. This is a great movie on Blu-ray. A must.
