X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This movie is a serious testosterone-fest.  If you are looking for your fill of action and thrill, look no further!

X-Men Origins:  Wolverine (first of all, what a lame title) is a prequel to the X-Men movies.  We basically get an understanding of why Wolverine is the way he is.  The story starts in 1845 when a young James Howlett (future Wolverine) witnesses his father being killed by his friend, Victor Creed’s, father.  In an act of revenge, James lunges toward Victor’s father and kills him with bone claws that have ripped out of his hands.  In his last breathe, Victor’s father tells James that he is, in fact, his father.  James and his now brother, flee from the small village and learn that they are different from every one else.

The brothers end up fighting the American War, World War I and II, and the Vietnam war.  They are an unstoppable force because their powers allow them to regenerate their wounds.  Major William Stryker ends up inviting the mutant brothers, along with other mutant powers, into Project X (a plan to capture a meteorite).  When Logan (Hugh Jackman), the name he decides to use after his father, learns that this mutant group is roughing up innocent villagers, he decides to walk away.

Six years later, Logan is a lumberjack and happily living with his girlfriend, Kayla Firefox (Lynn Collins).  Stryker finds Logan and informs him that the mutant group is being picked off.  Stryker asks for his help, but Logan again walks away.  Logan eventually finds out that Kayla was murdered by Victor (Liev Schreiber), his brother.  Stryker again asks for Logan’s help, and this time Logan agrees.  Stryker has Logan’s skeletal system infiltrated by this indestructible metal (from the meteorite that he hunted years prior).  During the procedure, Stryker commands that Logan’s memory is erased.  Logan hears, breaks free, and is off to find revenge on his brother.

OK – I could write 10 more paragraphs about what happens, so LOOOONG story short, Wolverine and his brother make up and fight against a bad guy at the end, we find out Kayla is actually alive but then she ends up dying again in the end, Wolverine ends up losing his memory and thus the beginning of Wolverine.  By the way- he apparently got his name from a story that Kayla told him about wolverines.  He got into the leather jacket and motorcycle deal by some nice old people who took him in for a little bit.

This movie is adrenaline rushed and constantly changing and moving.  Action…fighting…helicopter riding…blowing things up…shooting…clever one liners…explosions…motorcycle chases…yeah, that basically sums up this movie.  It’s loaded with non-stop story and twists.  In my opinion, a little too much adrenaline.  I can’t really recall a moment in the movie where things slowed down and the dialogue and acting really shined. There wasn’t much room for deep dialogue and moving acting…there was just too much going on.

I feel like this film was made to make money.  The movie is supposed to be tied in somehow into the original X-Men movies, but I am not really sold on that.  X-Men Origins:  Wolverine gets 2.5 stars in my book.  If you (or your man) are in a mood for an action-packed film, give it a rent.  If you do not rent it, don’t worry, all you missed was some fights and explosions.  This flick came out on DVD last week, check it out on amazon.com.