Premise: The origin of Wolverine, one of the X-Men. A mutant is born into a world where the only person that understands him is his brother. Unfortunately his brother grows vicious over time, leading to a parting of the ways. Adding to his misery, his brother works for a covert ops unit that is operating beyond the law.
Stars: Hugh Jackman * Liev Schreiber * Danny Huston * Lynn Collins * Taylor Kitsch
Story: Most genre fans know of Wolverine (Jackman). Most non-genre fans know he's a supposed badass with a chip on his shoulder and steak knives attached to his knuckles. The movie serves as an origin (of sorts) for the eponymous mutant. We learn that he apparently sprouted bone blades before puberty and has an amazing healing factor. He also has a "brother" of sorts who serves as a protector and enabler for young Wolvie's tantrums. Due to a family tragedy, the two brothers set out, watching each other's backs for the next century, going through war after war as it seems they were made for killing.
Eventually Wolverine's conscience begins to show - of course - and his brother (Schreiber)'s does not - of course - setting the two on that age old Cain v Abel conflict wherein brother is pitted against brother via some mechanism - in this case, basic morality.
When the final split comes, the two brothers are members of a covert black ops team under the direction of Stryker (Huston), a military figure connected to the perceived mutant menace. Predictably, Stryker has an agenda surrounding mutants and their abilities, and this leads to personal tragedy for our hero who then undergoes a multi-million dollar process to have a rare metal bonded to his skeleton. During the process, Wolverine discovers the truth, goes berserk, escapes the military, and then sets out for revenge against all those who oppose him.
Review: The acting is sub-par on just about every facet, except Liev Schreiber. This one scene-chewing performance reminds me that even as a nice guy, Schreiber is one of those actors that just barely contains a sense of menace and general badass-ness. I really want to see him in Defiant to see how he plays a similar character in a reportedly well-done film. There really is no other actor fully portraying a character. Lynn Collins' Silverfox is a female cipher, Huston portrays a regular ham-fisted general straight out of the funny books and Jackman acts anguished or pissed-off the entire movie basically, no stretch for him, either. The actors were cashing in on their performances, but honestly, what can you expect?
The effects and scenes were easily stupefying. An escape scene turns from fleeing into motorcycle vs hummer to hummer vs helicopter. A hastily arranged combat scene between Gambit (Kitsch) and Wolverine is easily recognized as a set-piece, as do many others. Explosions, murders, torture, laser beams, etc. are all loud and noisy, presumably designed to distract you from the bad writing and acting. Sure it's a comic book movie, but honestly, this film is somewhere in that genre around the Incredible Hulk. It's hard to expect another The Dark Knight, and it's at least better than the deplorable Ghost Rider, but this is one of those films that seem designed for those who shut off their brains when they go to the theater.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
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