JAMES' REVIEWS X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

Lucky for me, X-Men Origins comes out in Australia before America so i got to go and see it.
Plot:
The basic plot is that Wolverine is born a mutant and his brother is Sabertooth. After fighting in the war they are locked up for war-crimes but are brought out by a general on the condition that they work in a new team of mutants set up by the government. After seeing how bloodthirsty the government is and how they kill relentlessly for things, Wolverine leaves the group leaving his brother behind who feels betrayed. Jump six years into the future, Wolverine is living with his wife and after tragedy occurs brought on by Wolverine's past, he is dragged back into the world that he left.

Review:
Negs
Now the film wasn't terrible. In fact it was far from it but I did hope that Jackman might make a but of a step up from Australia which was a terrible dissapointment (but not overly terrible.) Some of the problems I had with the film were that it was too short. Although they managed to fill in a surprising amount of plot in its short running time i am sick of action films that are over in five minutes. It was the same problem i had with Eagle Eye and with the Incredible Hulk. I don't mind big running times if you can fill it well. The script was appalling but luckily it wasn't as bad as The Incredible Hulk or Hulk. Another problem I found was that this film was a prequel! It means it comes before but unfortunately newcomers can't simply start here. They will be left confused by so many references to the future X-Men movies. Although the actual fact that they were referencing things didn't bother me too much it was more the problem with Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. ie. CCHHEEWWBBAACCAA. Yes we get it, we know he was in the future movies. They do the same thing with Cyclops. There was way too many scenes where he was put in there for no reason because he is in the future movies.

Pros
Now i know so far i have been very negative but there were some positives that actually left me feeling like it wasn't a complete and utter waste of time. The acting is pretty good considering the script is so bad. After seeing Jackman's dramatic turn in 'Australia' (the best thing about the movie) I think he's ready to start moving on to some deeper stuff. He is surprisingly good and should make the transition like fellow Aussie Russel Crowe did into deeper and better films. Like how Crowe went from action to 'A Beautiful Mind.' Liev Schrieber is good at playing an ass as he does in most films and the supporting actors were good, not brilliant. The visual effects were strong everywhere except the most crucial point. The blades! They looked like they were from Bugs Bunny. The film is an action film so i know i'm digging too deeply into this and it's why overall i enjoyed it and let me say the action is good. Sometimes the editing got a little crazy but most of the time i knew what was happening. My only problem with the action is that all the character are indestructable so there wasn't very much suspense. With all the travelling that the characters did i was pleased that they gave the audience a few wide shots. There are some great shots of waterfalls and the Rockies. Harry Gregson-Williams who did the Narnia movies adds a decent score hear as well. I think it could have done with a theme like in other superhero movies ie. Spiderman, Superman even Batman Begins but lacked there.

Overall:
Director Gavin Hood's previous film Rendition was far better but it's unfair to compare them. Fox has been having a line-up of flops and crappy films and i hope they make some money back from this movie. The film is not a disgrace and although it isn't as good as the first two X-Men, fans won't be entirely dissapointed. It's reasonably true to the comics as well. I was reading an article recently saying that 'the dark knight' influenced this film to be darker. It is dark at points and it does well to do it but the resolution and ending although it is dark leaves the film on a low point and they could have resolved issues in the film a bit better. I'm recommending the film but only just. A low Matinee! Oh and just a note...Corey mentioned it would be difficult to take Hugh Jackman seriously after hosting the Oscars. That is a dead on statement!