Recent Release - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Talk about wasted potential! I think I can honestly say I haven't been more disappointed walking out of a movie theater in as long as I can remember.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine starts out amazing, and then about half way through the wheels just fall right the eff off this thing. The pre-credits sequence isn't the best acted in the world (whoever plays young Victor Creed, I am looking in your direction), but once the credits start, and we're treated to a montage of James "Logan/Wolverine" Howlett (Hugh Jackman) and Victor "Sabertooth (?)" Creed (the completely underrated and underused Liev Schreiber) fighting in several major wars, the film really takes off. Included is an amazing shot of Creed running on all fours up a hill to single- and bare-handedly take out a machine gun nest on Normandy Beach.

From here, we cut to them in Vietnam, and some crap happens that isn't really explained well, and they join a special group of mutants headed by William Stryker (a very hammy Danny Huston). The sequence of them doing their thing is probably the best of the film. Of special note is Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, who I'll talk more about later on.

Long story short, James is betrayed, changes his name to Logan, moves back to Canada, and then his girlfriend is killed by Creed and Logan swears vengeance. Stryker bonds adamantium to his bones and then discusses wiping his memory while Logan is still within earshot instead of just doing it, and Logan escapes and, once again, swears vengeance. This all happens a little too fast, and Logan regains his trust in Stryker a little too easily, but the film doesn't really become a total crap-fest until Gambit shows up. At this point, the film pretty much ceases to make sense and becomes a terrible CGI circus. Bad special effects that needed at least three or four more render passes and the ruining of two of the most fan-boy beloved comic book characters of all time really push it over the edge.

First of all, how do you explain how a man described as Cajun with the name Remy LeBeau who lives in New Orleans has absolutely no trace of even a Southern accent, let alone a Cajun one? Forget the comics, this just doesn't even make sense in the context of the film. And as long as we're on the subject of things that make no sense, why did Stryker need Logan for his team anyway? He and Creed have the same healing power, but Creed is bigger, stronger, and has no qualms with killing everything in sight. Logan isn't even given anything to do in the scene in which the mercenaries all use their powers. He's like excess baggage.

Ignoring the comics and sticking to just what's been established in the previous films, this film has more plot holes in it than action sequences. Just to name a few, how come in the original trilogy Wolverine has Canadian dog tags, but in this one, he has American dog tags, which look nothing alike? (See here for a comparison.) Also, how come none of the mutants (including Cyclops and Storm) seem to remember being abducted by Sabertooth? And how is it that Native American Kayla Silverfox has a blond haired, blue eyed British sister named Emma Frost?

Again, that's just a few problems with the movie. The main thing that made me upset was the treatment of Wade Wilson, who is known as Deadpool in the comics. First of all, Stryker really never explains why he genetically manipulates Wilson, only saying "he's going to hunt down other mutants." What the eff, Stryker? Hasn't Creed been doing that for your for six years without any problems? Why put all that crap into a single mutant who may betray you one day, or who may reject the powers and just go crazy?

The whole plot point makes no sense, but makes even less so if you ever read even a single issue of a comic book featuring Deadpool. Imagine Wolverine with a sense of humor and swords instead of claws, and you have Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds perfectly portrays this character at the beginning of the film, and was perfectly cast as the comic's version of the character. But instead, he is wasted here, becoming a stunt double with really poor makeup by the end of the film.

This movie started out as what could have been one of the best comic book movies of all time. Everything is perfect until Silverfox is killed. After that, it becomes one of the worst comic book movies of all time. Maybe director Gavin Hood would have turned in the perfect movie if not for 20th Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman's interference. I guess we'll never know.
Grade: 5
(All films are graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being cinematic perfection and 1 being so bad I'd rather lick a light socket.)