Let me start off by saying I certainly have some mixed feelings as I write this review on this movie. It didn’t lack action, it had a little romance, and it did gave some insight into Wolverine’s background that non-comic book enthusiasts were yearning for after the X-Men trilogy. Now how close did the director stay to the comic book character? In my opinion, there were so many variations to this story so it’s really hard to say.

SPOILER ALERT

The movie starts off in the 1800s when a young Logan is seen sick in bed and ‘his father’ tends to him. There is another boy in the room who you can tell is apparently a young ‘Sabretooth’. So, they overhear a guy enter the house from downstairs in a drunken rage. Logan’s father tells the other boy (Victor) to go see what his father wants but he refuses stating it’s not him who he is looking for. Next thing you hear is a gunshot and Logan runs down stairs to see his ‘father’ covered in blood and then dies in his arms. Logan charges at the man in anger with claws pertruding from his knuckles and impales him in the process. As the man is dying, he tells young Logan that he is his father and not the guy lying on the ground. The other boy (Victor) tries to console him and tells him that they are brothers and must stick together. So they take off running and scenes are shot as they grow into men and go through several wars together, get shot multiple times in the process and survive.

They are both captured at what appears to be during the Vietnam War. This is where the two meet Major Stryker who runs a special ops force. He recruits them to be a part of a team that goes on black ops missions.

The Team X members are:

Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth brilliantly played by Liev Schreiber. He had a domineering presence and perfectly fit the role of Sabretooth. He really compliments Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and their fight scenes are probably the better ones throughout the movie. If any of these members deserve his own spinoff, I would pick him…not Wade Wilson)

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds character who has a witty sense of humor and is abnormally fast with samurai swords) We know later on he is transformed into Weapon XI otherwise known as Deadpool. It is nothing like the comic book character that’s for sure. Did I mention this character looks awful???!!! I was highly disappointed in the overall appearance, combined fighting skills, and lack of speaking ability. WTF were they thinking to sew up his mouth? We definitely know a spin-off is coming with Ryan Reynolds reprising his role…the main question is why?

Agent Zero (exceptionally fast and accurate with firearms)

John Wraith (played by Will I. Am of Blackeyed Peas fame possesses teleporting skills with minimum fighting skills. I don’t really remember this character from the comic books…I doubt you’ll remember him from the film either.)

Fred Dukes (or Blob as Logan calls him is basically a strong version of Fat Bastard. There is really no point of him being in the movie.)

Bradley (has capabilities to manipulate electricity through his mind but a very weak character. Hey, it’s that weird, little Australian dude from the TV show Lost. Couldn’t they pick a better guy to play this guy? Maybe Ethan Embry from Vegas Vacation or something would’ve been better??)

So we’ll fast forward a bit, Logan finds out Victor kills Lynn (Logan’s new flame). He goes out and finds a fight in Victor. This is where Logan realizes he can’t beat Victor on shear strength alone and asks for Stryker’s help at any means necessary. This is where we get the answers on how Wolverine received the ‘metal’ claws. After Logan volunteers, he is placed in a chamber where adamantium is injected into his entire skeletal structure nearly killing him in the process. This is what transforms him into the Wolverine we know and love.

Now that the background has basically unfolded, the movie goes into briefly introducing other popular mutants from comic book fame (Enter Gambit, Emma Frost, Scott Summers/Cyclops) These type of cameos usually intrigue viewers into wanting a spinoff movie based on those characters. I actually liked the choice of Taylor Kitsch playing Gambit but was disappointed in the short amount of time he was in the film. Gambit’s only role was to lead Logan back to the island where Stryker for the ultimate payback...

Well not so fast…you’ll find out that Logan was a ‘government experiment’ named Weapon X and we find out Stryker also made a Weapon XI (which has all of Team X’s and Scott Summer’s powers combined into a one body which was Wade Wilson’s) Upon Logan’s return to the lab, Stryker orders Weapon XI to attack him in the same fashion as Resident Evil’s fight scene between Alice and Nemesis or Robocop vs the ED209 robot. (Yea I’m old enough to remember Robocop!) All of these movies have an evil mastermind who puts his two best creations up against each other in the final fight. Predictable? I guess you can say that.

That was a good rundown of the entire movie but there is a surprise at the end during the credits that I caught afterwards on youtube.

I would watch this movie again but I’m still quite disappointed overall. Based on high expectations, I’d have to give this movie a dismal rating.

Sponge Rating: 5.5/10 sponges

-R

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