X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wolverine had a lot of potential but unfortunately it remained almost untapped. As I feared, most of Wolvie's fascinating life was shown in the opening titles (World War I and II, Vietnam), and then we go straight back to when he served under Stryker. Which means those who wanted to know more about Wolverine's past are out of luck. But when you accept the game started by the screenplay, you'll have fun. Hugh Jackman was born for this role, and he certainly doesn't have to be ashamed of what he's doing here. The charming killer will hopefully win the heart of every viewer. The story is otherwise devoted to the creation of the X and XI programs, so there will be eye-pleasing showdowns, wisecracks, and also fateful moments when we will find out what actually happened. It could have been done better but I still had fun. Thanks to Ryan Reynolds, I'm really looking forward to Deadpool's solo. Oh yes, I almost forgot, Victor Creed is Schreiber's role of a lifetime. (26/06/2009)

Wolverine alone has earned two films over a period of four years purely about him. I didn’t understand why they did it, and overall I don’t even understand the meaning of the whole X-Men movies, where they return from the present to the past only to gradually jump into the future. I don’t understand the narrative line of all the movies, and I’ll probably never understand it. But what I admit is that this movie, unlike the Wolverine film itself, is perhaps even better. This is mainly due to the atmosphere of the 1970s, which seems absurd to me whenever I’m reminded of it. However, so be it. Three stars for not being completely bad at filmmaking. But everything else in this series is meaningless, and I think I will never find any meaning in other films from this series. (26/10/2015)

A boring mix of romance and breathtaking mountain scenery (more interesting first part) with a disjointed action adventure (boring second part) and a typically grandiose climax. As a prequel to a famous franchise, it's decent, but as a standalone action piece, it's very mishandled. Hugh Jackman has charisma, but his character is not sufficiently well-written, the action is confusing, computer-generated, and dull. The antagonists are solid, but the final over-the-top action set-piece follows a beaten path that no longer entertains me. (30/08/2009)

Crap that cost a lot of money always piss me off the most, and with Wolverine's origin my anger is clear. It’s an incredibly unoriginal comic book movie that fails in everything. Really, one cliché after another, already during the first fifteen minutes or so there are two shots of a screaming kneeling figure with a camera flying upwards. At least it makes you retroactively appreciate Ratner’s third part. (14/07/2011)

Disappointment that is on a level higher than the final part of the trilogy. Even Jackman's unquestionable charisma cannot hold together a story which, after a fairly promising start, burst into disjointed fights, silly dialogues and terribly predictable twists. The unique magic of the X-Men series has somehow disappeared, and I'm really wondering what puts Wolverine above all other soulless comic book fight films. Instead of the neglected question of the mutants vs. people relationship, Hood's film was supposed to feature a troubled hero, but only those shiny claws and an angry expression really remain of Logan. Paradoxically, the biographical film contributes the least to the image of the Wolverine of all the films, and while it does benefit from the charisma of previous films, the new knowledge about the hero's past is very weak, contrived, exaggerated and sometimes almost embarrassingly calculated. The image concept has nothing with which to captivate, the music is ok, the actors ok, but the added value that the viewer is used to with Singer is simply missing here. Unfortunately, what I suspected with regard to X-Men: The Last Stand has been confirmed. Without Singer, this universe lacks any distinctive charm. [50%] (27/04/2009)