Movie Review

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Tawsif Saleheen

APART from its predictable dint of high-octane action, X-Men Origins also attempts to explain why America had been so successful in wars over the last two centuries or so. It's because they had been using two mutants with auto-regenerative power to represent them in wars! The Civil War, the two World Wars, the Vietnam War, you name it. These patriotic mutants, more lovingly referred to as Wolverine and Sabertooth, had been winning wars for America for centuries. John Rambo, you better stop telling lies.

One of the most anticipated movies of the year, X-Men Origins almost manages to live up to its hype. The movie revolves around Wolverine's love-hate relationship with his brother, Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber). The brothers' connection dissolves into pure hatred when Victor kills Logan's beloved, Silver Fox (Lynn Collins), sending him into a wild rage. The film also takes in Logan and Victor's involvement and transformation at the hands of William Stryker (Danny Huston), who experiments and reconstructs mutants through his Weapon X programme.

In comparison to the recent triumphs of The Dark Knight and the Watchmen, X-Men Origins probably rates as a bit of a disappointment. It's certainly not the worst, but considering the wealth of the source material, and the level of talent involved here, X-Men Origins should have been a comic adaptation walking the same kind of terrain as re-booted Batman series. Unfortunately, it's not even in the same neighbourhood. The movie has its share of triumphs. The performances are excellent across the board, with Hugh Jackman excellent as the tortured title character, and Liev Schreiber nearly stealing the show as the film's bad guy. X-Men Origins however lacks any real sense of intensity, and the whole deal feels rushed, and carelessly constructed.

Source: rottentomatoes.com