X-Men Origins: Wolverine

For those who waited for this prequel to X-Men, it was worth every moment, every day of anticipation. For those who have never seen X-Men, well, this is a great place to start. In the grand tradition of the comic book, this edition features the origins of The Wolverine, the mutant who is at the core of the storyline.

There have been some excellent renditions of the ‘Batman’, ‘Spiderman’, and ‘Watchmen’ series’ in recent years. With just the right mix of CGI, storytelling, and acting, we have reached new levels in the way comic books are depicted on film. Director, Gavin Hood, has taken these tools and designed an outstanding issue in this, the third installment of the series. The bar now rests at a higher level for those who follow. I enjoy director’s who compete with their peers. When they get it right, amazing results are often achieved.

Like the original comic book series, a tale can be told with the flourish of great graphics, coupled with minimal, but carefully selected text, to achieve a creative and comprehensible story line. The great artist, Jack Kirby (Captain America, Fantastic Four), was the initial artist in the X-Men series. While not the creator of the ‘Wolverine’ character, I believe he would have approved of the camera work in ‘Wolverine’. There is great stop action framing, perhaps homage to King Kirby. I also love the angles used in shooting. In many cases, the distant view of the entire scene is shown, much like in the comic books.

Hugh Jackman stars as ‘Logan/Wolverine’. He is perfect in every frame. The effort that Jackman has put into this portrayal is clear. He has turned himself into a physical specimen rarely seen in a starring role since Bruce Lee in ‘Enter The Dragon’. Add to this his powerful ability to project his lines in any manner and its clear Jackman is far beyond the coveted ‘triple threat’ that most entertainers aspire to be. His turns on-stage as ‘Curly’ in Oklahoma, ‘Peter Allen’ on Broadway, and film roles in ‘Van Helsing’ and ‘ The Prestige’ solidify that fact. For good measure, he was the song and dance, comedic host of the 2008 Academy Awards show.

There is excellent supporting talent at every turn in this production. Liev Schreiber is particularly nasty as the ‘hell bent’ Victor Creed. Musician, Will.i.Am,
Kevin Durand and Taylor Kitsch all lend nice supporting roles as well. I particularly liked Lynn Collins, as Logan’s love interest Kayla.

Dominic Monaghan (Lost) lit the way as mutant ‘Bolt’. He was joined by and ‘A-Team’ group of mutants that put on an excellent display of their superpowers. Rounding out the team was Tim Pocock, Ryan Reynolds (as Hal Jordan/The Green Lantern’ in production), and Daniel Henney. Their scenes epitomize what many comic readers love to see in the pages, action packed, and jaw dropping abilities. They did not disappoint here.



Technical

The Blu-ray edition is vibrant and exceptional at 1924 X 1080p, 120Hz. The sound is fine on all levels at 5.1, dts-HD. The special features are many. They include the customary commentary with the director (Gavin Hood), a great feature with Marvel Comics legend, Stan Lee, and former writer Len Wein. The back and forth banter is pure gold for fans. So many tidbits of fascinating information are thrown at you, seemingly as afterthoughts. Also included are ‘Ultimate X-mode’ (ability to sit in the director’s chair, pre-visualize Wolverine and X-Facts), a helicopter scene, insight segment, and an alternate ending. The language options are English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. The subtitles available are English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Cantonese.