Yes, this is a Hollywood blockbuster...
Yes, this isn’t entirely accurate to the origin story...
Yes, the storyline isn’t fantastic...
And the film is all the better for it! If anyone went to the see the film expecting an epic storyline retelling Wolverine’s origin pitch perfect then quite frankly there was no way you wouldn’t be disappointed. This film is action and X-men name dropping and my god, it is brilliant at both of those. So let’s ignore the on form Hugh Jackman and focus on the little people that we’ve all waited so long to see...
Liev Schreiber is fantastic. I don’t know whether you can count a long black coat as a costume but he makes it work (even when you realise that he wears the same outfit for the entire film) as he is creepy, cunning and most importantly – convincing. Watching Schreiber you can really feel the feral insanity inside of him with the juxtaposed dedicated compassion for his half-brother Wolverine. I liked the acceptance that the character ‘Dog Logan’ is Sabretooth in this continuity which I felt fits well and as cheesy as the finale was, it was admittedly my favourite part of the film. I know that Schreiber probably had very little to do with the CGI but the scenes of him running on all fours, climbing up buildings and bounding off walls were terrific – so accurate to the comics and an interesting development I didn’t think was possible with the human figure. It was pleasure seeing Schreiber on screen with his every snide word pitch perfect.
Deadpool/ Weapon XI was never going to be an easy topic and must be taken with a pinch of salt. Okay, we all wanted to see Deadpool on screen and were horribly disappointed by the Weapon XI element but I have to say that my doubts were wrong, it works. First of all, Ryan Reynolds plays a fantastic Wade Wilson with a surprising edginess I wasn’t expecting – you can really believe that this guy kills people. Having said that some of his comments are hilarious (elevator scene) and he proves successful in being a translation from the comics. Weapon XI shouldn’t have worked – unoriginal and unlikeable but sadly it does. Reynolds manages to act perfectly with only his eyes and the powers thing work fantastically for the big finale. I have heard that one of the secret endings features Deadpool but I didn’t see that one (I had the sequel hint) so I can’t comment any further. Oh and he does look a hell of a lot better, and freakier, that in the few screenshots released before.
Sadly out of all the characters, Gambit feels the most laboured and cheaply included, that isn’t to say that I wasn’t grateful for the Cajun finally making it onto the big screen. Taylor Kitsch does a fantastic, confident and surprisingly emotional turn as Remy even if he is just to move the plot along. I found the quick friendship element to feel highly false but Kitsch’s general suave and charming swagger to both his movement and his voice really sold it for me and the fight scenes are what we’ve all been waiting for from Gambit.
I don’t how the team managed to do it but this film finally made me like and appreciate Fred Dukes aka The Blob. It is fair to say that he REALLY has no purpose being in this film but hats off to Kevin Durand with one of my favourite performances. Durand is very likeable and often funny with an interesting introduction to his enormous weight gain and a funny reference to his comic name. One of the things that surprised me was how Durand even altered his speech pattern and style to reflect the huge weight gain and dare I say it, made it almost believable.
Will I Am also surprised me as I thought he would be a crappy singer-actor attempt at elongating their career, but he actually convinced me as an actor. Kestrel has never been a big character but I found him likeable and the teleporting looked cool (although still nothing compared to Nightcrawler). I also found his friendship with Dukes as believable as the brother bond between Jackman and Schreiber.
Amongst the names from Wolverine’s history is Agent Zero (or Maverick as I prefer) played intriguingly by Daniel Henney. Henney gave a terrific performance as the heartless killer Zero yet also portrayed the reluctant restraint a professional soldier/ assassin must have to go through in order to be the best at what they do. Ignoring his remarkable ability to survive, Zero had some decent action scenes and really looked the part, probably the most convincing (next to Reynolds) of being a cold killer within a tight tactical unit.
The most bizarre inclusion is Dominic Monaghan as the charming and amicable Bolt. Based on a tiny comic history with a few ties to Agent Zero, Bolt was surprisingly likeable with a sound performance much like the majority of Monaghan’s work in TV series Lost. I have no real idea why he was included or what even happens to him but I found him a joy on the screen.
Cyclops is only brief but I liked his inclusion and it made way for a FANTASTIC yet predictable cameo appearance at the end. Despite his little screen time, I actually warmed to the idea of a XMO: First
Class film over the course of the film.
I really wasn’t swayed by ‘Silver Fox’ and Emma Frost. Kayla makes for an alright plot device but ultimately isn’t fantastic and I didn’t like Emma Frost at all. I liked Kayla’s powers and her romance with Wolverine was a quaint touch, if not a little overlooked. Lyn Collins gave a good performances but was ultimately let down by the script, especially involving the Emma Frost situation. Her inclusion is pointless and makes for an even sillier plot device considering ‘Silver Fox’ can make people do what she wants with the nature of her powers. I was left unsatisfied with the way Emma Frost was (ab)used.
There were a few more cameo appearances and references but they aren’t worth mentioning. Also I don’t recall ever seeing a cameo from Stan Lee.
All in all, Jackman was as predicted i.e. fan-bloody-tastic but it was the characters that I really doubted would ever work on the big screen that sold it for me. For the majority their adaptions were accurate and ultimately likable with few feeling out of place in the film (obviously out of place in the comics) and helped cement my view that Wolverine will never win an Oscar, nor is it the greatest film of all time, but it is a fantastic addition to the series. X-men Origins: Wolverine is not X-ceptional but it is X-citing, X-hiliarating and X-tremely entertaining.