X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two-Disc Special Edition) – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Sep 15, 2009, 15:43 GMT

Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program.  Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film have long been anticipated. ...more

In my opinion, Wolverine’s lone wolf persona does well in this origin picture.  It sure beats X3, but also has some similarities.  

It appears a new franchise has started that will highlight the origins of the X-Men characters. 

So far the only ones I’ve heard that are being given the treatment are fan favorite Wolverine and I think that I heard that Magneto is up for a solo feature. 

In 1845 Canada,, two lads discover that they’re half-brothers but they also discover that they’re mutants with longevity and claws of bone.  They grow into Logan (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) and use their rage and long lives to fight in every major war. 

Logan seems to get more thoughtful of their plight, but Victor embraces his inner rage and is gradually becoming more of a mad beast than a human.  When Victor frags his commanding officer in Vietnam their both scheduled for firing squad.  When the two survive their executions they’re approached by Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston) to join a secret group of soldiers called Team X that includes marksman Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), sword wielding mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), teleporter John Wraith (will.i.am), the thick skinned Fred Dukes (Kevin Durand), and telekinetic Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan). 

Stryker is after an indestructible mineral that fell to earth in a meteor.  When he orders Team X to slaughter an entire village to find the location of the meteor, Logan has finally had enough and abandons the team and his brother. 

Logan becomes a logger working in the Canadian wilderness and is living with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).  His past comes back in a bad way when Stryker arrives and says that Victor is killing former members of the team.  Victor arrives and kills Kayla and in search of vengeance Logan undergoes a painful procedure to have is bones fused with adamantium, the mineral that Stryker was so obsessed with finding, and making him “Weapon X.” 

Of course, Stryker didn’t have Logan’s best interests at heart. Instead, he plans on killing him and using the adamantium experiment on the improved Weapon XI, but Logan overhears his plans and breaks out of the facility.  Logan now needs to find Stryker’s new laboratory dubbed “The Island” to avenge himself and tracks down gambler Remy LeBeau aka Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) who knows the location of the island.  

Wolverine has always been a popular character in the X-Men universe.  When it was decided that the origins of the characters would be explored in separate films it came as no surprise that he would be the first to be given the treatment. 

The character has become closely associated with Hugh Jackman and it’s best to strike while the iron is hot and before Jackman is too old to play him.  That being said, Jackman takes every opportunity to show off his physique.  So ladies, and other interested parties, prepare to be dazzled. Jealousy makes me say that, flabby old critic. 

If you’re a fan of mutants then this picture does introduced a few more.  The thing is that the new ones are given little screentime, even though this is the first time that we’ve seen many of them.  It reminded me of the short shrift given to some new characters in X3.  I did find Wolverine a little more entertaining than X3 though. 

It probably all lies on the gruff shoulders of Jackman who plays Wolverine with panache.  I also thought that Danny Huston chewed the scenery like a pro in his performance, taking over for Brian Cox.  The other mutants seem to buzz by. 

Ryan Reynolds doesn’t have much to do, even though he does show up in the big finale in another role.  Liev Schreiber also plays the other coin to Logan well and makes a hissable villainous counterpoint.  Lynn Collins is fetching as Logan’s love but her tale of the Native American legend that sets up the name Wolverine seems gimmicky (I’m not familiar how this was done in the comics). 

Gambit is introduced, but again he serves his duty in the small segment of the story and zooms by.  I did find the film an entertaining ride, but would’ve wished for more character development besides Wolverine.  

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include a commentary by director Gavin Hood and a second commentary by producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter.  The 16 minute “Roots of Wolverine” examines the origins of the character by interviewing Stan “The Man” Lee and character creator Len Wein. 

The 12 minute “Wolverine Unleashed” looks at the making of the film.  There are also 9 minutes of deleted and alternative scenes with an optional commentary by Hood.  Finally there’s a 34 second “Anti-Smoking PSA,” a bit odd but I guess there might be some kiddies that will want to fire up stogies because Logan gnaws on one in the film.  Disc two is a digital copy for your PC or portable device.  

X-Men Origins: Wolverine does have the power to entertain.  Perhaps I liked it better because the last X-Men film seemed so lax.  The film covers the origins of the cigar chomping mutant, but the rest of the mutants introduced in the film are given little time to get to know them (besides the cameos of the ones that are already in the X world).  I did like the film and had a good time watching it.  

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two-Disc Special Edition) is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an Oct. 19th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.