Effects, buff Jackman highlight a flawed 'Wolverine'
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" begins as a dark and foreboding tale of two brothers on the run, then slams into high gear as a high-energy action film before veering out of control into such overwrought silliness that it resembles a satire of itself.
Hugh Jackman fans probably won't be disappointed in "X-Men Origins." Buffed up, touched up and roughed up, Jackman reprises his popular Wolverine character for the third time, plying the Marvel Comics superhero with loads more intensity and seriousness than a mutant would ever need.
Marvel Comics fans probably won't be disappointed, either. The movie, directed at breakneck speed by Gavin Hood, is an epic tale detailing how Professor X (Patrick Stewart) inherited all those mutant students. But mostly, it's about how James Logan, one of the many mutants in the X-Men galaxy of stars, wound up as the feral lupine guy with the stiletto knuckles in "X-Men" (2000), "X2" (2003) and the overtly ridiculous "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006).
In a quick, tight montage under the opening credits, we witness how two little mutant brothers in 1845 grow up to become James (Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber), whose abilities to heal instantly and grow claws at will make them invincible soldiers. We see them killing people in the American Civil War. Then in World War I. World War II. And Vietnam.
They can't be wounded or killed, and they apparently grow so slowly that regular humans age in dog years by comparison. No wonder their side always wins. (Wait! How do they explain Vietnam?)
Eventually, the smarmy Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston, a model of restrained villainy) recruits the brothers to be part of a special team with other mutants to travel around the globe, slaughtering and torturing Third World denizens in the interests of America.
Finally, James' conscience can't take it anymore, and he chucks military life to hide in the Canadian wilderness.
He's a lumberjack and he's OK. He's very happy living with Kayla (Lynn Collins), who apparently knows his history. Then his insane, thrill-killer brother Victor finds James and sets out to destroy his life.
Hood is an ideal director to handle the sinister, dark-side-of-the-military themes in "Wolverine." The former attorney most recently directed "Rendition," a tough drama about the U.S. practice of abducting American citizens and shipping them to foreign countries where non-U.S. personnel can interrogate and torture them.
"Wolverine" is rife with secret government installations and covert operations, one of which is to scientifically recreate James as Wolverine, aka Weapon X, the ultimate fighting creature equipped with supreme metal in place of his bones.
"You will endure more pain than any man can endure!" Stryker promises. He delivers, too.
"Wolverine" overdoses on special-effects fight sequences, especially those between Victor and James literally going at each other tooth and fingernail. A final confrontation with a dreaded, teleporting villain (Scott Adkins) verges on an inadvertent comedy routine.
The script, by Skip Woods and David Benioff, infuses the Marvel comics world with elements of horror films and, inexplicably, those laughable "Highlander" movies from the 1980s.
Some of the dialogue is glib and darkly humorous. Other times, Wolverine is reduced to such lines as "Before I gut you, I want to know, why?"
Post-credits alert! Stick around until after the closing credits to see yet one more extra cliché borrowed from the horror genre.
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
Rating: 2½ stars
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i Am, Lynn Collins
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Other: A 20th Century Fox release. Rated PG-13 (language, nudity, violence). 115 minutes.