When I was growing up I read a lot of Marvel comics, and by the time the cartoon series started in 1992 my favourite superhero had switched from Spider-man to Wolverine just because of the coolness in a character having claws. When I first heard they were going to make a Wolverine movie I was really looking forward to it, especially after seeing that Hugh Jackman was up to the challenge of playing the character. What I did wonder though was how they'd face the challenge of covering his origin story as it's been far from consistent, so there was a lot of material to choose from.

From the comics I remember Wolverine, Sabretooth and Maverick forming a taskforce called Alpha Flight - unfortunately I can't remember whether there were any other members in the team but it is those 3 that I remember. In the movie Logan's story starts long before this, in the 1800's in Canada where he is a sickly young boy whose father is killed in front of him. He runs off with his newly revealed brother, Victor Creed into the wild and then we see flashes of them fighting during the major conflicts that took place between then and the Vietnam war. We see them as brothers, fighting their enemies just because they can and because neither of them can die and age very slowly. After surviving a firing squad they were put in front of for murdering a superior officer they are given the chance to join a new team that needed people with their "abilities".

Up until this point there isn't really a great deal wrong with the film, other than the very first scene with his father. What really annoys me about this bit is that their fathers were played by Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber - so the fact that they're explaining Creed is his real father seems a little far-fetched. There are a few moments with good cinematography during the depiction of the wars. However this soon changes and what started out as a promising film soon diminishes itself and the origin story of Wolverine to something that is almost laughable.

The group is put together and other than Deadpool I didn't initially recognise any of the other characters. They are then seen going after some Adamantium which Stryker wants for a reason which at that time is unknown. Due to the way the team treats the locals, Logan leaves his brother and the team behind, returning to Canada to start a new life. Six years pass and he is visited by Striker and Agent Zero who ask him to work for them once more, but he refuses. Shortly after his girlfriend is apparently murdered by Sabretooth which tips him over the edge on a mission of revenge. His first attempt to kill Sabretooth fails and after the ensuing fight he breaks Logan's claws off causing him to pass out. When he awakes he is in a hospital and is met by Stryker, who offers him the means to get revenge. The means is to lace his skeleton with the mysterious metal known as Adamantium, an element stronger than any other known to man.

After he overhears Stryker saying they will wipe Logan's memory he breaks free and goes on the run where he soon gets some help from an elderly couple who clothe him, but they are murdered by Agent Zero. What follows here is an action packed scene, yet it is also the cause for some of what I didn't like about the film. After the US Government's chopper fire missiles at the barn they're staying in you see Logan roaring out of there on a classic bike which is one of those last minute escapes typical of summer blockbusters (a term which was first coined to describe Star Wars by the way). The subsequent chase and fight is pretty amazing, yet it was also fairly unrealistic especially when we see Agent Zero jumps on to the helicopter - to get the height he needed he would have hit the blades as he jumped. The destruction of the helicopter is also extremely cheesy in that as Logan is walking away he ignites a trail of fuel so that it explodes behind him ready for a close-up. It was so "cheesy" it was actually laughable, just as a few other moments in the film were predictable in both plot and what they would say.

I did wonder about the presence of Scott Summers in this film as they weren't supposed to have met until Logan turns up at Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but they got round that by them not actually having met and Scott not knowing who rescued him from Strykers Island. The portrayal of The Blob was surprising as well - I thought that character was too much of a joke to put into a live action movie, yet they did also explain how the Blob became who he is as well. His name also seems to come from a comical moment of Logan calling him "Bub" and being misheard as "Blob".

I really wish certain scenes in this film had been changed to not be so accommodating for non-X-Men fans as this film didn't need to garner mass appeal by being a typical blockbuster, it could have done this by itself if only they'd stayed true to the seriousness of the character. I am still hopeful though that they'll learn from their mistakes with this film and make sure the sequel is better. It isn't the fault of the actors in the film that it was this bad, it's the fault of the story being badly adapted for the screen.

If you're a fan of superheroes then this may not be the movie for you - unless you're a die hard Marvel fan you may be better off watching Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as you're likely to find far more satisfaction in watching those. If you are a die hard Marvel fan then chances are you'd have already seen this film or will watch it regardless of what anyone says, though I must say it wasn't as bad as Spider-man 3.

There is no excuse, none, for average to below-average special effects. This was a serious money-grab and a waste of one of Marvel's great characters. Shame on those who had the power to do more but simply went for the cash register.

Okay, so you should already know that when you walk into the theater for this, you shouldn't really be expecting much, so that's get that out of the way right now.

SYNOPSIS: The movie vaguely follows the Wolverine Origins comic, starting with James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine's (whatever you want to call him) childhood when he finds out that he can bring out bone-like protrusions from his knuckles. He runs away with his brother (with similar powers, only way more lame), goes through every war from the Civil War to the Vietnam war, only to realize that his brother is increasingly becoming increasingly disturbing. They part ways, and Logan finds true love. But his past comes back, regardless of how much he tries to run away from it, and he goes off on a rampage for revenge.

PROS: . . . . actually, I'll get back to this one.

CONS: It's funny in places where it's not meant to be. I know the love story was an intregal part of the progression of Wolverine's character, but did it have to be THAT bad? It was bad enough to distract from the story. Walking off into the sunset with your lover in your arms? The bird's eye shot of the hero looking up into the sky with some dead person in his arms, crying out in anguish (not once, but TWICE). Oh, and the "It was real for me, too." ::vomit::

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: "A semi-attractive woman being able to influence a man by touch" is quite possibly the worst "superpower" ever conceived. Some women can do that, anyway (though sometimes it depends on where they touch. I'll leave that to your imagination), and I'm pretty sure they're not mutants.

PROS: After discussing this with my friends (we all watched it opening night. Not worth it, but still it's fun to hang out), we've all agreed that the eye candy of the movie was entirely for the benefit of the ladies (although there was some difference in opinion on who was more attactive. Hugh Jackman doesn't do it for me, but I was clearly outnumbered on that opinion). There's nothing really for the guys here. You could list that as a "Pro" or a "Con" depending on your take on it.

Then there's the mind-boggling "Woverine on a motorcycle vs. a helicopter" scene. You get the feeling that they were trying really, really hard to get Logan to a situation where that situation could possibly arise. If you ignore HOW he got there, it's a pretty cool action scene.

The best part in my opinion: the opening sequence featuring the different wars that the brothers fought in. Short, but fun to watch.

OVERALL: There are a few fun parts, but you'll probably be better off waiting for this one to show on TV for free. Or don't even bother watching it. You're really not going to be missing out.

Aw...Wolverine...I _really_ wanted to like your movie....but, it was downright awful.

There are some redeeming action sequences, at the very least...or rather, portions of some of the action sequences are cool, like the helicopter fight, until they resolve with something stupidly cliche (not in a self-aware and ironic way, more of a "this is a summer blockbuster, dammit" way).

I've since been told that Wolverine had a number of different back stories that they sort of combined together to appease everyone when they made X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It ultimately comes off as a hackjob as a consequence and throughout the film I found myself exclaiming (in my head, of course :P)..."seriously guys?" a number of times. The general arc of the story spirals downward towards triteness pretty quickly, and never recovers.

Gambit was a throwaway character, as was most of the cast beyond Logan/Wolverine. I guess I should have anticipated that given that this is a prequel and they resolved the X-Men trilogy without his presence, but it left me wondering why they bothered to include him at all. In regard to the rest of the cast...by throwaway, I don't just mean weak character development. I also mean that they totally half-assed the CGI on most of the tertiary mutants.

Minor spoilers in this paragraph
The main reason this film was irritating was that most of the characters, including Wolverine and his brother behave in inexplicable ways for the vast majority of the film. It gets irritating the 4th or 5th time someone lets Stryker off on the pretense of "If I kill you we'll be no better than you." This stilted morality was generally unbelievable in the world created by this particular film (incidentally, the same level of unrealistic selflessness and morality on the part of the mutants totally worked in all 3 of the other X-Men films).
End of spoilers

All this aside, the friends I went with who had fairly low expectations going in enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than I did, so if you're an X-Men fan, set the bar low and enjoy :) If, on the other hand, you skipped the X-Men Trilogy...catch that on dvd instead of seeing this crap in the theater.

Just saw the movie tonight and overall I was impressed with it. The other X-men movies had me wincing in pain at some of the overly cheesy lines and they ruined the previous movies for me. The writers did a much better job of handling one liners and there seemed to be overall a nice balance. The helicopter scene was less cheesy then the previews alluded to but Logan walking from the explosion was pretty cheesetastic.

If you are a true X-Men fan then you might be surprised by some of the plot points but like most Stan Lee movies, the stories vary debating on whom tells it. I felt like they preserved the spirit of Wolverine well even though they varied from the version of his back story that I grew up with.

***Minor spoiler alert*** I enjoyed the movie but I did not like the arch-villain towards the end of the movie. I would have rated the move 5 stars had it not felt so pieced together. However, I enjoyed the movie enough that this scene didn't ruin it for me.

I know its dumb to rate this without seeing it first, so I'll edit my review in a week. I can't wait to see it though. I am not a sci-fi fan, nor am I a comic book fanboy, But I Love the x-Men series. It was the only superhero cartoon I watched when I was a kid. Can't wait to see Origins.

Im pretty burned out on all these damn super hero movies. Im a grown ass man and could care less about all the hype that surrounds these type movies. I loved Wolverine as a kid. As a movie tho? I love sci-fi, but REALISTIC sci-fi. This crap is TOO MUCH fantasy for my liking. Movies like Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man....come on? Im tired of it. 2 stars only for special effects.