Review by Jym Evans
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X-Men Origins: WOLVERINE
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There were enough elements of the old comic series in it to keep me happy .. and not enough minor changes to vex me.
Hugh Jackman/Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine:
Did an awesome job. He owns this character now. I can not see anyone else in this part. In this movie he really did his homework unlike the others in the old X-Men movies. He is a good actor and portrayed the inner turmoil of what I loved most about the wolverine comics.... the fight to control the animal inside and be more compassionate and Human.
Liev Schreiber/Victor Creed/Sabertooth:
I couldn't have picked a better actor to portray Victor Creed. His performance was very memorable. If you have ever read the Sabertooth comics or the old Wolvie comics with Sabertooth in them, you will recognize the iconic stylization of this character, the look , the personality, everything.. I can't believe he nailed it so perfectly.
Other Characters:
Gambit was great, Deadpool was awesome.. and the story of how Wade became Deadpool was pretty close to the comic... minus the Barak style blades in his arms.
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BIGGEST TURNOFF
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The use of profanity and the over use of the phrase "G-DDAMN" in this movie tainted it for me and made it where I do not want my kids watching it. However I will state that the modern Wolverine Comics have "Parental Advisories" on them, The ones I grew up with did not. If they wanted to play to a PG-13 crowd they could have left out the crude language and ADDED MORE BLOOD!!!
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Elements of the old comic that kept me happy:
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First off was the intro glimpse in to the Origin Comics... Origin is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics from November 2001 to March 2002, written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins, and illustrated by Andy Kubert (pencils) and Richard Isanove (color). It shows us the entire story of James Howlett (Wolverine) as a child and his teen years. it shows us the reveal of his mother's affair with the groundskeeper and that he was an illegitimate accident. The dramatic killing of his (step) father that initiated his healing factor and bone claws for the first time. I really wish the movie had more of this in it.. X-Men Origins: Wolverine could easily been 2 movies. They had to leave a lot out to make it a 2 hr movie and still tell the Weapon X story. We see the tragic story of Silverfox and his Canadian roots. I loved the small wolverine elements that were in this movie,... the cigars, calling people "bub", saying "I'm the best there is at what I do", the jacket he had on with the fur collar, The brown and yellow leather jacket paying homage to his original Brown and Yellow costume.
I absolutely loved everything they did with Victor Creed. The half brother tie in that we didn't even know about until the "Origin" comic in 2001. Victor as a child was actually called "Dog Logan" that is where James Howlett got the name "Logan" as that it was the grounds keeper's last name... Thomas Logan (His birth father) in the comic. For years we (comic readers) assumed he got the name from the Logan Mountains in Canada. But I guess that is too complicated for the cinema to expect movie goers to catch all of that, so they just called him Victor as a kid. They completly (for time reasons) left out the redhead little girl named Rose that he was infatuated with.
If you want the story of James Howlett and Dog Logan click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
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Minor Changes I DID NOT mind:
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They left out Mastodon from Team X, replacing him with The Blob. No Big Deal.
Deadpool had blades in his arms. weird, but okay.
Okay, I think what they did with stryker was a wise move. I didn't like him in X2... but they really developed out a great character in this one. In the Comics William Stryker was a Crazy Fundamentalist Televangelist who was on a mission from God to kill all mutants. I am glad they made him military and have a better reason for wanting to kill mutants.. Tying him in to Weapon X was quite a stretch but they felt that this movie had to tie in to Brian Singer's abomination "X2" for some reason. Which brings me to;
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Changes I DID NOT LIKE:
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I am very upset that they made Weapon X an AMERICAN OPERATION!! Weapon X was operated through Canada's Government organization "Department H" and was directed by Professor Thornton, not William Stryker. There is already an established story there... they changed it. They changed it to fit in to Singer's X-Men franchise. I wish they wouldn't have, they should have made this a "movie"... not a "prequel". The REAL Weapon X has Professor Thornton, and at his side were Dr. Abraham Cornelius, Dr. Carol Hines and Dr. Dale Rice. John Sublime, the director of Weapon Plus, was always behind the scenes. Some of the work of Weapon X was based on the experiments detailed on the journals of Nazi scientist Nathan Essex, which were obtained by Weapon Plus after the end of World War II. For more go here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
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SHOULD HAVE BEEN
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* James Howlett (Logan) was born after the Civil War, this movie has him in the war with his "brother"
* It is assumed Victor was the "Dog Logan" Character from the Origin comics. (who Logan did not grow up with)
* Logan was abducted by the secret CANADIAN government program Weapon X, he DID NOT SIGN UP FOR IT.
* he was in the facility for several months, not one day.
*Death of SILVER FOX was a memory implant, not a staged event.
* Silver Fox and Emma Frost, are NOT sisters.
* Maverick (Agent Zero) was not Asian
* William Stryker had northing to do with the Weapon X program, It was head up by "The Director", and "The Professor" Dr. Cornilius, and Ms. Hines.
* Logan's Memories were erased during the months he was at the facility with a REM helmet and was heavily sedated the entire time.
* Logan brutally murdered every one in the facility.
* Deadpool went to the Canadian Department H (Weapon X) program to help him cure his Cancer, by getting Logans healing factor, not become the fabled weapon XI with sword arms teleportation and laser vision.
Biggest disappointment: No costume or mask.
There is so much that happens before Logan becomes a member of the X-Men. Including his time in the Canadian Team "Alpha Flight", and his fight with the Incredible Hulk. In fact THAT is how he ends up joining the X-Men.
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IN CONCLUSION:
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I did enjoy this movie... I am looking forward to the sequel because it is supposed to cover my favorite time line, when Logan is in Madripoor Japan going by the name "Patch"
Just so you can see the difference between the Movie and the Comic......The actual History of Wolverine from after he kills his father Thomas Logan is this:
The character grows into manhood on a mining colony in Northern British Columbia, adopting the name "Logan." Logan leaves the colony and lives for a time in the wilderness among wolves, until returning to civilization, residing with the Blackfoot Indians. Following the death of his Blackfoot paramour, Silver Fox, he is ushered into a Canadian military unit. Logan then spends some time in Madripoor, before settling in Japan, where he marries Itsu and has a son, Daken.
During World War II, Logan teams with Captain America and continues a career as a soldier-of-fortune/adventu
As a member of Team X, Logan is given false memory implants. He continues on the team, until he is able to break free of the mental control and joins the Canadian Defense Ministry. Logan is subsequently kidnapped by Weapon X, where he remains captive and experimented on, until he escapes, as shown in Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" storyline which ran in Marvel Comics Presents. It is during his imprisonment by Weapon X that he has unbreakable adamantium forcibly fused into his bones.
Logan is eventually discovered by James and Heather Hudson (Alpha Flight), who help him recover his humanity. Following his recovery, Logan, this time under the supervision of Department H, once again works for Canadian Intelligence. Logan becomes Wolverine, one of Canada's first superheroes. In his first mission, he is dispatched to stop the destruction caused by a brawl between the Hulk and the Wendigo.
Professor Charles Xavier recruits Wolverine to a new team of X-Men. Disillusioned with his Canadian intelligence work and intrigued by Xavier's offer, Logan resigns from Department H. It was later revealed, however, that Professor X had wiped Logan's memories and forced him to join the X-Men after Wolverine was sent on an assassination attempt to kill Xavier.
So even though I did enjoy this move... It still could have been better, the reason it wasn't, was the Brian Singer movies.
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