The much anticipated series of prequels to the marvel franchise X-Men kicked off with exploring the beginnings of probably one of the most beloved superheroes in the Marvel Universe. Opening in the mid 1800s, young James Howlett is witnessed to his father’s murder at the hands of his best-friend’s father. What initially looks to be a crime of passion turns unto a life altering few minutes for young Howlett, who avenges his father by the use of his unique abilities. Howlett and his best-friend Victor Creed (later to become one of Wolverine’s arch-enemies) are told that they are half-brothers after which they leave their homes with new found regenerative powers.
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After battling in numerous wars together the two mutants are recruited by Major William Stryker who assembles a team of mutants called Team X (very imaginative). After James realizes the unnecessarily brutal aspect of the team’s conduct he opts to quit the team leaving his brother Creed behind. Wolverine is later dragged back into the thick of the action as the conspiracy unfolds and he seeks revenge for the death of his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. The film covers the aspects of Wolverine’s name change and adamantium enhancement while adopting a few biographical features from recent graphic novels and even tweaking a bit of his background story in classic Hollywood style.
The film sees Hugh Jackman thankfully reprising his role as the gritty and animalistic superhero while new additions such as Liev Shreiber as the future sabretooth, Ryan Reynolds as the wisecracking Deadpool and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit were notable inductees to the Marvel-to-film industry. Jackman largely owes his career to the mutant community and as evident in the film, took his role very seriously. In fact it is hard to picture anyone else playing the clawed hero as he has clearly made it his own.
A highlight in the film though was Liev Shreiber’s performance as Victor Creed which was intense to say the least. Reynolds played a very minor role in the film but the alterations made to his character’s story and the fusion of Weapon X and Deadpool were downright criminal. Kitsch employed this year’s worst accent to impersonate a Remmy LeBeau who would have Gambit fans reeling with anger. One aspect of the film that needs mentioning is Will.i.am’s portrayal of John Wraith. I hope it’s safe to say his acting career is hereby over.
The film was quite entertaining in its own right but the changes made to Wolverine’s background story will not go down well with Marvel fanatics or any old X-Men fan.
The film sacrificed too much of the essence of Wolverine’s past for mere entertainment and the film really didn’t need to do that. However, for all you superhero film fans who don’t care much about accuracy this film is solid fun and entertainment with some memorable scenes to last up until the next superhero flick and is definitely worth a watch.
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