.jeri.

When I heard a movie was going to made about the origins of Wolverine, I was confused. Didn't that get explored in X2, which is the most popular of the X-Men movies? But of course, comic books usually have more than one version of a story, and, I guess, why shouldn't movies? Well, if the movies are going to be like this one, that's why. I did like it, but I was disappointed, and there was nothing in this movie that was more than what was offered to us in X2.

It begins when Wolverine was still a boy and shows us when he first encounters his mutant powers, and it introduces us to his brother, who has some powers of his own, as we discover. Unfortunately, the years of his youth are skipped over, and a quick montage shows the brothers fighting in all of the important wars of history. I didn't necessarily care for the editing of this montage, but it was interesting. And instead of focusing on exactly why Sabretooth develops a blood lust, the movie just operates based on the fact that it exists. It felt like the writers decided to skip any effort at true exposition or character development and just dive right on in to what they perceive the audience to want: action.

So there isn't a lot of dialog in this movie. I still didn't mind that, actually. I liked seeing where Wolverine chose to go when left on his own, away from his brother, and away from the military. He finds a good life as a logger and it looks like he's pretty happy with that. I liked the scenes here and even how it gets disrupted. From there, William Stryker, whom Wolverine worked with in a special military team, is eager to "help" Wolverine track down Sabretooth and convinces him to be injected with adamantium, which he claims will give Wolverine the strength he needs. Of course, "nothing is as it seems" (thank goodness no one actually used this phrase), and we get action scenes aplenty.

I like watching action movies, and some of the action in this movie was no exception. It was exciting to see the introduction of Gambit and Cyclops and what they have to offer. Some of the shots are really cool, and I think the climax is climactic enough - and I like its location. I will say, however, that if someone hasn't made a youtube video yet of all of the movie scenes in which cars flip over front-perfectly-over-back, they ought to, because that shot is getting to be one of the biggest cliches in action movies and tv these days. Haha.

Wolverine wasn't exactly what I wish it could be, but I didn't go into it with high expectations, either. It exists purely on the surface, which is a bit odd for an origin movie, which as a genre would sort of necessitate that it be deeper than the surface. But even so, it's entertaining. It has some cheesy lines, some repetitive actions, and the fateful flashbacks, but somehow there's just something about it that still makes me enjoy myself. I'll probably rate it low at the end of the year, but I'm not sorry I saw it. It kicked off the summer blockbuster season, and things will only get better from here. Take that for what you will.