Filmed in part at Arcadia Station in Otago, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an X-Men prequel tracing the back story of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).
Wolverine is seeking to avenge the death of his girlfriend at the hands of Victor Creed (Live Schreiber), later to become Sabretooth. His desire for revenge is so great he enters the mutant Weapon X programme to maximise his chances.
Few of the characters from the earlier films will appear, although the Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) character will debut alongside Gambit, The Blob and Silver Fox. South African director Gavin Hood won a best foreign film Oscar for the crime drama Tsotsi.
Less
The most popular character from the X-Men movies gets a solo ride in this forced and unconvincing spin-off. While nifty stunt work and petrol-head pyrotechnics help give the movie a grunty, sweaty feel (love the shot with Jackman walking away from an exploding helicopter), ropey computer effects and a bizarre storyline will disappoint those expecting a top-end blockbuster.
Full review
Noisy and impersonal, X-Men Origins: Wolverine bears all the marks of a work for hire, conceived and executed with a big budget but little imagination.
Full review
Good blockbuster fare. Origins lacks the magic of the previous films, but Hood does well with a franchise whose shelflife depends on which mutants are next.
Full reviewGood blockbuster fare. Origins lacks the magic of the previous films, but Hood does well with a franchise whose shelflife depends on which mutants are next.
Full review
It is Hugh Jackman's misfortune that when they were handing out superheroes, he got Wolverine, who is for my money low on the charisma list. He never says anything witty, insightful or very intelligent; his utterances are limited to the vocalization of primitive forces: anger, hurt, vengeance, love, hate, determination.
Full review
Engaging back-to-beginning superhero romp, with the South Island as co-star.
Full review
There's certainly plenty here to keep most entertained.
For me, what this film suffered from, was just too much, all of the time and still not enough to get your teeth into.
Full review
Everything gets scarified on the altar of speed. You hardly get any chance to take the measure of any mutant, least of all Wolverine.
Full review
Can everyone stop making moody origin stories now, please? While not a disaster, this isn’t the claws-out, rampaging adventure we hoped for. No-one cares where Wolverine found his jacket — a spin-off with him kicking ass in Japan would have been way more fun.
Full review
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Disney+.
Get to your watchlist.
Or sign in with your email
Don’t have a Flicks account?
Keep track of the movies and show you want to see + get Flicks email updates.
Or sign up with your email
Already have a Flicks account?
Don’t have a Flicks account?
Remembered your password?
To post ratings/reviews we need a username. This is what will appear next to your ratings and reviews.
