X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

A look at Wolverine's early life, in particular his time with the government squad Weapon and the impact it will have on his later years.

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writers:

David Benioff (screenplay), Skip Woods (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston

3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Jackman	...	Logan / Wolverine
Liev Schreiber	...	Victor Creed
Danny Huston	...	Stryker
Will i Am	...	John Wraith (as Will.i.am)
Lynn Collins	...	Kayla Silverfox
Kevin Durand	...	Fred Dukes
Dominic Monaghan	...	Chris Bradley / Bolt
Taylor Kitsch	...	Remy LeBeau
Daniel Henney	...	Agent Zero
Ryan Reynolds	...	Wade Wilson
Tim Pocock	...	Scott Summers
Julia Blake	...	Heather Hudson
Max Cullen	...	Travis Hudson
Troye Sivan	...	Young James
Michael-James Olsen	...	Young Victor

Storyline

Two mutant brothers, Logan and Victor, born 200 years ago, suffer childhood trauma and have only each other to depend on. Basically, they're fighters and killers, living from war to war through U.S. history. In modern times, a U.S. colonel, Stryker, recruits them and other mutants as commandos. Logan quits and becomes a logger, falling in love with a local teacher. When Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker's crew, the colonel sends the murderous Victor. Logan now wants revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

mutant | colonel | teacher | logger | wolverine | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] 20th Century Fox [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wolverine

Filming Locations:

Auburn, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£6,658,979 (UK) (1 May 2009)

Gross:

$179,883,016 (USA) (25 September 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Marvel Enterprises, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Liev Schreiber had studied to be a fight choreographer, and wanted to be a dancer like Hugh Jackman, so he enjoyed developing and filming the Logan-Creed fights.

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Goofs

When Stryker, and Sabertooth capture Scott in the school Stryker says "All that is left is Logan", but after that in New Orleans Sabertooth is seen taking blood from John Wraith. So Logan wasn't the last one. This may be because Wraith's power may have been considered an extra bonus that could be retrieved if the opportunity arose. Stryker may not have expected to be able to catch Wraith because while he can track and restrain Logan, Wraith can teleport away at any time as long as he is awake. Also, Logan was willing to undergo the procedure (which was secretly a test to see if Deadpool would survive the procedure) because he wanted revenge for Kayla's death, whilst Wraith is ashamed of what he has done with his powers and would not willingly use them to help create a super-weapon.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Victor Creed: You're always sick.
Young James Logan: You were sick when you were my age.

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: There is a scene in the closing credits: William Stryker is arrested and taken into custody for the murder of General Munson, now with the haggard features he would appear with in X2.

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Connections

Referenced in Trailer Failure: Conan, Real Steel, and Final Destination 5 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Shinjuku Shadows"
Written by G.E. Stinson
Performed by Kaoru and G.E. Stinson
Courtesy of Maryatt Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

"Wolverine" 's journey is more about the visuals than the character

The superhero genre reached a higher echelon in 2008 with "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight," and considering the success of 2/3 of the X-Men franchise so far, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" can certainly be held to those standards, especially a movie whose title alone suggests getting right down to its hero's adamantium core.

But "Wolverine" plays more like a spin-off, defining "origins" as the back story and not the psychological workings of the character. It's weak on themes, but loaded on more new mutants with new powers, explosions and plenty of subplots. Basically, it fails where "X-Men 3" did, trying to do too much at once, rushing the plot along and sacrificing the deeper reason audiences are drawn to Hugh Jackman's character other than he's cool and has a crude, sarcastic sense of humor. However, it succeeds much of the same way X3 did and beyond: more explosive action and creative use of an immense visual effects budget. Although director Gavin Hood doesn't bring more insight into the film with his work, he certainly has as good of an eye for the stylish as anyone.

The first sign that you know this movie isn't going to be top tier for superhero flicks is the number of mutants/villains. For a story about one, singular X-man, there are way too many other characters to follow: Col. Stryker is their ringleader, but Sabretooth (Schriber), Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds), Bolt (Monaghan), Gambit (Kitsch), Wraith (will.i.am), Agent Zero, the Blob and young Cyclops (not to mention a slough of extras) make the film dizzying. Especially at the beginning, we need to see more Wolverine -- it's his movie.

To the film's credit, its quick movement makes it easy to watch and entertaining and there's some surprisingly good comedic timing on Jackman's part for an action movie. Seriously though, it must have been a blast (no pun intended) on the set during action sequences because they actually destroyed everything they possibly could: CGI, real and both. This film is the beginning of what will surely be mind-blowing visual effects at the movies this summer. Hood gives new visual strength to the franchise and provides a much more epic feel to this film -- it's clearly about this grand journey for Wolverine, even if it's more spectacle than introspective.

Surprisingly, the ending was the most satisfying part of the film. All the subplots converge, it makes sense and the loose ends that fans of the first three films will notice get tied up fittingly at the end. For the whole first hour of the film you're juggling Wolverine and Sabretooth's rivalry, Stryker's team of guys with powers, Wolverine's romance with Kayla out in the wilderness, what's happening to the team of guys with powers ... why the heck kid Cyclops is in the movie ... it's not overwhelming, it's just not as enjoyable when you can't focus on one thing or character as much as you'd like. Still, the ending justifies the strange means, at least in terms of the epic battle that ensues.

"Wolverine" is not a travesty for the genre, but it certainly doesn't meet the expectations for a thorough superhero movie experience. You get amped up action and style over meaning and that makes it entertainment more than catharsis. Expect to be entertained and little else and "Wolverine" will satisfy your itch for the summer movie season. ~Steven C

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