Review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Let's start this review with a list of things they didn't alter from the comics:

Long list, eh? Put simply, do not see this movie if you're a fan of Wolverine comics. Fox has made it perfectly clear that as long as they make money, they don't care about what godly abomination they have to shove down your throats or what source material it came from.

Still, just because something is altered doesn't mean it's bad. Many films that have come from literature have been a great success, both critically and financially. Unfortunately for the former, this is not the case. It's one thing to make an awful movie, but it's another to lie to your audience. Many characters advertised were so twisted and perverted by the time the film was released, it's hard to say those characters were in the movie at all. I'm not being vague either, literally every character is such horrid mutated version of what they were on paper. I could make a list but it would include almost every character in the movie.

Let's talk about the positive things in the movie, though. Hugh Jackman does his best to make a script full of cheesy poses, awful one liners, worthless character development, and nonsensical plot look presentable but only mildly succeeds. Sabretooth, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether. To be honest, when Liev
Schreiber was announced as Sabretooth I was very skeptical. He was type casted as a very cheesy, generic villain in other films and I expected nothing more here. But I'm very proud to admit I was dead wrong. Liev easily turns in the best performance in this film and transforms Sabretooth into a cool, vicious customer with a visually striking fighting style.

However, I can't be so generous with the rest of the cast. I believe Danny Huston is a good actor, but this film does not represent that in the least bit. His already awful dialogue was delivered with the zest of lettuce that's been left out too long. It's absolutely impossible to take him seriously as any kind of threat. Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney, Tim Pocock, and Ryan Reynolds all put in the best performances they can with such limited screen time and asinine character development.

I have two major bones to pick with two of the remaining actors, however. First, let's tackle Taylor Kitsch as the fan favorite Gambit. Gambit's mannerisms, accent, charm, and demeanor were completely absent from Taylor's performance. Lazy preparation or studio involvement? Your decision, but whoever Taylor Kitsch portrays it is not Gambit. Next is ''Will i Am'', most noted for being in top 40 band Black Eyed Peas. This title is given out quite a bit so I'm hesitant to use it but there's no getting around it. This person is absolutely the worst actor I have ever seen. If you want to know how seriously Fox takes movie making, you need not look farther than ''Will i Am'' being cast in a major motion picture despite having no experience or talent at all. Their desperate attempt to cash in on the ''listens to talentless musicians'' demographic is the perfect example of Fox simply not giving a damn about film making and focusing on what will yield the most profit.

Music is passable and not memorable at all. Cinematography makes use of the most common shots in film, utilizing the ''overhead zoom out'' and the ''dolly in, zoom out'' shot on at least eight separate occasions it seems. Editing was based on getting to the next action sequence as fast as possible and it shows, though I may be thankful because it let me get through this horrid movie faster. Casting was good, but was wasted on such a mediocre script. Production design was very good, all the sets looked organic and believable.

Overall, I give this film a 5 if you haven't read the comics and can shut off your brain and a 2 if you have read the comics.