Note
There are a lot of people who refuse to review the work cut of Wolverine because they don’t want to encourage piracy and hurt the entertainment industry. I do not think that piracy is a bad word and as for hurting ticket sales; I’m actually more excited for the theatrical release than I was before I saw this rough cut.
In context this is not a replacement for the movie. It’s lacking a lot of special effects and was made before all of the extensive re-shoots. If anything this is like a behind the scenes documentary without the narrative audio track. You see the wires and the filler CG. And all the while you know that there’s a plot that was created after this was put together so it’s not the whole story.
It’s also an action movie and you already know who survives into the first X-Men movie. No one that I know of has ever skipped a great action franchise movie because they knew that the main character was going to survive. It’s a given anyway.
Me? I watched this with the idea that if I thought it was better than X3 I would see it in theatres like I originally intended. If it was as bad or worse (is that possible) I’d save my ticket money. I’m still buying a ticket.
Review
Something like a work cut is hard to review. I can’t judge it by how well it integrates special effects. I can’t review the editing because that’s not finished. I can do the acting and characterization but even that may be revised before this hits theatres. But what I can do is review the experience of watching Wolverine. And it was a pretty good experience.
First off I will tell you that one of the weakest aspects of Wolverine was Deadpool. That said, it’s reported that Deadpool was as the centre of the major re-shoots so that’s not a permanent strike against this movie. Deadpool has only a small amount of lines and the ones he has are smart-ass but not very snarky or sharp.
The actual Wolverine origin is lifted nearly 100% from the Wolverine: Origin comic by Bill Jemas and that works out well. The credits are done over a montage of James (Wolverine) and Victor (Sabertooth) fighting through various wars and not dying. A lot. The credits end with them in Vietnam. Victor is about to rape a local and is stopped by his own troops. Wolverine comes to his aid and they are both set to be executed. The end. Actually, Striker comes by and drafts them into the American military’s Weapon X program.
This does set up the dynamic between James and Victor well, though it’s never really made clear why James keeps signing up for war. Is it to keep an eye on his older brother? Because he certainly doesn’t have the cruel streak or bloodlust of Victor. He also doesn’t snap and go into his “Wolvie Berserker” mode so it’s not a rage thing either. Is it loneliness? Simply devotion to his only surviving family? That aspect feels unexplained.
And apparently James realizes this because on the second mission with the Weapon X team he walks off, sickened by the violence for the first time in… 4 or 5 wars. A little inconsistent, I know. It looks good while watching it but when you stop to think it seems pretty fickle. After leaving for his own life he’s inevitable drawn back into Striker’s machinations and we start to see cameos.
There’s a completely unnecessary part written for Cyclops that’s actually laughable in its execution, especially in the later parts to ensure that he never sees Wolverine.
There’s also a smaller than expected role for Gambit. They get him half right. He’s handsome but not rugged. He’s southern but not Cajun. He’s a gambler but not very self-serving. That said I was very pleased with how they expand and display his powers. But he’s certainly not perfect and deserved a little bit more of an edge to keep him true to form.
Emma Frost shows up but doesn’t even hint at having any sort of psychic abilities at all. It’s just her in and out of her diamond form. And to anyone not familiar with her diamond form they will probably be a bit confused as to what she’s doing when she uses her power. And to anyone familiar with her character they will be confused by her tan.
I’ve already covered the issue with Deadpool and the fact that it might be fixed by now. The last thing that does strike an off note is Striker and his many insidious medical ideas. The big one we know and love is James/Wolverine. But the main villain in this is Deadpool, augmented with all the captured mutants’ powers. Combine that with his secondary Cerebro from X2 and he seems more like a Dr. Frankenstein than a military mind. I know that the Striker of the films was created as a “new” character, an amalgam of various villains. But in the first 2 movies we know that he’s a clear-cut military man. Wolverine was years ago and Cerebro 2 was obviously a military project, as he didn’t actually construct it himself. So why does he act as a mad scientist in Wolverine Origins? He captures mutants but his main interest isn’t imprisoning them. His main interest is in extracting their DNA. I think this could be taken care of with a few simple changes like making sure he never wears a lab coat and converting the lab from simply a science lab with human cages to more of a prison like instillation.
All that said I found this early cut entertaining. Combined with the knowledge that some of my complaints have probably been addressed already it comes across as very promising. I actually buy Liev Schreiber as victor Creed despite the fact he doesn’t tower over James/Wolverine. There are a lot of liberties taken with Marvel’s X-Men canon so be warned of that. People who probably never met in the comics are now family. Ages and timelines changed around. All I can say about that is if you’re a big comic fan (as I am) keep in mind that this movie is not an Ultimate X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Young X-Men or X-Men: First Class movie. It is in line with X-Men 1, X2 and X3. Those movies have established their own universe and this fits into that and none of the comics. When people aren’t made out to be exactly as you expect it’s because these are different versions of those characters.
Rating
On my scale of –5 to 5 X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 3, with strong expectations for the final release.
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