D V D C R Y P T

X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE

Directed by Gavin Hood
Written by David Beniof & Skip Woods
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan & Daniel Henney

2009/107 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 5.1
2.35:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Fox DVD

X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE opens in the mid 1800s where young James Howlett sees his father killed by his friend Victor Creed's father. In an act of vengeance, James kills the elder Logan using bone claws, which have grown out of his hands. With his dying breath, Logan tells James that he is also his son. James and Victor run away and promise to look out for each other.

In the years that follow, adult brothers James (Jackman) and Victor (Schreiber) are seen fighting together in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and eventually being "killed". That’s when Major William Stryker (Huston reprising the role from Brian Cox in X-MEN 2 UNITED) approaches the two men and offers them to join Team X, his elite group of mutants.

Six years after leaving the group, every one of them is brutally murdered. James - now going by his last name, Logan is asked by Striker to hunt down the killer. But for doing so Logan's skeletal system is reinforced with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal retrieved from the meteorite found by Team X years earlier. Logan becomes Wolverine and thus begins the future of the X-Men.

David Beniof and Skip Woods are both fans of the comic books and used Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" story, as well as Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 limited series on the character for the film's adaptation. Working with superhero mythologies can be complicated and dealing with one who is virtually indestructible can easily turn uninteresting. Unfortunately that’s what happens with X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE. While Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber does their best to bring their characters to life, the script is filled with uninteresting action sequences plagued by poor computer generated FX, terrible one liners and changes to the mythology of some of the characters that will probably make fans furious (the less said about Deadpool the better). While not necessarily a bad film, it does feel unsatisfying and not sharp enough (pun intended).

Probably due to the leaked workprint version on the Internet, the film had two different endings for its theatrical release. One version shows Wolverine drinking in an oriental bar. The bartender asked if he is drinking to forget, Logan replies that he is drinking to remember. The other shows Weapon XI on the rubble of the destroyed tower, trying to touch his severed head and breaks the Fourth Wall by saying "Shhhh", which leaves the door opened for the much talked about DEADPOOL spin-off.

The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image looks great with rich and vivid color saturation. There's a loud and thunderous English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track along with a Spanish and French dubbed tracks in Dolby Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are available.

“Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” is a 12 minutes featurette with behind-the-scenes footages and interviews with the cast and crew. The film is separated in 28 chapters, features a main animated menus, comes in a keep case and without a booklet or inlay card. Trailers for others Fox releases are playing before the main feature. An Ultimate 2-disc edition is also available.

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