X-Men Origins: Wolverine
What?
After Brett Ratner butchered the X-Men series, Marvel went back to the drawing board and worked out a cunning way of milking the franchise without adding another sequel. They basically took the coolest character and built a film around him. Telling Wolverine’s back story was really just an excuse to get the most loved character more screen time and a way of making more money out of the X-Men name. The idea could have worked was it not for a laughable script and some cheap ass special effects. And considering Bryan Singer’s films were built around an intelligent script and cutting edge effects, it’s fair to say Fox and Marvel got things a little wrong.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is full of action and million dollar eye candy. The problem is one set piece after another, featuring different mutants displaying their different gifts, are spoilt by some really weak CGI effects. One of the more simple scenes where Logan eyes his shiny new claws in a mirror looks like something a student put together on his home PC. The blades actually look like an unfinished effect during the early stages of production, either that or they are made of silver cardboard. The script is lazy, clumsy and downright corny; it’s almost as if the dialogue itself was an afterthought after the action sequences had been decided upon. Comic book adaptations have come a long way in recent years thanks to the likes of Singer and Christopher Nolan, but Wolverine smacks of the superhero film we had left in the past. Much like yesterday’s comic book movie, Wolverine does entertain at times thanks to some decent performances from Jackman and Schreiber plus the aforementioned action spectaculars which succeed in delivering some eye popping fun. If there is to be another of these Origins movies I hope the glaring problems are looked at before fans completely lose interest in anything to do with the X-Men, whatever the vehicle.
Optics:
While not a criticism of the transfer itself, the main problem here is just how noticeable the ropey effects are because of the high definition image. A lesser transfer would obviously not highlight the problems quite so much, but of course a lackluster transfer would only serve in compounding the problems overall. As it is Wolverine on Blu-ray is hard to knock. Blacks are extremely deep and colours in general really pop, detail on the hand is very high throughout, again, something that brings its own problems as well as being very pleasing to the eye. When Logan is working as a lumberjack is a great example of both the bold colours and high level of detail. The lush green and brown forest looks quite stunning, every branch and leaf is clearly visible in what is a beautiful few minutes of film. Although a solid transfer in every respect, Wolverine comes up short of the best.
Sonics:
With action set piece after set piece, Wolverine really allows this DTS-HD track the chance to flex its muscles, and flex them it does, just not as vigorously as I was hoping for. Bass is strong at times but not window rattlingly strong. The track felt like it was holding something back, I was continually waiting for it to really come alive but it never quite reached the level I was expecting. Surrounds were consistently good however, effects could be heard throughout the entire film from ambient noise to full blown explosions. I enjoyed the track don’t get me wrong, I just know how good it could have been.
Extras:
The impressive looking list of extra features are made up of a couple of commentaries, a load of very short featurettes plus one of decent length which looks into the different mutants in the movie. A decent PiP track is included as well as a load of deleted scenes and a digital copy and DVD copy (Fox’s Triple Play).
Well?
By no means a complete disaster and not the worst way to spend a Saturday night, Wolverine will none the less disappoint most die hard X-Men fans or anyone anticipating a decent summer blockbuster on Blu-ray.
Tom Day
After Brett Ratner butchered the X-Men series, Marvel went back to the drawing board and worked out a cunning way of milking the franchise without adding another sequel. They basically took the coolest character and built a film around him. Telling Wolverine’s back story was really just an excuse to get the most loved character more screen time and a way of making more money out of the X-Men name. The idea could have worked was it not for a laughable script and some cheap ass special effects. And considering Bryan Singer’s films were built around an intelligent script and cutting edge effects, it’s fair to say Fox and Marvel got things a little wrong.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is full of action and million dollar eye candy. The problem is one set piece after another, featuring different mutants displaying their different gifts, are spoilt by some really weak CGI effects. One of the more simple scenes where Logan eyes his shiny new claws in a mirror looks like something a student put together on his home PC. The blades actually look like an unfinished effect during the early stages of production, either that or they are made of silver cardboard. The script is lazy, clumsy and downright corny; it’s almost as if the dialogue itself was an afterthought after the action sequences had been decided upon. Comic book adaptations have come a long way in recent years thanks to the likes of Singer and Christopher Nolan, but Wolverine smacks of the superhero film we had left in the past. Much like yesterday’s comic book movie, Wolverine does entertain at times thanks to some decent performances from Jackman and Schreiber plus the aforementioned action spectaculars which succeed in delivering some eye popping fun. If there is to be another of these Origins movies I hope the glaring problems are looked at before fans completely lose interest in anything to do with the X-Men, whatever the vehicle.
Optics:
While not a criticism of the transfer itself, the main problem here is just how noticeable the ropey effects are because of the high definition image. A lesser transfer would obviously not highlight the problems quite so much, but of course a lackluster transfer would only serve in compounding the problems overall. As it is Wolverine on Blu-ray is hard to knock. Blacks are extremely deep and colours in general really pop, detail on the hand is very high throughout, again, something that brings its own problems as well as being very pleasing to the eye. When Logan is working as a lumberjack is a great example of both the bold colours and high level of detail. The lush green and brown forest looks quite stunning, every branch and leaf is clearly visible in what is a beautiful few minutes of film. Although a solid transfer in every respect, Wolverine comes up short of the best.
Sonics:
With action set piece after set piece, Wolverine really allows this DTS-HD track the chance to flex its muscles, and flex them it does, just not as vigorously as I was hoping for. Bass is strong at times but not window rattlingly strong. The track felt like it was holding something back, I was continually waiting for it to really come alive but it never quite reached the level I was expecting. Surrounds were consistently good however, effects could be heard throughout the entire film from ambient noise to full blown explosions. I enjoyed the track don’t get me wrong, I just know how good it could have been.
Extras:
The impressive looking list of extra features are made up of a couple of commentaries, a load of very short featurettes plus one of decent length which looks into the different mutants in the movie. A decent PiP track is included as well as a load of deleted scenes and a digital copy and DVD copy (Fox’s Triple Play).
Well?
By no means a complete disaster and not the worst way to spend a Saturday night, Wolverine will none the less disappoint most die hard X-Men fans or anyone anticipating a decent summer blockbuster on Blu-ray.
Tom Day
Director:
Gavin Hood
Starring:
Hugh Jackman
Liev Schreiber
Danny Huston
Will i Am
Dominic Monaghan
Taylor Kitsch
Ryan Reynolds
Best line:
"Hunt him down - take his head off."
Tagline:
Description:
Fox
UK
Region A/B
Rated 12
1Hr 42 Mins
2.35:1
MPEG-4/AVC
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
(English)
Dolby Digital 5.1
(Portugese, Spanish, French)
Subtitles: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portugese, Spanish)
Audio commentaries
'The Roots of Wolverine'
'Wolverine Unleashed'
Deleted scenes
'Weapon X Mutant Files'
'The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence'
Ultimate X-Mode
Ratings: (Out of 10)
Film 6.0
Optics 8.0
Sonics 8.0
Extras 7.0
Overall 7.0
