X-Men Origins: Wolverine

By  Wolfen Moondaughter

James Howlett, aka Logan, and Victor Creed: these two very-possibly immortal brothers have been through countless wars together until the government finally learned their secret. Convincing them to join “Team X”, a special ops team comprised of mutants, the man accomplishes what the many decades and battles they’d been through could not: he breaks the brothers up. And Victor will do anything to make his brother pay for abandoning him.

The film was much better than I’d feared, although not quite as good as I’d hoped: better than X-Men: The Last Stand by a very wide margin, but not as good as the first or second X-film. Still, most of the factors I had been confused or even peeved about — namely, the inclusion of characters that, in the comics had nothing to do with the Weapon X program storyline (at least as I knew it — it’s been a few years) and some significant changes that were made to certain characters — were mollified once I saw them in the context of the story. While watching, there were points that struck me as having no logic, mostly in regards to character motivations, but as the story progressed and puzzle pieces fell into place, the logic became apparent. So for a while during the story I was thinking it was pretty bad, and then when key information was revealed, I did a 180 and felt it was all rather clever. Still, there were a few things that stuck in my craw, and kept me from loving the story as much as I would have liked. That and there’s far too much telling with little showing.

I’m about to get very spoilery now.

The characterisation was somehow simultaneously good and inadequate. Leiv Schreiber’s Victor was certainly well-played and true to character: bloodthirsty, sadistic, and utterly without compassion. But I felt that we never really learned why he was that way, or why he was so very attached to his brother even when he hated him. Even as a boy, Victor watched over his little brother despite clearly being disgusted by him. And while Hugh Jackman was, as always, exemplary as Logan, I was baffled as to why James didn’t leave Victor long ago (aside for convenience of the story, I mean). Or, conversely, why he did leave now, as if what Victor did was something new. The best I can figure is that, for the brothers, decades are like only singular years, maybe even just months, so while it seemed like an eternity for Victor’s actions to compile into enough straw to break the camel’s back really didn’t seem that long to Logan. But I think it more likely to have just been a matter of convenience for story’s sake.

The introduction went far, far too quickly. We just see a few minutes of the brothers as children, revealing that, although James thought he was the son of a man named Howlett and that he and his brother had only their mother in common, they actually shared a father after all. His real father, Thomas Logan, kills his stepfather, which spurs the little boy to get so enraged that bone claws sprang forth for the first time, allowing him to kill Thomas and learn the truth of his heritage in the man’s dying words. This is very similar in some ways, yet also very different in others, from what happened in the comics: it was not confirmed in the text that Thomas was father to James, which means the man’s son, “Dog”, was not in turn confirmed as his brother either (and may or may not have been Sabertooth, in any case). But the death of Howlett and the revelation of the bone claws as James kills Thomas is pretty much the same. I will say that I think this is the better version of the story; it’s a better scenario, and I rather like the idea of Victor and James being brothers. (I should also note that I’d heard long ago that Chris Claremont’s original intent when he created Sabertooth was that the man would be Logan’s father, something that I think was strongly hinted at in the comics once upon a time, so I did have to shift gears a bit. That could have been interesting too, if it had been allowed to play out, but I think I still prefer them as brothers.) I do wonder why Victor’s last name is Creed, though, if his father was known and went by Logan.

While the scenario is a good set-up for what happens later in the film, establishing for Victor how James reacts to the loss of a loved one, there’s also a few problems I have with this scenario. For one, the way his biological father speaks to little James when he tells him the truth, with a desperate plea for acceptance and what sounds to be affection, belies the fact that he’s supposed to be a monster, as the shooting of Howlett and the scream of rage heard before it would suggest. In fact, the boys’ mother’s reaction to James having killed the man who shot his stepfather (and who could have killed her next), and to the appearance of his claws, suggests to me that she’s more of a monster than their biological father! At least Thomas had seemed to just be trying to get back the children that were taken from him. But Victor insisted that his little brother had done right, that they were better off with the man dead. There’s far too much going on in this sequence with too little background info. Was their father a mutant, or just a really violent man who coincidentally spawned two ferocious and immortal sons with animal traits? And if the man was a mutant with an animalistic nature like his sons, why did he die so easily? Hell, the boy’s claws were too thin to have delivered lethal blows anyway, at least not so quickly! A gut puncture is generally a slow, lingering death by infection ….

And then we’re given the two-minute montage of the brother’s time together in various wars. It’s a really nice montage, actually, visually stunning, but all it really tells us is that they’re both berserkers who can’t die, and that, despite his own ferocity, James is unsettled by his brother’s bloodlust, Victor’s willingness to kill the innocent. Save for that the young Victor had watched over James when he was ill in bed (a fact that was soured by how the boy spoke to his little brother, contemptuously rather than comfortingly), and that Victor was the one who insisted that they only had each other, there was no real evidence of any sort of caring between them, something which would have made what unfolded later have more emotional resonance. It’s not like Victor needed James to watch his back: he can’t be killed! And if he was lonely, it wasn’t apparent in his actions at all.

Their time with Team X was too short as well; we just get to see the mission where it all went south, ending with James leaving, and learn a little bit about the men they served with in the process.

The team itself was decidedly different from the one in the comics, too. I didn’t recognise Maverick — who, in this version, is an Asian man codenamed Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), a name I guess he acquired in the comics after I stopped reading them — at all. In the comics, he’s a German man whose parents were Nazi scientists, a man who can absorb kinetic impacts virtually without harm. If he had that power here, it wasn’t obvious at all; his ability seemed to be marksmanship and luck. He was inexplicably hostile to James in this film; out of jealousy over the man’s power? Out of anger at Logan’s having abandoned the team? This Agent Zero is nothing like the Maverick I remember, who was a dear friend of Logan’s. However, there is a character in the comics called Agent X, who is Japanese, a ninja, and was an enemy of Deadpool. I have to wonder, did the scriptwriter blend the two characters intentionally, or mix the two characters up accidentally and nobody caught it?

I never read about Maverick’s finding a teen mutant named Bolt and taking him under his wing, so I can’t tell you how true to character this version of him is. I find it curious that he was made into a Team X member here with no seeming connection to Agent Zero. I did like Bolt quite a bit, but I readily admit that this could be just because he’s played by Dominic Monaghan. Still, the character was sweet, sympathetic, and a little sad, making him a perfect victim. I imagine fans of his character from the comic must have been frustrated at his being murdered here rather than having died a hero, but at least he went out with bravado. And I think they pulled the effect of him lighting lightbulbs that aren’t connected to anything beautifully. If it was CGI, it wasn’t obvious.

I don’t remember Kestrel too well, but will.i.am’s performance — and costuming — seemed pretty spot-on from what I do remember. He was likable enough here, and they gave us a fairly decent amount of bonding between him and Logan, enough to get some emotional resonance from James in the face of his loss — but only just.

I’m torn on the inclusion of Fred Dukes, aka The Blob (played by the always entertaining Kevin Durand), here, and the change to the character. In the comics, to the best of my knowledge, he had nothing to do with Weapon X, and his power and his weight were tied together. On the other hand, having his being fat turn out to be an eating disorder here that had nothing to do with his invulnerability was an interesting twist. His scenes did provide some good comic relief, too. So while I’m scratching my head at his inclusion, I’m ultimately not sorry to see him here. Although I do think Durand would have made a better Omega Red (a Russian supermutant with tentacles, a bitter enemy of Wolverine’s), which in turn would have been a character that actually made sense to include. And he was a little small for being The Blob.

Wade Wilson did not serve in Weapon X at the same time as Logan did in the comics. Wade also did not have a mutant power of his own, so much as he was given Logan’s healing factor (as were his teammates). He joined the team so that he could get the treatment and not die of cancer, and the treatment left him horribly disfigured and a little nuts. Here, though, such is not the case; there is no explanation for why he’s on the team — he seems to have superhuman agility or speed with his katana, but it’s not expressly stated. What is stated is that he’s got a mouth on him and never shuts up — yet we don’t get to see much evidence of this. They could have had him chattering non-stop while he comes in, swords whirling, deflecting bullets and even cutting them, but they didn’t — they concentrated on his sword skill. Which was really damn cool, don’t get me wrong, and Wade did get some great lines, but he was still woefully underused and underplayed. And it wasn’t the fault of Ryan Reynolds, either — I admit I was a little skeptical when I heard he’d been cast (despite my being a fan of his since Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place and my having enjoyed his performance in the third Blade film — I’m not sure why I was skeptical, really), but I think he did a great job with what he’d been given.

I do wish they had him show a little more humanity, though, some indecision, when James leaves because of what Victor does. I can see how they might have decided that would detract too much from James, but a) Deadpool is one of my very favourite Marvel characters, and part of what I like about him (aside from his gut-busting humour) is his struggle between his inner killer and his moral compass — basically, I’m biased towards giving him more (positive!) attention — and b) I think that it would have, again, given more resonance to a situation that occurs later. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

As for Silver Fox — or rather, Kalya, as she’s known here — she’s another case where I was a little baffled by the changes at first, but ultimately came to like them, at least for the most part. Well, save for that I don’t understand why they didn’t go with an actual Blackfoot woman to play her, or at least someone who could pass for such, since they mentioned her heritage, but Lynn Collins did well with the character.

Anyway, for those not in the know, Silver Fox was an ordinary person who was given Wolvie’s healing factor; she did not have the tactile telepathy in the comic as she has in the film, and she was not related to Emma Frost (the girl who can make her skin like diamond). Silver Fox is a lot more likable here, actually, her reason for betraying James understandable. It’s interesting that they had her insist to him that their love was real; in the comic, she’s the one who thought their memories of their time together was all a false memory. Her betrayal was also worse, her having joined an enemy organisation, but ultimately she was redeemed. She’s been depowered here in the sense that she’s not a fighter, but she uses her telepathy to great effect. And instead of being another “Woman in a Refrigerator”, she turned out to be in on the plot to make Wolvie get vengeful, so I appreciated that. She stood up to the scary guy on the bridge. She fought to save her sister and succeeded, she did the wrong she did for good reason, and she got a bit of revenge in the end. Her true death, rather than being a plot device to spur revenge in a male (like her fake death had done), was born more of necessity; she wouldn’t logically have left Logan behind, and he needed to be left, in keeping with continuity.

I was irritated by her logic in her last scene, though. Killing Stryker when he had just seemingly killed Logan and would likely kill others would make them just as bad as Stryker? If she’d done it as revenge, maybe, but not in pre-emptive defense of people like her sister! Besides, she basically told him to walk forever, so that his feet would become bloody pulps. No provisos made for eating or drinking or waste elimination; sounds like a vindictive, slow way to kill a man to me, not a merciful one.

There’s another point that really bugs me in regards to her part on the story: how it makes Logan look a bit idiotic. Stryker tells him that someone is brutally murdering these powerful people, and that he might be next, and Logan’s response is simply that he can take care of himself? Were I Logan, I would have been immediately worried for my (seemingly-)human girlfriend’s safety, if the bad-asses I’d worked with hadn’t been able to protect themselves! I wouldn’t have let her out of my sight, and I would have tried to move her elsewhere, figuring if Stryker knew where I was, so might the killer. And then there’s the fact that he failed to notice that there was no wound on her when he thought she’d been killed. Did he just leave her body there in the woods, unburied?

Still, while I suspected that she wasn’t dead (thanks to the comics), I did think her turning out to have been in on it all gave the story a nice twist.

So did Victor’s having been in on it; before that point, I was baffled as to why Stryker wanted to kill James so badly, not realising that James was not the end result, but rather the test run. I wonder how they knew it wouldn’t work on Victor despite the test with James having ultimately succeeded? Also, why did the guy wait so long to give Stryker the adamantium bullets? Why not give them to him right away (aside from it not being plot-convenient)? I also wondered how on Earth they were supposed to behead a man with an adamantium-plated spine, but then, who whole issue of the adamantium skeleton is problematic (how does he breathe if his ribs aren’t flexible, how does the metal work around his spine and joints, how did his raggedy claws get to be like edged swords without having been forged), so I guess I should just ignore questions related to that.

Backing up for a moment, I did love the fight outside the bar between Victor and James. I was seriously cringing at all James went through, between being crushed by all those logs and being thrown against the truck, but I was loving every minute of it. (I wouldn’t have been, though, if not for his well-nigh indestructibility.)

His time at the farmhouse was sweet and amusing, which served to give great resonance at the end of it. Loved his nerve-wracking bathroom disaster. Loved seeing him in the coat — sometimes comic book-inspired designs don’t translate well into reality, but that one did! Loved the bit about his increase in weight, heheheh.

I would like to know why Agent Zero was so intent on actually killing him, enough that he blamed his own murderous actions on James! He was worse than Victor in some ways! I have to say, I was baffled at first as to why James left him alive in the felled helicopter (the act or felling and the prior car chase being pretty damn awesome) — but then James dropped the match in the gasoline, and suddenly it was all okay. Very nice touch.

So now we get to Gambit (since I already covered Kestrel and Blob). Let me start by saying that Gambit and Rogue are tied as my very fave Marvel characters, with Wolvie, Spidey, and Deadpool tied for second place. That should give you an idea of just how very much I was looking forward to fiiiinally seeing my Remy in an X-film, after having been so bitterly disappointed at his omission from the previous films (save for a mention of his name in a computer). I was very wary, too, though. I’d heard his part was extremely small, and had worried, thanks to the previews, that he might be an enemy to Wolvie rather than a friend, I was also bummed because I’d felt Josh Holloway would have been the prefect Gambit — he had the look, and the character he plays on Lost, Sawyer, was already a southern grifter with a heart of tarnished gold. And I’d read a supposed interview in which he was said to claim he’d been signed o for the third X-film and something happened. So as much as I was looking forward to seeing Gambit in this film, I was prepared to be greatly disappointed.

I wasn’t.

Which is not to say that Taylor Kitsch was quiiiite perfect — his accent kept disappearing and reappearing, and was never quite as thick as I expected it to be, having gotten so used to the voice of Chris Potter in the Fox animated series. And they never really played up the womanizing, a key part of Gambit’s surface character, in this film. But the spirit of the character was definitely there: the grace and agility, the smooth charm, the distrust, the temper, the loyalty, all beautifully illustrated in an all-too-brief bit of time. Perhaps his abilities were a little over-pronounced — he seemed to levitate the cards, and stuck to the wall a la Spidey-Man at one point — but in the end, I decided I actually liked the effect. I loved that his staff looked like a pimp-cane, and I appreciated how well it was used. I looked at Taylor, and I saw my Gambit smiling back at me.

I was a bit bugged, though, by the fact that Remy was so hung up on the damn dog tags James had worn that he failed to notice that the man was trying to kill Victor, just as he’d said he’d intended to do. Instead of helping James, Remy starts fighting him and lets Victor get away! What the hell??

But I was very happy that, after the initial distrust, Remy proved to be quite helpful. He was also in the story more than I expected he would be, playing a more pivotal part. I liked that he and James had developed such a quick and solid friendship, something that’s been frequently overlooked in the comics after Claremont’s run.

And now we come to Genosha — er, Three Mile Island. The concept seemed pretty damn similar, didn’t it, a prison island for mutants? I have to say, I’m disappointed that I didn’t recognise any of the mutants kept there — save Cyclops and Emma Frost, of course. Seeing that the Team X program was actually a mutant round-up (a chilling revelation, even as it was one I felt I should have guessed, given the Stryker was involved), having Cyke be one of the mutants was, I thought, a sensible choice. It was a nice way to make the story more inclusive of the X-Men, especially given what they did to Cyke in the third film. I suppose this is why they decided to include Emma Frost, too; note that they had a moment with the two of them working together, since they’re together in the comics. (Yeah, I’m not happy about that.) Never mind that this Emma is nothing like she is in the comic; this Emma is markedly sweeter and lacks her primary power, telepathy. (It’s funny that Remy seems a bit older than Cyke here, when, according to Chris Claremont’s miniseries X-men: The End, Gambit is supposed to be something of a clone of Cyke!)

Now let’s get back to Wade — or rather, Weapon XI, aka “the Dead Pool”. When I’d heard the spoilers about what was done to him, I was not a happy puppy. Seeing it in context, I’m not so upset; it was an interesting way to reinterpret the character, explaining how he got the name, why he has the healing factor, and why he was so disfigured. It made for a wicked fight scene, too! Although I must admit that the katana coming out of his hands was kind of silly-looking (but nice set-up, having him babble on about his love for his swords towards the beginning). And as I said, it would have been nice if he had appeared a bit more, and they had shown something of a friendship between him and Logan, so that this fight would have more meaning. (And if he hadn’t died.) Then again, they certainly did throw the audience off the scent by saying he’d been killed earlier!

I question Stryker’s motivation for this all, too. What was he hoping to accomplish with Weapon XI? I mean, how was it supposed to help his son, who gave him the idea in the first place? Also, if he gave Wade Jason’s mind-control power as well — after all, he said it all started with Jason’s DNA — why didn’t Deadpool use that power to kill them more easily? (Aside from the story complication, I mean?)

Stryker’s sewing Wade’s mouth shut out of spite was kind of funny, while at the same time removing the need for any development of the character, so they could concentrate on Logan and Victor’s characterisation. I’m bummed by the lack of Wade-ness but I can see the value in it as well. I liked that Wade being the “end-game boss” gave James and Victor a reason to work together, and I liked that there was, despite the rage they both felt towards each other, still a hint of brotherly affection, making theirs a complicated relationship.

Of course I was thrilled to see Xavier (Patrick Stewart) come to pick them and the other mutants up. (Although there was something odd about Stewart, like they did a weird job with the make-up or CGI’d him a bit.) Poor Gambit, so close but left behind! Then again, he seemed to refer that. In fact, were I one of the kids, I think I would have been wary, afraid he might try to imprison them too!

So. Seeing as they glossed over not only Logan’s life before Team X, but his life as a part of it as well, it seems that, rather than this being a bio of Wolvie, the true purpose of this movie seems to be to explain: why Wolvie and Sabertooth hated each other so much; why Wolvie gained the adamantium; and how he lost his memory. It makes me feel like the movie should have been called X-Men Origin: Weapon X, rather than X-Men Origin: Wolverine. In fact, I wish it had been called Wolverine: Weapon X, and then we could have gotten more Wolverine-related sequels! Incidentally, I hear that there are two different scenes available to see after the credits; I saw the “Wolvie in a Japanese bar” one (hey, was that Muriko, the girl he’s supposed to fall in love with there?), but apparently there’s one where Deadpool’s head and body are reunited. Man, I wish I’d seen that one instead! It makes me feel a lot better about his “death” — if he had stayed dead, I would have been very unhappy. I wonder if that can be taken as proof that there is indeed a Deadpool movie in the works, as I’ve heard rumoured. If there is, then I wonder if we can hope to see Wolvie in it? And Gambit, too? I would really hate to not see them again ….

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Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart, for which she has written since late 2001. She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, among other things. In her spare time, she’s a rabid fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.

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