Wolverine (some spoilers)

While I’m something of a fan of X-Men, I’m not of the school that execrates the movie adaptations. I see them as an alternate world, and am quite content with that. However, I haven’t especially liked the X-Men films so far. They’ve had great moments, but in terms of plot and tone have been somewhat lacking.

Wolverine, however, was a bit different. A little less campy, a little more gritty, and in fact somewhat truer to the comics. Of course changes are to be expected, both to keep in line with previous films (Stryker is antagonist again, remaining the military rather than clergyman, again overtones of Graydon Creed) and for the sake of the story of this film as it stood (Sabretooth and Wolvie’s relationship re-imagined), and honestly I don’t mind that at all. I also enjoyed the film’s various cameos, from cute mini-Cyclops and Emma Frost (and was that Quicksilver?) to Professor Xavier himself in an appearance so neat and pat that only a while after did I wonder why he hadn’t intervened instead of hiding at the sidelines. I liked how they dealt with the Team X members: Maverick got some great moments, the guy from Outkast did a good job as Kestrel, and interestingly enough The Blob fit in very well. The member they’ve cut was a muscle-man anyway, if I recall correctly. The addition of a machine-manipulator made sense in plot terms, although silly Rikk refused to believe me when I told him it was Dominic Monaghan.

The real surprise for me was that Deadpool was in the film. I mean, Deadpool! It just didn’t occur to me that he’d be in the movie, being part of a different Weapon X project from Logan, but it was so obvious when you think about it. Still, his presence was a miniature stroke of genius. Deadpool, smart mouth and all (though not, obviously, pop culture references and bizarre, very annoying awareness that he is a comic character). Although how he ended up was a bit questionable, especially if he’s gonna get his own movie, I did enjoy his presence very much.

By contrast, I really expected Gambit to be used more. He had some cool scenes, but he was pretty superfluous and lacking in character, and only got limited screentime. And despite Rikk’s spasms, he really lacked sex appeal.

A strong film adaptation of the Origins story, with some perfectly acceptable changes and lots for fans, it was that little bit more mature and impressive than the other films. Some poses and action setpieces were very cliche and the CG was really lacking in places, leading to very fake-looking claws and wounds that stayed static while the skin moved underneath them, but a comparatively strong plot, compelling characters and some beautiful shots made me very much enjoy the film. If there’s a sequel in Japan, or indeed if the First Class project reaches fruition, I will be interested to watch them, and the Magneto film too. The franchise is certainly getting stronger.

If only all the X-Men films had been this strong, and their tone this serious.