Kathryn Smith takes on Wolverine

I promised to post a review of Wolverine, so here it is!

I loved it. Let me just get that out of the way. I freaking loved this movie. Yes, I'm a confessed Wolverine groupie and have been for years, but still... seeing him 'become' Wolverine on the big screen was a real thrill. And the fact that Hugh loses his shirt -- a lot -- certainly didn't hurt. I didn't really feel like that was gratuitous though. Wolverine does favor the white tank top in the comics, so it makes sense that he wears one in the movie. Besides, if I had worked that hard to get buff, I'd show it off too! But enough about that. Let's get to the movie.

For those of you familiar with Wolverine's beginnings, the movie probably won't hold many surprises for you, and I don't really want to give the plot away. Suffice to say that the movie begins when a very young James (aka Logan, aka Wolverine) suffers a tragedy and runs away with his older brother, Victor. The opening scenes are of the two running side by side through various wars and adventures. They also show how 'Jimmy' manages to stay fairly noble while Victor begins to slide into darkness. The two of them are captured in Vietnam, where they're discovered to be 'unnatural'. This is when William Stryker enters the picture and offers them both positions on his new team of mutants. One of these team mates is Ryan Reynolds, who plays mouth-piece Wade (Dead Pool). Can I just say that Reynolds has shockingly little screen time, though his character appears again (that's as much spoiler as I can give). I love RR, so that was a bit of a disappointment. However, the Blob was very well done.

Anyway, needless to say, Logan's conscience eventually wins out and he can't be part of the team anymore. He goes off on his own, becomes a lumberjack and falls in love. He manages to have a normal life for a while until Stryker shows up and tells him that several of his old team mates (played by Reynolds and Dominic Monaghan) have been killed. Someone's hunting down the team! Logan's country needs him, to which Logan replies, "I'm Canadian."

Of course, bad things happen. If you've seen the trailers you know that Logan's girlfriend is killed -- by Victor. This pushes Logan to become Weapon X and have his skeleton coated with adamantium. But things aren't what they seem and Stryker's no good guy, as fans of the series know. Logan's off on his own once more, hunted by what's left of his old team, and hunted by his brother. He goes in search of a guy named Gambit to help him find the 'island' where Stryker is performing his experiments.

So, from the time Logan becomes Wolverine to the end of the flick is pretty much non-stop action. Things slow down just a little bit in New Orleans when he finds Gambit, played to understated perfection by Taylor Kitsch. It was so much fun to see another favorite on screen. I didn't know much about Kitsch before, but now that I've seen him, I think he could totally carry his own Gambit movie. That would be fabulous. Anyway, Gambit takes Logan to the island, where he makes some horrific discoveries, faces off against his brother, goes up against Weapon XI and becomes the broken man searching for his past we meet in the first X-Men movie. And I'm not going to tell you about it, because to do so gives too much away. Besides, I want you to go see this movie!

Scott Summers shows up, but he and Wolvy don't meet, which I thought was a nice way to protect the storyline in the first X-Men. And Patrick Stewart has a cameo as Charles Xavier. Can I just say, scary makeup job? They certainly made him look younger, but it was kinda creepy.

Okay, so overall opinion of X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Go see it. Even if you only go for the beautiful men that continuously fight their way across the screen. It's a great story with lots of action and really good acting. Sure, the romance gets a 'little' hokey, but tell me you're not a sucker for hokey romance! My only complaint is that some really fabulous characters got way too little screen time, wasting the talents of the actors playing them. That said, Danny Houston is a great villain. Never over the top, just stoic and determined, and totally cold-blooded. And Liev Schrieber makes the pointy teeth and claw-like fingernails work.

Bottom line: Fans of X-Men and Wolverine must see this. Action fans will enjoy it, and ladies (or gents) simply looking for a couple hours of eye candy will enjoy it as well. Meanwhile, I'm planning to go see it again. The first big movie of the summer is here -- yay!