X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The early years of James Logan, featuring his rivalry with his brother Victor Creed, his service in the special forces team Weapon X, and his experimentation into the metal-lined mutant Wolverine.

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writers:

David Benioff (screenplay), Skip Woods (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds

3 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Jackman	...	Logan / Wolverine
Liev Schreiber	...	Victor Creed
Danny Huston	...	Stryker
Will.i.am	...	John Wraith
Lynn Collins	...	Kayla Silverfox
Kevin Durand	...	Fred Dukes
Dominic Monaghan	...	Chris Bradley / Bolt
Taylor Kitsch	...	Remy LeBeau
Daniel Henney	...	Agent Zero
Ryan Reynolds	...	Wade Wilson
Tim Pocock	...	Scott Summers
Julia Blake	...	Heather Hudson
Max Cullen	...	Travis Hudson
Troye Sivan	...	James
Michael-James Olsen	...	Young Victor

Storyline

Two mutant brothers, Logan and Victor, born two hundred years ago, suffer childhood trauma and have only each other to depend on. Basically, they're fighters and killers, living from war to war throughout U.S. history. In modern times, a U.S. Colonel, Stryker, recruits them and other mutants as commandos. Logan quits and becomes a logger, falling in love with a local teacher. When Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker's crew, the Colonel sends the murderous Victor. Logan now wants revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

good versus evil | self healing | commando | civil war | claw fight | 

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Taglines:

Witness the Origin.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first spin-off movie of X-Men.

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Goofs

During the bar fight, Creed stomps on Logan's bone claws and breaks them. This is the only time Logan suffers an injury that does not immediately regenerate.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Victor Creed: You're always sick.
Young James Logan: You were sick when you were my age.

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: There is a scene in the closing credits: William Stryker is arrested and taken into custody for the murder of General Munson).

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Alternate Versions

German theatrical version was cut by the distributor before submission to the FSK to secure a "Not under 16" rating (the killing of the old couple is shortened, you don't see Wolverine igniting the gasoline). Ironically, the uncut version, submitted for the home video release, was rated "Not under 16" as well, thus rendering the cut theatrical version completely unnecessary.

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Connections

Featured in Honest Trailers: Logan (2017)

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Soundtracks

New Orleans Boogie
Written by Daniel May & Marc Ferrari
Performed by Daniel May
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari/MasterSource

User Reviews

Far better than I expected

To tell you the truth I'm pretty surprised by all the negative reviews I've been reading on the IMDb and elsewhere on the net (AICN for example). I thought X-Men 1 and 2 came close to being masterpieces and that X-Men 3 sucked big time. The Wolverine movie however is well made, exciting and surprisingly effective. But that's an opinion from somebody who doesn't know anything about the comics. To me Wolverine is mainly a movie hero and maybe that can make a big difference.

Two elements make this movie really work. Liev Schreiber - a very underestimated actor - does a great job as Wolverine's brother Victor/Sabretooth. It's their love/hate relationship that is the main subject in this story and that really keeps it interesting. In the first minutes of the movie this is well established. The opening credits are really beautiful.

Second: the story. I really love the story. It has romance, betrayal, vengeance, action, a touch of immortality... All the good elements are there in the right doses.

Yes, I really love this movie. I hope to see more of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the future, because there are a lot more adventures he can and should have. Maybe director Gavin Hood can repair some of the damage that Brett Ratner did with a X-Men 3. Because an X-Men 4 - with hopefully Josh Halloway as Gambit - would be a great spectacle indeed.

There's only one big thing that really puzzled me. So the Liev Schreiber character is actually the same Sabretooth we see in X-Men 1? Because the two characters really don't seem the same in the two movies. Everything they have "experienced together in the past" (in the prequel) seems forgotten in X-Men 1 (when they only fight each other).

Anyway, go see this!

8,5 / 10

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [France] 20th Century Fox [Japan]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wolverine

Filming Locations:

Auburn, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$85,058,003, 3 May 2009

Gross USA:

$179,883,157

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$373,062,864

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Marvel Enterprises, Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 119 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1