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 & 20 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 | Adventure | 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

In a Q & A with Kevin Smith, Edgar Wright revealed he was offered the role of Chris Bradley/Bolt by the producers. He declined, citing he wasn't a good enough actor. Hugh Jackman called him, along with other producers of the movie, with the impression that he had said "yes" to the role. Wright later e-mailed Jackman to politely decline the role.

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Goofs

(at around 7 mins) In the beginning of the film, When Stryker walks in on Logan and Victor in a jail cell (right after the firing squad scene), he identifies himself as a Major, however he is wearing Silver cluster rank insignia on his uniform. This denotes the rank of a Lt. Colonel, not a Major. Major wears a Gold cluster.

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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

Referenced in How Didn't This Get Made?: Spidefer-Man 2 (2020)

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Soundtracks

Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree
Written by L. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine
Performed by The Romantic Strings & Orchestra
Courtesy of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
By arrangement with The Orchard

User Reviews

Wolverine isn't Bad, but it's not as good as it could've been

I'll state my credentials up front: I'm a chick. I have read X-Men comics in my past, but it's been years. I don't remember every detail of every relationship and back story, so I'm not a huge X-men expert. I LOVED the original X-Men movie and X2.

I was so excited when I heard they were making a Wolverine movie. He and Gambit were my two favorite characters from the comics, and Wolverine was by far the best written and one of the best acted characters in the X-Men franchise. I thought, "This should be good!" I counted down the days until it came out. And I went to the theatre, and came out not disappointed, but not excited either. It was a middle-of-the-road movie, which seemed to not know what it wanted to be. But I would say go see it if you're an X-Men or Hugh Jackman fan.

The main crime committed in Wolverine is in the writing. I always say writers don't get enough credit on a good movie. But no amount of good acting (pretty much everyone in Wolverine does well with what they're given) and okay directing can cover up crappy writing like this. The script was all over the place. It didn't have any of the jaunty yet edgy feel of the first two X-Men movies. Wolverine's wisecracks and smart wit were all but forgotten. That would've maybe been okay if they had chosen to make Wolverine the dark, nearly evil character that he was supposed to have been before he lost his memory. But they didn't. He was neither good nor evil. This was ambivalent Wolverine. Kind of Emo Wolverine. Not above doing bad, but not really into it because it made him Feel Bad. No really interesting lines or plot points either way. The writers didn't seem to even know how to develop the relationship between Wolverine and Sabertooth. And was the love story put in by the studio just to satisfy us chicks who wouldn't go a see a comic-book movie without it? If so, the studio did us a great disservice, because if you wanted to make a story about Wolverine the lover (which, hey, I would go see), this movie wasn't that either.

And when I saw in the trailer that Gambit was in the movie, too, I was thrilled! Gambit in a movie, at last! But here he is, the underdeveloped and kind of confusing Gambit. Couldn't he at least have had his New Orleans accent? The cards were cool, but he was mostly underutilized and didn't feel like Gambit that much.

The movie does have some good moments in it where you actually say, "Yes!" I'm not putting spoilers, so I won't tell you what they are, but for me, they made the movie worth seeing. While I wouldn't put it anywhere on my worst-movie list, I wouldn't rank it with X-Men and X2 on my favorites list, either.

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