Two commentary tracks, featurettes, Live Look Up, Ultimate X-Mode Bonus View, trailers

Too bad Wolverine didn’t suffer his amnesia after “X-Men: The Last Stand”. I wish I could forget Brett Radner’s disaster of a movie. I approached “X-Men: Origins-Wolverine” with gusto much like the gusto Wade Williams (Ryan Reynolds)demonstrates in the first fifteen minutes of this prequel. While I wasn’t thrilled by “Wolverine” it was better than Radner’s tepid take on the X-Men saga with some bold action sequences, stunning visual effects (mixed with rather lame ones I should note but more on that later)and the potential to light up the screen due to the sparks that flew between Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and his half brother Victor Creed(Live Schreiber). Directed by Gavin Hood (“Tsotsi”) “Wolverine” seems like it was compromised. There’s a strong film buried in the compromised film we see here. There are glimpses of brilliance but its buried beneath so much garbage that’s difficult to spot the diamond in the rough at the core of “Wolverine”. Rumor has it that Hood wanted to make a film that focused much more on the emotional damage due to all the fighting that Wolverine participated in. While “Wolverine” isn’t a bad movie it is compromised. It’s still an enjoyable thrill ride flaws and all. ***

Here we finally get Wolverine’s origin story. I suppose better late than never. When a young Jimmy Logan kills his father in an altercation his half brother Victor encourages the boy to run away with him. The two grow up without family and find themselves fighting in war after war due to their ability to heal and not age. In the montage that opens the film we follow the brothers as they fight in the most prominent wars of each decade finally finishing with the two of them being executed for misconduct during the Vietnam War. When they come back to life after being executed they are approached by Major William Stryker (Danny Huston) about becoming part of a special ops team made up solely of mutants. The two agree to work for Stryker. He joins a team that includes Wilson who can swing a pair of swords so fast he can cut a bullet in half in midflight, John Wraith (will.i.am) who can teleport himself, Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan) who can control planes and devices with his mind, Zero (Daniel Henney) a marksman with the uncanny ability to hit everything he aims at and Fred Dukes (Kevin Duran) who can stop tank shells with his fist. Each member has a unique talent that allows Stryker to get what he wants from anyone. ***

When we meet up with them next they are in Africa trying to locate the source of a mysterious metal called anamantium that appears virtually indestructible. When it becomes apparent that Stryker is willing to waste an entire village of people to get the precious metal Wolverine refuses to participate and walks away refusing to be part of the blood bath. We catch up with Wolverine a number of years later living a simple life as a lumberjack with Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins) a teacher he’s met in Canada. Wolverine finds that he can’t escape his unique abilities and his past even in the middle of the forest. Stryker finds Wolverine. He tells him that someone is murdering members of the old team for some unknown reason and eventually convinces him to participate in an experiment that will change him forever. ---

Image & Sound:

“Wolverine” looks positively stunning. The transfer looks brilliant with detail, colors and clarity remarkable throughout the presentation. Skin tones are warm and colors remarkably accurate throughout. “Wolverine” has remarkable depth and clarity. That’s also a bad thing for “Wolverine”; the CGI effects sometimes look remarkable and other times they look almost amateurish. For example there’s a scene in a farm house bathroom where Wolverine flicks out his claws where they look exactly like what they are—bad computer animation. Why Fox didn’t spent the extra money or make the extra effort to make these scenes look more convincing and finished I’m not sure but for a tent pole film like “Wolverine” to look like this is unacceptable. ***

Audio sounds terrific with nice depth and separation. Dialogue is up front and center throughout most of the impressive presentation never overwhelmed by the sound effects, music or explosions unless it was intentional. ---

We get two commentary tracks. Director Gavin Hood does the first one solo and discusses the making of the film including his insights into the character avoiding some of the compromises made along with the way for this film. ***

The second commentary track features producers Ralph Winters and Lauren Shuler Donner and the two work well together discussing the various themes they were trying to explore in the film the difficulties they faced in making the film. ***

“The Roots of Wolverine” is a conversation between X-Men creator Stan Lee and Wolverine creator Len Wein discussing what makes the character tick. Interestingly Lee knows very little about Wolverine. It’s not surprising given that he didn’t create the character but I would have thought as general editor/publisher for the “X-Men” comics he would have known more about the character. ***

“Wolverine: Unleashed-The Complete Origins” features producer Donner discussing their initial plan to tell the story of Wolverine’s story arc in Japan which the studio rejected in favor of an origins story instead. We also see some of the challenges the crew faced including recreating the infamous tank sequence that was seen as early as the very first film in the “X-Men” series. ***

“X Mutant Files” focuses on the other members of the mutant team that Wolverine belongs to. We get a discussion with the actors playing the roles as well as examples of the visual effects used to create their unique abilities in the film. ***

“The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence” breaks down the most stunning stunt in the film. We see how the sequence was carefully coordinated and planned out. ***

We also get deleted and alternate scenes including a very unconvincing looking young Storm that appears as part of the African tribe that Stryker and his crew terrorize. ***

“Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere” is presented in standard definition. There was a contest to host the world premiere and Tempe, Arizona won. This gives us a glimpse into the insanity of it all. ***

“Ultimate X-Mode Bonusview” is a picture-in-picture commentary track and behind-the-scenes footage that appears from time-to-time during the film. We also get a trivia track popping up periodically as well. “The Director’s Chair” features Hood while we also get a pre-viz selection for other sequences. ***

“Live Look Up” allows fans to see the filmography at the IMDB via the web and disc. ---

Final Words: