Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Heavily fortified with adamantium, testosterone and CGI, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is a sharp-clawed, dull-witted actioner that falls short of the two Bryan Singer-directed pics in the franchise but still overpowers 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." For all its attempts to probe the physiological and psychological roots of its tortured antihero, this brawny but none-too-brainy prequel sustains interest mainly -- if only fitfully -- as a nonstop slice-and-dice vehicle for Hugh Jackman. An unfinished print leaked online weeks before the film's May 1 Stateside release will prove a mere flesh wound to Fox's B.O. haul, which should be muscular locally and abroad.

Relatively unknown before the release of the first "X-Men" film in 2000, Jackman placed an immediate and definitive stamp on the role of Logan, the virtually indestructible human/mutant Cuisinart better known to Marvel comicbook fans as Wolverine. Though it's as thick with exposition as any cinematic adaptation of a complex and beloved superhero mythology, the screenplay by David Benioff and Skip Woods relies, to a lazy and excessive degree, on both Jackman's considerable charisma and fan awareness of Wolverine's preternatural abilities. There's little emotional modulation or sense of discovery as Logan morphs from hardened soldier to angry but principled rebel, seeking revenge on the mad scientist who engineered him.

An 1845-set prologue creepily if confusingly establishes this tale of two mutants: Logan (Jackman), whose knuckles are equipped with retractable fangs, and older, less stable brother Victor, aka Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber). The siblings' superhuman strength, agility and capacity for self-regeneration make them ideal soldiers to fight in the Civil War, WWI, WWII and Vietnam -- and all in one opening-credits sequence, no less -- before the coolly mysterious Gen. William Stryker (an effective Danny Huston) recruits them for a covert-ops unit known as Team X.

After a mission to Nigeria that involves civilian casualties, Logan decides he's had enough and flees, to Victor's violent chagrin. Six years later, Logan is living in Canada -- just to hammer home that he's a nice, peace-loving guy and all -- but is too easily drawn back into battle when his loving g.f. Kayla (Lynn Collins) dies at Victor's claws. Determined to slay his brother, Logan submits to a top-secret experiment by Stryker that will infuse his skeleton with a super-strong metal, adamantium, rendering him all but invincible. But he soon realizes he was naive to trust Stryker, whose inscrutably sinister motives take a while to fully emerge.

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