Even whilst in the writing and filming of X-Men : The Last Stand, the first Wolverine solo film was being developed, ultimately becoming X-Men Origins : Wolverine.
Upon wrapping up the trilogy of X-Men films, the Origins story was an opportunity for the ‘How Wolverine became Wolverine’ tale to be focussed on.
Directing the film was Gavin Hood (previously having directed Tsotsi and Rendition) and the screenplay by David Benioff and Skip Woods. Benioff would go on to be a co-creator for TV hit Game of Thrones whilst Skip Woods would go on to write Hitman:Agent 47 (differing fortunes to say the least).
The film is predictably a prequel to the original X-Men and follows the tale of Logan through his young life, and his path to emergence as the Wolverine.
With moments that are reminiscent of Highlander at times we see Logan in various moments of historic warfare as he sticks with his older half-brother Victor (Liev Shreiber – who by the way wins the award for ‘name that auto spelling correct likes least of all I’ve typed on this website so far’).
The two work their way through various battles in history side by side, but with the increasing sense that their moral compasses are differing with Vincent becoming further comfortable with acts of violence and cruelty.
Following an event in Vietnam, the two are recruited by Major William Stryker (yes that guy from X2 : X-Men United, and join his mercenary group. As the group turn further violent, Logan decides to leave the group and finds himself ultimately on a path heading for conflict with his brother.
It remains true to the elements of the characters past revealed in X2 and does have interesting moments, however much like the 3rd film in the series, it’s more performance and style than actual content and quality.
From a comic book fan perspective, one of the highlights of the film is the appearance of Gambit played by Taylor Kitsch. But in all honesty its a forgettable run out for Wolverine and the X-Men universe.
One point of interest though is that the film features Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (i.e., Deadpool) in a much ‘off the mark’ performance compared to the recent Deadpool movie.