X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The summer movie season has begun and there was no better way to start it than seeing Hugh Jackman tear up the screen with his fourth X-Men film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. For about nine years we've seen Hugh Jackman star as the high-tempered mutant Logan(code named Wolverine) but this time the film is focusing entirely on Logan's past without the X-Men.
In this film we see Logan and his half brother Victor Creed(Liev Schreiber) working with William Stryker's(Danny Huston) Weapon X program that is formed to hunt down mutants. When Logan believes that things are getting out of control, he leaves the program and settles down with the love of his life Kayla Silverfox(Lynn Collins). However, Victor isn't going to let Logan walk away that easily so he hunts down Kayla and kills her. That is where Logan's quest for blood and revenge starts.
The main flaws with this film are that it doesn't have the heart of the first three films and that there is no main plot. Wolverine is the plot in this movie. In the past three films, there was the story of the characters and then there was the story about fighting for the greater good. In this film, there is no message or plot having to do with fighting for acceptance and tolerance and that is what made the first three films great and what this one lacks. I could not talk to a person and say, "Wolverine is about...blah blah blah," because there is no clear answer to that statement. As a fan of the comics, I was disappointed at how little screen time other mutants have. For example, fan favorite Wade Wilson/Deadpool(Ryan Reynolds) is only in fifteen minutes of the film. This is the same for most of the other mutants as well including Gambit(Taylor Kitsch who doesn't have a strong Cajun accent like he should have) and Fred Dukes/The Blob(Kevin Durand.)
Now I can move on to the positives. The action in this film did not stop from beginning to end and that is exactly what I wanted to see in this film. All the fight sequences, and there were many, were great. The CGI, which helped make the film in to the action movie it was, was used well and enabled some very stunning effects when it came to the climax. Hugh Jackman, Leiv Schreiber, and Danny Huston all gave great performances in this film. Ryan Reynolds also stole the screen for the first fifteen minutes with his sarcasm and unbelievable mutant powers.
Even though this film could not be compared to the second and third X-Men films, this blockbuster has a great combination of action, romance, and even some dry humor. This film has enough spark to keep the franchise going and don't worry comic fans, it is said that Gambit, Deadpool, and Magneto spin-offs are in the works. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence and some partial nudity. Running time is 1 hour and 47 minutes.
3 1/2 out of 5.