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X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Ultimate 2-disc Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (17th November 2009). |
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The Film
 Based loosely on the comics "Origin" and "Weapon X" this film adds a few more mutants, some additional creative license and a whole lot if action to deliver one of the first hits of the summer blockbuster season. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is a project that's been long in gestation, after the success of the "X-Men" films (2000-2006), Wolverine was a clear stand out character. His dangerous charm, adamantium claws and smart mouth have made him a popular character both on the page and on screen. Launching Hugh Jackman's career, the character has always been bigger than being apart of a team movie, and finally Wolverine gets to strut his stuff, revealing his past, how he entered the Weapon X program and his rivalry with Sabretooth. The film incorporates quite a lot in terms of his Logan's past, we meet some new mutants, including a few fan favorites but fails to deliver a totally satisfying film. There's a lot to like about "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" but there's so many characters we're introduced to here, it's no longer a Wolverine movie, but rather a Wolverine and friends movie. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" tells the story of Logan (Hugh Jackman), a mutant who has lived a long time, through may wars and tribulations. He has the power to heal quickly and has bone claws that can push out from his fists. Over the years Logan and his brother, Victor (Liev Schreiber) have fought side-by-side, but Victor's bloodlust has gotten the better of him. Logan disapproves of what he's become and after a falling out as part of an elite team, Logan walks away. Six years later, Logan is brought back into the fold under the command of William Stryker (Danny Huston) into a new program that will help him defeat Victor once and for all. Logan is no more, and Wolverine is born. But after a double cross, he escapes the program only to be hunted down by Stryker, Victor and a new weapon, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), an abomination of mutant powers meant to be the perfect killing machine. What stops "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" from being a true comic book classic film are the story elements, I found that the screenwriters were cramming too many characters into the mix. The focus should have been always on Logan and I would have much preferred seeing his feral development in the woods of Canada then his progression into the Weapon X program. While it was nice to see his youth and Logan living through the various wars, it was done as a credit sequence, you learn a lot about Logan in a short space of time and are then allowed to focus on his relationship with Victor... but this is an origin story and I felt that a lot of the origin was passed over in the opening credits and the rest of the film was just a Wolverine adventure. I also found that making Victor his brother made sense dramatically but it also felt like a cop out. A lazy way to squeeze a bit more drama out of the situation. The Weapon X elements of the story were really what fans wanted (well that and Wolverine's time spent in Japan, which will be explored in the sequel), and although we'd seen this before in flashbacks in the previous "X-Men" films, fans were given a chance to see the transformation and what led Wolverine to be the ferocious beast that he is. The film could have easily dealt with this storyline without having to populate it with unnecessary characters just for the sake of it. Wade aka Deadpool was one of those unnecessary additions, the action and drama should have been played off of Victor and Logan's relationship rather than having them team up to defeat a suped-up Wade in the film's final moments, it really weakened the film for me considerably, because it was so predicable. As far as the performances go, they're not too bad. No one's going to win an Oscar, but Hugh Jackman reprises his role to great effect here, he truly embodies this character and plays it for all its worth, cigar chomping, wise-cracking all the way through. Danny Huston is always dependable and I think we can all agree that Liev Schreiber makes a much better Victor/Sabretooth than Tyler Mane. Keeping in mind this is a summer action film, said action is awesome, but not nearly as dark or grueling as they could have been, I guess this is a PG-13 film after all (theatrically, this edition is the "Unrated" version), but I really wanted to see some ferocious action and serious bloodletting from Wolverine after he's injected with the adamantium... however, the helicopter chase sequence is exhilarating and keeps you the edge of your seat. Wolverine's fights are kinetic and aggressive, just as they should be, and all the things that go "boom" go "boom" really well. The second unit, stunt teams and action choreographers should all be proud of the work showcased in this film. I am probably one of those audience members that's harder to please than most, because I grew up with Wolverine and followed the adventures of him and the X-Men both in comics and also in the excellent Fox animated series (all four volumes reviewed here, here, here and here), so this film wasn't everything I expected it would be, but it wasn't bad either and worth watching. I look forward to see what the filmmakers do with Logan in the sequel, where we'll see his exploits in Japan.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression, you couldn't ask for more from Fox. This image is incredibly sharp and detailed as all recent releases should be. The detail is the first thing you'll notice with clear and crisp images, backgrounds looks lush, showing off the beautiful locations. Close-ups are equally detailed, you'll want to give Jackman a shave after watching this film as you can virtually count the stubble on his face. Skin tones appear natural, and colors are well rendered. Blacks are deep and bold and the image is clean from any dirt, specks or other flaws. There are no compression problems, no edge-enhancement or DNR. Grain is evident but not heavy, it's a solid picture that looks excellent in HD. Some of the CG doesn't look as convincing as other films and the HD image really shows off some of the effects in a negative light, but that's not the fault of the transfer and was the only distracting thing that bothered me.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit as well as French DTS 5.1 and Spanish DTS 5.1 surround tracks. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD audio track. Everything from the distinct "snikt" of Wolverine's claws to the many explosions, this track's dynamic range surpasses all expectations. As far as action films go this is about as good as they get, dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sounds of the locations are well rendered, subtle and place viewers in the film effortlessly. But it's the action scenes were here for and they are boisterous, robust and aggressive. The track's bass track booms, the surround activity is complex and immersive, completing the package is the film's score. Listen to this one loud, it's one to experience. Optional subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
Fox has included two audio commentaries, four featurettes, a 10-part documentary, deleted & alternate scenes, four picture-in-picture commentaries, bonus trailers, BD-Live access and a digital copy of the film. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: The first feature-length audio commentary is with the film's director Gavin Hood. The South African filmmaker comments on his initial involvement in the film and remains mostly screen-specific as he takes us through the production process. Hood provides a decent amount of information but remains mostly dry and, frankly, a bit boring. He drolls on about the cast, challenges etc. But he really could either liven up or this track desperately could have benefitted with the participation of others involved in the film, particularly the film's star. The second feature-length audio commentary is with the film's producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winters. Equally dry, is a producer's track that covers some of the same information we heard from the director's track, a few new tidbits are spread out but you've really got to decide whether it's worth exploring especially after Hood's commentary. These two spend sometime offering up information anyone could have found online, it would have been nice if they mixed it up a little and talked outside their comfort zones like addressing the leaking of the unfinished film online before it's theatrical release among other things. "The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with Stan Lee & Len Wein" featurette which runs for 16 minutes 18 seconds. Stan Lee and Wolverine co-creator Len Wein sit down for a rousing chat about the character, his creation and his origins. For comic fans this is a pretty cool feature but doesn't really reveal anything new. "Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins" is the next featurette on the disc and runs for 12 minutes 5 seconds. This clip takes a look at the genesis of this film, on how the film's producer's wanted to explore the character's Japanese connection but opted for the more traditional "origin" story (despite the fact that parts of his origin were told in the first two "X-Men" films). We also get a glimpse at Jackman's dedication and portrayal of the character as we go behind-the-scenes. Overall it's a bit more than your usual EPK fluff and worth taking a look at. Following that is the comprehensive "Weapon X Mutant Files" 10-part documentary, which runs a total of 53 minutes 57 seconds. These clips take a behind-the-scenes look at the various characters that are featured in this film. These segments can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option and include: - "Victor Creed/Sabretooth" runs for 7 minutes 26 seconds, this clip takes a closer look at the character, the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, the complexity of the rivalry among other things including casting the role and a peek at filming a few key scenes. - "William Stryker" runs for 4 minutes 26 seconds, viewers are given an overview of this character, on the difficulty of playing the role, the motivations of the character and on getting Danny Huston to play the role. - "John Wraith" runs for 4 minutes 15 seconds, is a look at casting Will i Am and what virtues convinced producers he was the right person for this role, on how the filmmakers created a new method for this character to transport that's different from what we've seen with Nightcrawler in the second "X-Men" film, as well as a look at a couple of key scenes. - "Kayla Silverfox" runs for 3 minutes 28 seconds, this clip takes a look at Wolverine's love interest in the film, as well as taking a closer look at her mutant ability and on Lynn Collins' experience on the set. - "Fred Dukes/Blob" runs for 7 minutes 22 seconds, takes a look at developing this character for the first "X-Men" film but never materialized but finally the character could be used in this film, on casting the role and putting on both the muscle suit (pre-Blob) and then the process of getting the actor into the fat suit among other things. - "Bradley" runs for 3 minutes 19 seconds, takes a look at the character who can manipulate electricity with his mind, on being the least soldier-like character of the bunch and on what Dominic Monaghan brings to the character. - "Remy LeBeau/Gambit" runs for 9 minutes 10 seconds, takes a look at how fans have been asking to see Gambit for years, finally he gets a chance to flex his playing cards in this film, we get a brief look at his powers, as well as a look at his persona among other things including how to show the card tricks and bow staff work, shooting the New Orleans sequences on a soundstage in Sydney, Australia and the visual effects that went into the final shots. - "Agent Zero" runs for 3 minutes 47 seconds, takes a look on who the character is, on his mechanical-like movements and having no emotion in regards to doing his job. - "Wade Wilson/Deadpool" runs for 7 minutes 11 seconds, a look at Wade's tragic background, on working with Ryan Reynolds and cracking smart-ass lines and bringing the character to life, training the with swords and the stunts required for the scenes featuring this character. - "Emma (Kayla's Sister)" runs for 3 minutes 27 seconds, our final mutant file is on Emma Frost, the mutant with the diamond skin (in the film anyway), we get a look at her brief appearance in the film, on casting someone blond and beautiful, and on creating the diamond effects. "The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence" featurette runs for 5 minutes 53 seconds and takes a look how the film crew conceived and shot the exciting action scene on location in Queenstown, New Zealand. We get a look at the staging, stunts and how the helicopter was dropped, the explosion and the special effects used to sell the entire scene. There are four deleted & alternate scenes that can be viewed with optional audio commentary by director Gavin Hood and includes: - "Young Storm" runs for 1 minute 31 seconds, this is a scene after Logan quits Stryker's team while they're in Africa, we briefly see a young Storm (April Elleston-Enahoro). - "Victor at the Boxing Ring" runs for 31 seconds, Victor visits Blob after his encounter with Wolverine. - "Alternate Memory Erase Sequence" runs for 7 minutes 29 seconds, another version of the scene where Stryker informs Wolverine on how he made Weapon XI possible and he discovers that Kayla is still alive. - "Japanese Bar Scene" runs for 43 seconds, Logan does shots at a Japanese bar. "Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere" is a short made-for-TV featurette that runs for 6 minutes 22 seconds. This is nothing but marketing fluff produced to sell the film to viewers as we get a glimpse of the World Premiere of the film in Arizona. It's got no repeat value whatsoever. There are also bonus trailers for: - "Fox Blu-ray" spot which runs for 1 minute 30 seconds. - "The Marine II" which runs for 40 seconds. - "Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Darkside" which runs for 1 minute 10 seconds. - "Sons of Anarchy: Season One" which runs for 53 seconds. - "X-Men Trilogy" which runs for 1 minute 11 seconds. - "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" which runs for 2 minutes 12 seconds. The disc is also equipped with some Blu-ray exclusive extras that include four "Ultimate X-Mode" BonusView picture-in-picture video commentaries, these are accessible on profile 1.1 players or greater and include: - "X-Connect" director Gavin Hood and producer Lauren Shuler Donner takes us through the various connections this film has with the three "X-Men" films and reveal more about origins. - "The Director's Chair" Gavin Hood takes us behind-the-scenes as viewers get an in-depth look at the creation of the film, the process of setting up the complicated production, as well taking viewers through the various story elements, themes and characters among other things. - "Pre-Visualization" are animated storyboards and basic CGI breakdowns of effects scenes and fight sequences that we can see while the film plays. - "X-Facts" is a trivia track that pops-up with various facts and information about the film, characters, backgrounds etc. Finally we've got "Live Lookup" BD-Live access for profile 2.0 players only. Powered by IMDB and offers up cast information, filmographies and bios among other factoids. DISC TWO: This is a digital copy of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a 2-disc Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
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