We've already had three X-Men movies, all of which I loved. In those, the primary character featured is definitely Wolverine. His character has the most back-story and character development. Thus, I wasn't quite sure what more they could do with him. I was pleasantly surprised at what the story had to offer, although slightly disappointed in the film overall.

The film begins with a young James Howlett who sees his father killed by his friend Victor Creed's father. In a fit of rage, young James' mutant power manifests itself in the form of bone claws which grow out of his hands. James runs and stabs his father's attacker. Upon realizing what he has done, he learns that the murderer, Thomas Logan, is actually James' biological father too. The brothers James and Victor run off into the woods. Despite being hunted, they escape. A montage continues showing James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) fighting side by side in the Civil War, both World Wars, and eventually Vietnam. Their regenerative powers allow them to heal after being shot, and also apparently give them some sort of immortality as they never seem to age. This brings up the obvious question which is never answered, "How did they age from the young boys into the 40-somethings that they appear throughout the rest of the film?" In any case, in Vietnam Victor appears to lose his integrity and the brothers find themselves in serious trouble. Now enters a young William Stryker (Danny Huston) who offers them a chance at redemption for joining a special team of mutants. They agree. Eventually, James leaves the group and his brother after becoming disgusted and their lack of morality. Thus sets the stage for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

This movie has a lot of things going for it. First and foremost, it is always cool to watch a prequel. There are characters in this film (Wolverine, William Stryker, and even Charles Xavier) whose stories fit like puzzle pieces in the X-Men tapestry. I particularly enjoyed Danny Huston's performance as Stryker. His accent and mannerisms matched those of Brian Cox (who played Stryker in the other X-Men films) perfectly! However, the actor that I was most enthralled with, and who really stole the show was Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed (Sabretooth). Everything about him, from his facial expressions to his body language, hinted at the ferocious beast which lies within. So great was his performance and so interesting his story that I would argue that a better title to this film would be X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Sabretooth.

Disappointingly, this movie also has a lot of problems. The special effects were sub-par at times, leading me to believe that this is the result of a variety of contractors. The worst involved Wolverine checking out his adamantian claws in the bathroom. The looked cartoonish! Another laughable scene involved Wolverine fighting Fred Dukes (aka The Blob). I understand that he is "The Blob" but it looked too comedic. It seemed as though Wolverine was fighting Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. Another issue I had with this movie was the host of extraneous characters. These seemed to distract from the central story of James and Victor becoming Wolverine and Sabretooth, resulting in an "origins" movie that tells less of Wolverine than the original X-Men trilogy. Effects and extraneous characters aside, however, the story's plot issues were the most glaring problems. The plot seems to raise unanswerable questions, such as:

1. Towards the end of the film, Wolverine removes his signature leather jacket. How did he ever get it back after losing his memory?
2. Why would Victor Creed allow himself to be tamed by the non-mutant Stryker, and how did this happen?
3. How does Charles Xavier find the escaped mutants, and why didn't he get there sooner?

Here's to hoping more Sabretooth in future X-Men films!