BOTTOM LINE: Although much better than X-Men 3 in terms of story, this instalment in the franchise is a little flat and uninspiring, not going anywhere terribly interesting despite some great visuals, a handful of nice action scenes, and of course, Hugh Jackman’s solid presence.

THE GOOD: The X-Men franchise took a creative u-turn with the third instalment, sacrificing story for lots of noise and action in start contrast to the first two films. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, despite it clumsy title, has a stronger story to tell this time around in focusing on the character of Wolverine. Hugh Jackman reprises the role and serves as a very solid anchor for the cast and the film, and managing to occasionally deliver the trademark wit that has made the character so well loved. The film starts off with a very effective prologue and title sequence which shows a young Logan (aka Wolverine) and his brother Victor (eventually played by Liev Schreiber) as they live through countless wars side-by-side but eventually become at odds over Victor’s thirst for blood versus Logan’s quest for peace and respect for life. The story then expands on the subplot first told in “X-Men 2” of how Logan was transformed in to Wolverine (and his new metal skeleton) by William Stryker of the US Army who wants to create the perfect weapon, with Wolverine being his latest attempt at doing so. The story has some surprises, least of which turning its effective revenge plot on its head in the climax, making Wolverine’s experience more personally tragic. Hugh Jackman does an effective job of leading the cast, but he is effectively supported by a great Liev Schreiber who oozes immorality and sinister qualities at every turn. The film certainly looks good with its elegant and rich images, contrasting some very natural looking scenery with the high-tech nature of the army and the incredible powers of the mutants. The action sequences are quite well done, with the standouts being Wolverine’s battle with Stryker’s team culminating in Wolverine being blasted through the air and on to a helicopter which he then destroys, and a climactic battle with Weapon XI, Stryker’s perfected weapon who has been given several mutant powers and his battle with Wolverine and Victor on top of an old Nuclear silo. “X-Men: Origins” is a decent film that manages to improve well on “X-Men 3”.

THE BAD: The direction of this film is ultimately uninspired and flat. Although the story is stronger, its execution is not done with any dramatic flair or memorable character moments, leaving a film that will probably not move you one way or the other, even when a cool action scene presents itself. Hugh Jackman, although carrying the film with his strong presence, looks a little lost this time as Wolverine compared to the previous films, and looks to have been held back in allowing the character to have more trademark wit and dimension. Danny Huston is the weakest link in the cast, and unfortunately, he is playing the part of the main villain in Stryker. Veteran actor Brian Cox played an older Stryker in X-Men 2 and was far superior to Huston’s pale imitation. Patrick Stewart also has a cameo as Professor Xavier, which was welcome, except for the fact that the digital altering to his face to make him look younger looks worse than a botched plastic surgery job. At the end of the day, “X-Men: Origins” is a reasonable film but a better director would have made a fantastic movie from this story instead of the one we have been given.