My own self

Well, that was a pleasant surprise.

"Your country needs you!"
"I'm Canadian."

I originally had low expectations to this movie - X-men 3's fault, that - as it looked like it'd just be another "Hugh Jackman on posters and tons and tons and TONS of unnecessary mutants with flashy powers and so many plots that none of them have time to set themselves up before the movie's done"-thing, only a prequel to add to the lame. The trailers lifted my spirits only marginally - it seemed like a decent action movie, but not much else, and honestly, trailers tend to make movies look way better than they are, so if that's what the trailer made it look like...

Then people started seeing it, and huh, impressions started getting back to me that it was "okay", "rather good", "fun" and "worth the ticket". Adjusting my expectations up to thinking it would be what the trailer promised - good easy action - I went off to the cinema. Which I would have done any way, I'm a sucker for a comic book movie franchise, but I went off with higher expectations than I, er, expected. Meaning it's-going-to-be-completely-okay ones.

Well, it met those, and even went a little beyond them. As I suspected, this tragically hurts the good old X-men 1, seeing as Wolverine makes their brutish, quiet, brainless Sabretooth completely out of sync with the oddly compelling performance Liev Schreiber gives in the part in the prequel. And I do mean oddly, because this is a guy who acts and moves like he's a bear-panther hybrid and should by all rights feel like a much more cheesy Wolverine-rip-off. But no, he's actually very interesting, and brings a strong presence to his every scene. Kudos, Mr. Schreiber.

As for Wolverine himself, suffice to say it's the one thing I can never agree with Scrubs' Dr. Cox on, as I quite like Hugh Jackman. This movie is no exception. He gets a lot more to do here than in X1 and 3, though - as one should obviously expect.

My fears of a jungle of excessive mutants... is oddly placated. They are there by the scores, but they never pretend to have bigger parts then they do (unlike X3), and they never get in the way of the main plot (again, unlike X3). So, yeah, they could've limited themselves a bit more, but honestly, they didn't need to. Surprising, but impressive.

Other than Sabretooth and Wolverine, the big show stealer here is surprisingly not Gambit, who Marvel finally manages to put up on the big screen, but Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson aka Deadpool. Which is odd, as his appearances in the movie are short indeed. I hear rumours that this movie's success might spawn two further spin-offs, and that one of them would centre on Deadpool. His few scenes in Wolverine makes me think that could very well work. (The other spin-off would be a Wolverine 2, set in his Japan-years. Sounds like fun too. Sadly, I'm hearing little of their long-planned Magneto-movie, which would be worth at least three Wolverine-movies in my book. Here's to hoping, though!)

Speaking of Gambit... I'm torn. Taylor Kitsch wasn't bad or anything, but... the roguish charm just didn't really register, and where is the delightful French accent? Mostly, I felt they wasted an opportunity to make the character shine and sparkle. Too bad. A Gambit-spin-off would've been lovely, but I doubt they'll be able to make one based on this. Wasn't at all bad, but wasn't at all memorable either.

The plots - again, compared to X3 - are awesome, because there is only one. Which helps, like, tons. It allows them to focus on it, pump it for emotion when they should and for action when they can, and even makes room for a little twist or two along the way. The plot also ties (mostly) neatly into the X2-plots concerning Stryker, Wolverine and Weapon X, which is of course a huge help considering X2 is awesome. It also really helps justifying the "X-men Origins"-piece of the title - this really does feel like a prequel to the franchise just as much as it does a standalone Wolverine-movie.

All in all, I'm very pleased. It was funny, it was exciting, and it even had a few pretty emotional character moments. When your main complaint is that it made a flat and boring character in X-men 1 look out of continuity because he is cool and engaging here, you know you're holding a bad hand of flaws to point out. There's even an in-universe sort-of explanation for that, as Sabretooth's mutation supposedly makes him more feral and beastlike with every passing year (as is even hinted at in the movie, considering how his character develops). Also, no offense to Danny Huston, he does a fine job, but doing William Stryker after (and at the same time before) Brian Cox is a tough job, and the character doesn't have quite the impact here he did in X2, despite his large role and presence. Still, he's more than adequately interesting. And my only other nitpicks would spoil too much of the movie, so those you won't hear 'cept if you ask in the comments.

This movie certainly isn't a Great movie, but it just as certainly is very good and very entertaining for anyone who's remotely interested in this type of superhero action and/or would like a pretty solid dive into Wolverine's past that doesn't clash much with the existing movies. Several times it even adds to them.

8/10