This was a highly anticipated movie for me. Two reasons. First of all because I enjoyed the X-men saga as a child and I enjoyed watching the three previous movies. Although they weren’t always spot on with the story, they were entertaining. And I must say sometimes there is nothing more I need, to like a movie. The second reason is of course the cast. I guess it’s any woman’s heaven. And for the guys there are quite enough fights to keep them interested. Hell, looking at them it made me wanna join the gym!

For those who don’t follow the story, here’s a quick plot description.
So the movie starts off in 1845 with two boys talking in a room. One of them, clearly younger than the other, about 8 years old is in bed sick. Then the boy’s father appears to check up on him. But soon the conversation is interrupted by loud shouts from downstairs. Someone’s knocking on the front door trying to get in. The father leaves to deal with the situation, but then we hear some more screaming and a shot. Both boys go to check what happened. The boy sees his father’s body and rushes to his side. When it turns out he’s dead the shock (as we know from previous movies the mutant gene reveals itself under emotional stress) causes the claws in the boy’s hands to come out. It is clearly the first time anyone sees them, including the man who killed his father, and what we can assume is the boy’s mother. Angry and frightened the boy Logan runs and with his claws kills the intruder. With his dying breath the man tells him he was his real father.
Obviously it being the 19th century the genetics causing the mutation weren’t known, so the boy runs away clearly distressed by all that happened. The other boy catches up with him and tells him they are brothers now and they have to watch out for each other because no one else will. That is the start to the story for Logan (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) half-brothers and mutants.
The next few scenes are more like a slide-show of both already grown-up men taking part in all the possible wars. I think the director Gavin Hood and screenwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods chose well to shorten and show the beginning of their life this way. Otherwise it would be way too long and just boring. But although we see both brothers killing, only Victor seems to really enjoy himself. They made a point of showing him shooting when it wasn’t necessary, constantly grinning and Logan looking suspiciously at him and trying to stop him whenever he could. In the end they both take it too far. Victor kills one of his own and Logan stands by him when the Americans try to kill him. They end up being sentenced to death, but obviously both having immense regenerative power, they’re only kept in prison. And that’s where William Striker (Danny Huston) finds them, offering a second chance and a place among people. Of course he feeds them a lot of bullshit about how they will serve the society by killing only the bad guys.
And here’s where the proper movie and all the ass-kicking starts. Striker found and created a special unit consisting only of mutants and those with useful killing skills at that. We have John Wraith (Will.I.Am) who is a teleport, Fred Dukes (Kevin Durand) with skin that can withstand any attack, Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan) who can manipulate electricity, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) incredibly fast mutant very skilled with Japanese katana and Agent Zero (Daniel Henney) who is fast with guns. Logan is made their captain which is probably when he starts to be a competition for his brother. It is never said, but one can tell Victor doesn’t like being told what to do. And especially not by his younger brother he used to look after. When Logan realizes the assignments aren’t done for the good of mankind, but rather for Striker to find sources of Adamantium (the alloy found in meteorites) he leaves the unit. And that scene when he walks away from Victor and the team is where they fall out with each other. I must say that Liev Schreiber was the one that stole the movie for me. As much as I love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, what with his dark humor and sarcasm, Liev was perfect as the villain and the hero of the story. Because he must have loved his brother very much to be that angry at him for leaving. It’s always the people we love the most that can trigger the most emotional outbreaks in us. That’s why I enjoyed this movie so much. Because they didn’t just make it about the fighting and CGI and explosions. I mean yes, it was full of those too, but in the end it’s the characters that matter. And what motivated them to do what they did. It was the competition between siblings, their love/hate relationship after what Victor does to Logan later in the story. I am pretty sure, as we can see at the end, that in a way they both still care about each other. Maybe not enough to forgive all the evil, but the bond’s still there.
Other characters weren’t as greatly developed. But no surprise there since the movie had to end somewhere. All the actors were pretty good, but they weren’t on screen enough to make a great impression. But they were funny, and I liked the dialogue. There are some one-liners that had me laughing long after the movie. I was a bit disappointed with Reynolds. Not that he is *that* superb as an actor, but I thought he could give an edge to his character. To me something was missing in his performance. Wade wasn’t devious enough in my opinion. Hopefully he will make Deadpool better in the next movie.
The only important female character of Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins) I thought was lovely and a great choice for Logan’s love interest. She was the Yang to his Yin, because although he was great at killing and perceived this way by Striker, she brought out the protective and soft side in him. Something I think he didn’t realize he even had. After all it was the grief after losing her that prompted him to become the ultimate Wolverine. I really enjoyed watching them both together. I like how this movie saved us from many cliché moments, and instead let the actors perform with gestures and looks rather than only words. A lot of things had to be seen and experienced and not just heard. That’s why I am giving this movie an 8/10.
In my opinion this movie deserves to be seen. I can’t say you will be missing out on an amazing cinematographic experience if you don’t watch it. But you will miss out on 107 minutes of fun in front of television. For those who enjoy X-men movies, and for those who just enjoy movies this is a great option for a Saturday afternoon.