X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I just saw this movie for the first time and all I can say is WOW! It's totally amazing. Some people may be upset because the main villains, Stryker and Sabretooth, are not taken care of. But that's because this is Wolverine's backstory. This is what made him Wolverine before he joined the X-Men. This movie is a prequel to the X-Men films.

If you have seen the X-Men movies, you know what will eventually happen to Sabretooth and Stryker. This movie covers how it all will come to pass. Patrick Stewart is also in the movie as a younger Xavier who still has the use of his legs. But, make no mistake, he and Logan do NOT meet in this movie. Xavier's purpose is completely different from Logan's. In this movie we learn about Logan's past that has been long shrouded due to amnesia. We see Logan's mutant powers manifest and his true connection to a young man named Victor Creed.

Together, they fight side by side in many wars. Victor's experiences make him more feral and cruel. Logan just wants out. After a raid in Africa goes badly, Logan walks away only to be sucked into a program called Weapon X after Victor kills the woman he loves. Consumed by vengeance, Logan has no idea that everything going on around him is a carefully woven net contrived to bring him to heel. Only after he learns the truth does he take steps to shatter the unsanctioned program that has created him.

With the aid of a young acrobatic thief who successfully escaped the program, Logan tears the Weapon X base apart and in the process frees a bunch of young mutant children. One of those children, though neither one will meet, is a young Scott Summers. This movie concludes though with just what it was that Stryker did to him that cost Wolverine his memory. And Wolverine's origins are now set.

I have heard that they are going to do a fourth X-Men movie and that Gambit, who is in the Origins tale will not be in the movie. They say it's because it would affect the timeline they have set. They are quite correct. As much as we love Gambit, he wouldn't fit the timeline. He's a full-grown adult in this film when they free Scott Summers, the future Cyclops, and the other mutants. By the time Wolverine joins the X-Men, at least 20 years has passed and the teen Cyclops is now a full grown adult and engaged to Jean Grey, the doctor. Gambit would be a tad too old, especially for the much younger Rogue by the movie story lines.

I am hoping that in the next film, they bring Xavier, Jean and Cyclops back. Jean as any true fan knows has been resurrected more times than we can count. But Xavier and Cyke need to come back too. Also, I'd like to see them give Rogue all her abilities. In the comics, Rogue's power is the ability through physical contact to steal another person's life force, and in the case of mutants, their powers. It's the same in the movies. But in the comics, Rogue was once a willing member of the Brotherhood, a bad group of mutants. Rogue's thefts are usually temporary, but if she holds on too long those transfers can become permanent and she can even kill the person she is holding.

In the movies the Brotherhood was after Rogue to use her in an experiment that would kill her, but she was never a member. In the comics, while being a member, Rogue permanently drained a woman called Ms. Marvel and gained her super strength and her ability to fly, never to lose it. It would be so cool to see them give Rogue all her powers. But X-Men Origins: Wolverine was absolutely fantastic and I loved it. It's out now, released today. So go watch it. You will love it.