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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE" (2009) (Hugh Jackman, Live Schreiber) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Moderate Extreme *Mild Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Minor Heavy None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Drama: A mutant accepts a molecular enhancement to his body in order to better battle his fellow mutant half-brother and others who've wronged him by their nefarious plans, in this origins prequel to the "X-Men" films. PLOT: Ever since learning back in 1845 that Victor Creed (LIEV SCHREIBER) was actually his half-brother, Logan (HUGH JACKMAN), born as James Howlett, has battled alongside him in all of the major wars over the next century, with their mutant genes making them immortal. But when Victor's bad behavior gets both of them in front of a firing squad that does them no harm, they're approached by U.S. military officer William Stryker (DANNY HUSTON). He convinces them to serve their country as part of a secret mercenary outfit known as Team X. Joining them is John Wraith (WILL.I.AM) who can teleport himself from place to place; the hulking and indestructible Fred Dukes (KEVIN DURAND); Bradley (DOMINIC MONAGHAN) who can control electricity; expert marksmen Agent Zero (DANIEL HENNEY); and Wade Wilson (RYAN REYNOLDS) who's known for his sarcastic tongue and amazing ability with swords. But Logan finally has enough of the killing, particularly from Victor now known as Sabretooth, and quits, thus angering his half-brother. Six years later, Logan works as a lumberjack in the Canadian Rockies and is romantically involved with schoolteacher Kayla Silverfox (LYNN COLLINS). But his peaceful life is derailed by a tragedy and word that Sabretooth is killing former members of the team. Beset with rage and desirous of revenge, Logan takes up Stryker's offer to undergo an experimental procedure where adamantium will be bonded to his skeletal structure, thus making him even more indestructible with his natural retractable claws replaced with razor-sharp metal ones. After discovering that Stryker doesn't have his best intentions in mind and surviving various attempts on his life, Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, sets out to find and stop both Stryker and Victor, While enlisting the aid of Wraith and fellow mutant Remy LeBeau (TAYLOR KITSCH), a.k.a. Gambit, he must not only contend with his half-brother and the renegade colonel, but also a super mutant, Weapon XI, who's been created by the latter. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the "X-Men" movies, that's a definite yes. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: HUGH JACKMAN plays a mutant with retractable claws and regenerative powers that essentially make him immortal. Having grown tired of killing for Stryker, he quits Team X, only to draw the wrath of his half-brother and fellow mutant. When the latter appears to have killed his girlfriend and others from their former team, Logan sets out to get revenge on him and stop other wrongdoings. He uses a little profanity, is seen with unlit cigars, briefly drinks beer, apparently sleeps with Kayla, and battles many people. LIEV SCHREIBER plays his half-brother, a killing machine without remorse who isn't happy when Logan quits their mercenary team. On behalf of Stryker, he kills and/or captures various mutants for the latter's nefarious plans. He also uses some profanity. DANNY HUSTON plays a military colonel who first recruits Logan and Victor into his mercenary team and later uses them and others in his attempt to create a super mutant and thus ultimate military weapon. He's responsible for various deaths, and directly kills a superior officer. LYNN COLLINS plays a school teacher with persuasive powers who's Logan's girlfriend. She sleeps with but ultimately betrays him, although for noble, family-related reasons. WILL.I.AM plays another mutant who can teleport himself from place to place. He drinks in one scene. KEVIN DURAND plays a hulking and indestructible mutant who's later seen after gaining hundreds of pounds, leaving him severely obese. DOMINIC MONAGHAN plays another mutant who can control electricity. He briefly drinks in one scene. TAYLOR KITSCH plays another mutant who can imbue ordinary things such as playing cards with strong power. He briefly battles with Logan. DANIEL HENNEY plays the expert marksmen in Team X who kills various people. RYAN REYNOLDS plays a martial artist on the same team who's proficient with blades, while his verbal wit is just as sharp. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this action film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 3 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexual action is implied but not seen, but a man's full rear nudity is, while a very long distance shot shows his partial full frontal nudity (all in a non-sexual context) when he's not otherwise seen shirtless and looking quite buff. All sorts of movie comic book violence is present, including many people being killed or wounded by various weapons and such, while all sorts of hard-hitting fighting and impaling/slicing of others also occurs. Some of that has bloody results, but not as much as possible considering the content (including a decapitation), and various potentially bad wounds instantly heal. It's possible those scenes and moments of peril might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers, but most are presented in a straight-forward action manner rather than as graphic realism. That said, the fighting, stunts, action and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to try to copy, while tense family material is present, as are bad attitudes. Drinking occurs in several scenes, and one drug-related comment is made, while a character is occasionally seen with an unlit cigar. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that late in the film. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of bouncy camerawork in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE A person comments that young Victor's father is drunk again. The latter shoots and kills another man, apparently in that state. Bradley has a drink. Kayla hands Logan a beer and he drinks some. Some people have drinks in a makeshift bar. After seeing Logan run nude into his barn, an older farmer asks him if he's on drugs. Wraith and Logan have beer, while we see other liquor in the former's place. Wraith then has another beer. People drink on the streets of New Orleans as well as in a club. BLOOD/GORE We see a bloodstain on a man's clothing after being shot. When Logan looks queasy while flying, a Team X member asks if he's going to "puke," but he doesn't. We see blood soaked in a woman's shirt and some on her neck after she's apparently been attacked. Logan has a few bloody scrapes on his torso after fighting Victor, but they quickly heal. Agent Zero is somewhat bloody after being injured in a helicopter crash. Logan has a few bloody scrapes that instantly heal. Victor has a little bit of a bloody lip after Wraith punches him. We see a mutant whose lips have been stitched shut (with large, crude-looking stitches). Later, he has bad-looking scars on his face from that. We see a mutant whose eyes have been propped open (and appear bloodshot and maybe with some blood around the edges, etc.). A woman's hand and side are bloody after being shot. During a battle, Logan cuts Weapon XI across the neck with his claws, leaving deep but only briefly seen wounds, which also holds true for the lopped off head (no blood). Stryker uses a gun loaded with adamantium bullets to shoot Logan five times, with the last two to the head. While there's no blood, we see the metal like slugs implanted in Logan's forehead, and he initially appears to be dead from that. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Victor is a merciless killer who has no problem murdering various people, and he sets out to do the same to Logan for quitting Team X. Others in Team X have bad attitudes for their mercenary and murderous behavior. A carnival attendee refers to Bradley as a freak. Two men chat and block a bridge, thus preventing Logan and Kayla from passing. Logan gets out to ask if they could move, but the guy is a jerk toward Logan, shoves him back, and tries to punch him, but Logan catches his fist in his hand. Kayla then intervenes to prevent anything else from happening. Seeing that Fred has gained hundreds of pounds, Logan says "Hey, Fat," before amending that to "Fred." We learn that Stryker is using others, including Logan, is his effort to create the perfect mutant and military killing machine. When a General threatens to shut down his program, Stryker stabs his superior, presumably killing him. We learn that Stryker is holding various mutants captive to harvest their abilities and combine them into one super mutant. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be unsettling and/or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Logan experiences intense pain as large drills enter his skin (no blood, but the insertion is seen) and go down into his bones (seen as x-ray type images) while submerged in some sort of liquid as part of an experiment he's agreed to. His heart rate goes off the charts and then flat-lines, but eventually starts again. For those afraid of heights, a battle takes place atop a nuclear power station's cooling tower, including a view down from the top and Logan teetering on the edge. Stryker goes to shoot a wounded woman, but she uses her mental powers to cause him to place the gun under his chin, but then stops short of having him shoot himself. Instead, she has him throw the gun aside and then walk off. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Machine guns/Missiles/Explosives/Swords/ Knives/Military planes & choppers/Tank/Steel claws: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. An older farmer slowly enters his barn armed with a shotgun (after seeing Logan run in there nude) and briefly holds that on him. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "I think you confuse me with someone who gives a sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "Wake me when it's over," "Are you gonna puke?" "Shut it," "Oh my God, do you ever shut up, pal?" "Don't you screw this up," "Freak," "Who the hell is this?" "Smells like government," "You have a gift" (followed by "You can return a gift"), "Koo-koo-ka-chu got screwed," "Look what the cat dragged in," "To save your own ass," "Get the hell out of my way," "I think there's a naked man in the barn," "What in hell you doing?" "Damn it," "What the hell happened to him?" "You're an asshole," "Bag 'em and tag 'em," "Oh, shiny," "I'm gonna cut your G*ddamn head off" and "Where the hell am I?" All of the fighting, stunts and other action might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Fred has an old-style tattoo of a woman on his arm. We see a sword swallower doing his thing at a carnival, while another man is folded up inside a small box. Agent Zero shoots off the end of Logan's cigar while it's in his mouth. Logan gives "the finger" with one of his steel claws. Logan jumps from a plane in the air, skipping along the surface of a body of water in which he lands. JUMP SCENES The sudden sound of a gunshot might startle some viewers. A gunshot suddenly hits a window. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of action-oriented and suspenseful/ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 3 "s" words, 6 hells, 5 damns, 3 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 uses of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "Jesus," "Oh Jesus," "Oh Lord" and "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY Fred has an old-style tattoo of a woman on his arm. When someone else says he just met that woman, Fred says he loves her and that she's a gymnast (possibly a sexual connotation). We see Logan shirtless, while Kayla is wearing just a flannel shirt (nothing explicit seen) and the two briefly kiss. We see Logan sit up in bed shirtless following a nightmare, while Kayla is standing in the room, looking a bit nervous and holding a sheet up over her apparently nude body (nothing explicit seen). She then gets back in bed with him, but we don't see anything occur. Kayla straddles Logan's lap in a dress, but then tells him a story and nothing sexual occurs. We see Logan's bare chest after a battle with Victor. We see Logan shirtless for an experimental procedure, and then him lowered into some sort of liquid, with some sort of material covering his crotch area. Following that, Logan escapes and runs off, and there are several views of his full rear nudity, as well as a partial full frontal view, but from a very long distance as he jumps alongside a tall waterfall. Later, an older couple sees him run by nude on their farm (we see his bare butt) and the woman comments on there being a naked man in their barn. The man then finds Logan crouched down nude in the barn, and tells him to cover up so as not to give his wife a heart attack. We see Weapon XI who's shirtless. SMOKING Logan is seen several times with an unlit cigar. Agent Zero shoots off the end of Logan's cigar while it's in his mouth. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see that young James is sick in bed back in 1845. He then hears sounds from downstairs, including yelling and struggling, followed by the sound of a gunshot. He then races down there to find his father mortally wounded on the floor. His anger then causes long claws to erupt from his knuckles, and he races toward the adult shooter (who fires at him, but misses), fatally impaling him. It's then that he learns that this man was actually his real father and thus Victor is his half-brother. Logan quits Team X and Victor is none too happy with him, spending most of the rest of the film fighting with and/or trying to kill his half-brother. It's somewhat implied that an older farm couple's adult son is dead, as they allow Logan to wear his clothes and we see their melancholy responses to that. We hear that Stryker's son is a mutant who killed his mother (Stryker's wife). Kayla worries about her sister who's being held captive by Stryker (along with other mutants being used by him to harvest their abilities and combine them into one super mutant). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Being different from others. Revenge. The military trying to create a super soldier/weapon. Three Mile Island (the setting of the film's conclusion). VIOLENCE We see that young James is sick in bed back in 1845. He then hears sounds from downstairs, including yelling and struggling, followed by the sound of a gunshot. He then races down there to find his father mortally wounded on the floor. His anger then causes long claws to erupt from his knuckles, and he races toward the adult shooter (who fires at him, but misses), fatally impaling him. It's then that he learns that this man was actually his real father and thus Victor is his half-brother. Young Victor tackles young James. We see a stylistically shot montage during the opening credits sequence featuring Logan and Victor fighting in various wars, from the Civil War through WWI, WWII and Vietnam. During that, various weapons are present (canons, swords, fighter planes, machine guns, etc.) and miscellaneous characters are shot or hit by explosions, while hand to hand combat also occurs. During this, the brothers are wounded by various means, but due to being immortal, don't die. The above includes the Normandy D-Day invasion where many soldiers are mowed down by machine guns on the beach. In Vietnam, Victor throws a girl to a cot (we don't know his exact intentions) and another soldier tries to stop him, but Victor hits him. Logan then joins him in fighting and/or killing other soldiers, but they're captured and then face a firing squad. We hear the shots, but don't see the impact, but due to their regenerative abilities, they aren't killed. Team X goes on a mission, with armed men firing at Agent Zero who shoots and kills many of them with his handguns, causing one to accidentally mow down others with his machine gun. Faced with a tank, Fred jams his fist into cannon, resulting in the tank exploding when it fires at him. Armed men then prepare for Team X to exit an elevator, with Wade coming out and blocking all of the gunfire with his swords. He ends up killing all but one man there via bullets ricocheting and stabbing/slicing others with those swords. Victor grabs a villager for info and prepares to kill him, but Logan stops him, just as he does with Agent Zero who he knocks down as the latter is about to shoot someone. At the end of this, one body is on the ground, but we don't know if the person is dead or not. Victor confronts, acts menacing toward, and then kills Bradley, but we don't see the impact. We hear that Victor killed Wade, but later learn that's not true. Two men chat and block a bridge, thus preventing Logan and Kayla from passing. Logan gets out to ask if they could move, but the guy is a jerk toward Logan, shoves him back, and tries to punch him, but Logan catches his fist in his hand. Kayla then intervenes to prevent anything else from happening. Kayla drives down the road in the woods, only to encounter Victor standing there. He then slowly approaches and leaves deep scratches in the hood with his claws. Logan senses this from a distance, races there, but is too late as he finds Kayla lying off in the woods, seemingly dead, with blood soaked in her shirt and some on her neck. Victor and Logan race at each other, with Victor driving Logan back through a door and into a pile of logs. He then scrapes and stabs him with his claws, and bashes him back against some large machinery. Logan then stabs his long claws through Victor's shoulder, but the latter causes many large logs to roll down onto Logan. Victor then picks up Logan and throws him into the path of an approaching truck. Logan slams into and bounces off that. Victor then stomps down on Logan's natural claws, breaking off the ends of them from one hand. Waking up in the hospital, Logan first grabs a doctor, and then Stryker, including by the neck. Logan experiences intense pain as large drills enter his skin (no blood, but the insertion is seen) and go down into his bones (seen as x-ray type images) while submerged in some sort of liquid as part of an experiment he's agreed to. His heart rate goes off the charts and then flat-lines, but eventually starts again. After performing a dangerous experiment on him, Stryker orders that Logan's memory be erased. Logan hears this and escapes, being shot (but not harmed) and fighting off others to get out. Not yet in full control of his new steel claws, Logan causes accidental damage with them in a bathroom. Agent Zero fires several shots from a distance through a barn's window, striking and killing an older couple. A helicopter then fires a missile into the barn that explodes just as Logan races out on a motorcycle. The chopper then fires a machine gun at Logan on that bike, followed by a gunner on a truck shooting a machine gun at him as well. Logan then passes by and slices off the gun's barrel with his claws, causing the gunner to fall off (and another vehicle barely avoids running over him). Logan then zips by the truck, slicing his claws through its side, causing it to crash. Logan then fires a machine gun at the chopper, but it fires a missile at the truck he's on. He jumps off and the resultant explosion sends him flying toward the chopper, with his claws cutting through the rotors. He then holds onto the top and jumps off right before it crashes. The pilot appears to be dead, and another man inside is badly injured, with Logan then using his claws to cause a spark that ignites leaked fuel. Those flames go back to the chopper and it explodes. Hugely obese, Fred punches another boxer out of a boxing ring. Logan then spars with him, with Fred blasting Logan out of the ring and into that other boxer. The sparring continues, with Fred delivering many hard blows, followed by Logan then doing the same back to him. Victor chases after a mutant teen, tackling him, resulting in the teen's laser blast from his eyes cutting huge swaths out of the building (seen from an outside view). Stryker then shoots some sort of large sedative gun into the teen, knocking him out. Victor confronts Wraith who easily avoids him via teleporting himself all around him, allowing him to punch Victor and then disappear and reappear elsewhere. But Victor anticipates his next new location and impales him with his claws. We don't see the actual impalement, but hear it, and Victor comments on feeling Wraith's spine. Gambit uses a thrown playing card to knock Logan backwards, and then many to blast him back through a wall. Logan then backhands him away before battling Victor who misses with his pounce at Logan who then stabs him through his hand and chest with his new steel claws. Logan then prepares to kill him, but Gambit uses a pole that he slams onto the street, with the resultant sonic shockwave knocking both Logan and Victor aside, allowing Victor to escape. Gambit then uses that pole to hit Logan who slices it in half with his claws, and then uses the same to cut away a fire escape structure. That causes Gambit to hit the street hard, and Logan then pins him back against a wall. When a General threatens to shut down his program, Stryker stabs his superior, presumably killing him. Victor grabs and lifts Kayla by the throat. Logan stabs Victor, kicks him, and then drives him back, crashing through a window and they fall a long way before hitting the ground hard. Rather than kill him, Logan then punches Victor unconscious. Logan and Weapon XI (who has long blades from his hands) battle, with Logan impaling the latter with his claws, but the wounds instantly heal. Meanwhile, as other mutants escape their imprisonment, machine guns are fired at them, with one (who has metal type skin) taking and blocking those shots (but we see that one woman was hit as she's a bit bloody). The future Cyclops then fires his laser blast from his eyes that causes damage to a building. After more battling, Weapon XI stabs his long blades down through Logan's back and is about to follow Stryker's order to decapitate him when Victor arrives and knocks him off the top of a nuclear power station's cooling tower. That's followed by the half-brothers battling Weapon XI, with various blows and stabbings occurring. Weapon XI then fires laser beams from his eyes at Logan who blocks them with his metal claws, all as Victor races along the long circular edge to attack Weapon XI. The latter blasts him back with those lasers, but Logan then slices Weapon XI across the neck (deep, but only briefly seen), sending him and his lopped off head (no blood) falling down inside the cooling tower. But his laser blasts continues to emanate from him, thus cutting the tower in circular, falling patterns. That causes the tower to collapse, with Victor and then Logan jumping off, with the latter landing hard. A huge piece then falls toward him, but Gambit manages to knock it away just in time. Stryker uses a gun loaded with adamantium bullets to shoot Logan five times, with the last two to the head. While there's no blood, we see the metal like slugs implanted in Logan's forehead, and he initially appears to be dead from that. Reviewed April 28, 2009 / Posted May 1, 2009

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