[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Gerard Magnier, 21st September 2009
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ was released in May of this year (2009) and is the fourth instalment in the X-Men series of movies. Inevitably the most popular of the X-Men characters, Wolverine, has finally gotten his own movie. The origins of the aforementioned adamantium wielding mutant are explored, as is his complex relationship with his half-brother, Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber). While the action content is high and the pace relentless, there’s nothing really new on show here (aside from a couple of new mutatnts). Jackman’s performance certainly adds appeal but the disjointed plot and the attempt by director Gavin Hood to introduce too many characters puts this release firmly in the same category as ‘X3’. While this movie, in the correct hands, could have been excellent, the obvious motivation for this movie was to make as much money as possible and the content has suffered as a result.

Both the audio and video presentations are very strong on this release but just fall shy of top marks. The video presentation is the more impressive of the two, appearing crisp, clear and well defined but is let down slightly by some softness and incidental flatness. The audio track can be impressive and engaging but overall sounds slightly underpowered and could have been improved upon in a number of areas. As usual Fox have included a wealth of extras and while some of these are a bit sparse in terms of worthwhile content, it is nonetheless a worthwhile collection of additional supplements. So while the extras, picture and audio quality are up to scratch, I’m afraid that the movie itself is most certainly not. For fans of this movie this BD release is a no brainer but I would recommend that those on the fence should rent before buying.


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