May 2, 2009 -- The latest edition of the X-Men franchise is easily the least, with a convoluted storyline, poorly defined characters and a dark one-note tone that lacks the humor and light touches of the earlier three installments. The basic premise of the X-Men is silly and it is a mistake for this film to take itself so seriously. The film succeeds enough to be watchable mainly due to some good action scenes, the good will residue from those earlier three movies and because of the strong performances from Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and Liev Schreiber as his biological brother, Victor Creed/Sabretooth. Jackman and Schreiber don't have much to work with here, but they make the most of the opportunity. The only problem with this is that Schreiber is so good as Sabertooth, this causes severe problems with continuity with the rest of the series, where Sabertooth is an extremely limited, almost marginal character.

This film starts with Logan and Victor as children. Logan puts his special gifts to work as a young boy, killing his father in an act of impulsive revenge. After Logan and Victor spend years fighting wars from the late 1800s to the 1960s, Logan has finally had enough killing and opts out of a special military unit headed by William Stryker (played by Danny Huston of “30 Days of Night.” Brian Cox plays the older version of Stryker in “X2.”). Victor enjoys killing and stays in the unit. We skip to years later. Logan is trying to live peacefully and forget the past, which returns to him each night in nightmares. Victor is still around and Stryker is still trying to pull Logan back into “black ops” government duty. When confronted and asked to serve his country, Logan tells Stryker to take a hike. “I'm Canadian,” he says. The film explains what Adamantium is and where it comes from. It explains why Logan agrees to undergo the Adamantium armoring medical procedure. It also explains Logan's amnesia.

The film methodically ticks off these backstory fill-in chores one by one. As a tale of revenge and justice, however, it seems to be lacking. The multiple murders of the Stryker's various operations seem to go unpunished, in this film at least, and so do Victor's multiple murders. While the version of Stryker in “X2” is evil with some semblance of humanity, the younger Stryker in this latest film is cartoonishly evil with his own Hitler-like empire. His goal is the genocide of the mutants with his own version of a super soldier. He conducts immoral medical experiments along the lines of Josef Mengele and even murders his superior officer when he tries to reign in Stryker. This version of Stryker seems to have no humanity in him. He is a cardboard character without subtlety or depth. The same is true of most of the film's characters. They are sketches rather than full color paintings. Logan is one of the few characters with any humanity. While the characters are thin, there are some good action sequences including one with spectacular property destruction.

The film is open-ended, leaving plenty room for a sequel. This film takes place chronologically before the other three. Sequels which take place before or after the other three films (“X-Men,” “X-2” and “X-Men: The Last Stand”) are possible. As long as they keep making money and the actors are willing, they will probably keep coming. Hollywood loves sequels and avoids originality. This film rates a C+.

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Copyright © 2009 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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