X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Rating:

* * *

Verdict:

Engaging back-to-beginning superhero romp, with the South Island as co-star.

Yes, it's yet another comic book superhero origins prequel thingamy -

Sideburns Begins

, effectively. But it's certainly no reinvention of the

X-Men

franchise from which it springs. Just a diverting offshoot.

It's far too busy sharpening its claws, blowing up stuff (or walking away in slow motion away from stuff that has just blown up), leaping naked from waterfalls to go all dark, brooding and psychological.

No, it's not deep, and it's got some daft moves in its story (try not to laugh when you hear how Wolverine's memory can be erased) including an ending with a twist or two that seems to have been borrowed from

X-Men

's TV heirs,

Heroes

.

But it sure is entertaining and - care of Te Wai Pounamu high country doing its best British Columbia impersonation for much of the film - has some very scenic backdrops to much of the action. It's funny too - a couple of sharp one-liners in between all the howling, snarling and occasional scratching behind the ears.

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine sure has some issues - and not just why he can never find a shirt that will stay on his buff torso. From the very Hammer Horror beginning about his 19th century boyhood we find he's actually the sensible one of the family - his brother Victor/Sabretooth (Schrieber) is the wild child. And it's no wonder that after turning their fighting skills to service in a century's worth of American wars, from the Civil to Vietnam, they eventually end up going at it like cats and dogs after some fraternal betrayals.

Of course, much of the early story is taken up with how mutant-ist military boffin Stryker (a neatly menacing Huston) initally recruits the furry freak brothers and eventually converts Wolverine's lupine skeleton to indestructible Adamantium - an alloy apparently even harder than Boygeorgeium.

It introduces another couple of X-blokes including the way-cool, sword-whirling Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and card-sharp Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) which should keep the fanboys pleased. Though it sure overdoes it on the digital backrops on the big finale on Three Mile Island, which has a moment where it looks like the movie has crossed over into an advanced level of videogame

Mortal Kombat

.

It may not be as sharp a movie as its hero's extendable mitts but with Jackman cutting a fine figure as the mad mutton-chopped superhero, it's still as entertaining as it should be.

Russell Baillie

Cast:

Hugh Jackman, Liev Schrieber, Danny Huston

Director:

Gavin Hood

Rating:

M

Running time:

103 mins