Discover the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program.  Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film have long been anticipated...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine chronicles young James Logan and his tortured past… from boy, to man, to mutant. From conflicts with his half brother Victor Creed - aka Sabretooth, his membership in Team X, his infamous adamantium rebirth and the total memory loss that ultimately fuels his angry quest.

After a brief look at Logan's childhood, we follow his and Creed's life together through the ages - which for some reason seems to revolve entirely around major world wars and other global conflicts. This cements their relationship as always being there for each other. The two are then brought into a top secret organisation that sees mutants acting as military weapons. When Logan and Creed don't see eye to eye on the killing of innocent individuals, Logan goes his own way and tries to integrate himself back into normal society. He meets a girl and settles down for a quiet life. But Creed decides if he's going to lose his family it might as well be in a fight to the death... and so begins a feud between the two.

Okay, I'm over simplifying the story, and trying not to spoil any of the plot twists, but basically this movie fills in the blanks as to Wolverine's origins and how he came to join the X-Men.

The Blu-ray release comes with two discs. The first is the Blu-ray version of the movie and all the extras, while the second disc is the DVD edition, which can also be downloaded onto your iPod, PSP or any other portable device.

Extras are pretty impressive. We get two audio commentaries (one with director Gavin Hood and one with producers Lauren Schuler Donner and Ralph Winter); The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with Stan Lee and Len Wein (16 min, 18 sec interview between living legend Lee and co-creator of Wolverine, Wein. There are many interesting bits of information here, including the fact that Wein originally envisaged Wolverine being a foe for the Hulk and it was only by chance he ended up in the X-Men comic book); Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins (12 min, 05 sec behind the scenes on the movie - including Hugh Jackman's fitness regime, and the design of both the bone claws and adamantium injection tank); Weapon X Mutant Files (53 min, 57 sec which looks at several of the movie's main characters); The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence (5 min, 53 sec look at how the helicopter chase sequence was filmed); Ultimate X Mode (four different modes that allow you to watch the movie with a picture in picture feature that look at things such as director's info, previsualisation and facts about the X-Men universe); Deleted and Alternative Scenes (9 min, 32 sec which is comprised of four scenes - including a cut sequence with a young Storm); Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere (6 min, 22 sec footage on the red carpet of the movie premiere); and Fox on Blu-ray (trailers for other releases).

For fans of X-Men and Wolverine this movie is well worth picking up.

8

Darren Rea