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Sunday, May 31, 2009

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Burning Questions

This evening, I took my teenage daughter to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I really enjoy being a mom, but one of the iffy aspects of parenting is that you get to see ALL the movies based on comic books and comic book characters. All.

So, of course, I've seen all of the previous X-Men movies, and I must admit that Hugh Jackman Wolverine has always been my favorite character. I was less reluctant to see this one than I was, say, Spiderman 3. I also like to Know Everything, so a line of films tagged "origins" seemed promising to me.

It turned out, though, that the movie raised as many questions as it answered.

For instance, why did the man who WASN'T anyone's father at the beginning of the film look so much like Wolverine?

And were those Hugh Jackman's arms, for real, or did they do that with some of that crazy putty they use to make people look bigger than they are?

My daughter also pointed out that they never really told us how Logan or Victor obtained their powers (or those nifty little retractable claws)--they explained how Wolverine became indestructible and lost his memory, but nothing about his actual ORIGINS, if you will.

And are those Hugh Jackman's real biceps? Because I've never really noticed them in any of his other movies.

We also wondered when Logan became Canadian, since most of the early catch-up scenes had him fighting in American wars (including, apparently, the Civil War, so it's not likely that the Canadians were just backing us up).

And why, if those are Hugh Jackman's actual shoulders, he looks so slight when he's dressed more professionally. Or, you know, at all.

The list could go on, but it feels futile. After all, this was the "origins" movie. It seems unlikely that we'll get another installment called X-Men Even Further Back: Wolverine. Or even The Origins of Hugh Jackman's Biceps.

8 comments:

notlifebutmagnificent said...

Logan and Victor obtained their powers as a birth defect like most other mutants (super healing).

The surgery which made him indestructible is where he received the claws (adamantium bones/claws).

He's Canadian because he's Canadian in the comics.

He was fighting in all those wars because sometimes people leave Canada and go other places. He was one of them.

As for his shoulders/biceps/etc. All of that was either him working out or special effects or something. Regardless, it wasn't implied in the "Origins" part of the title that it would be detailing how Hugh Jackman, the actor who plays Wolverine, got built.

Any more questions?

Anonymous said...

Yes, that's all jackman. He beefed up for the role, and no digital effects were used to change the appearance. As for his "origins", you clearly aren't familiar with the concept of a mutant. He was born with mutant healing and retractable claws (of bone), as well as some feral senses. Because of his advanced healing, he was able to withstand the fusion of Adamantium to his bones, giving him the telltale claws we all know and love. You're welcome.

Anonymous said...

Well it show you his name was originally James, rather than Logan. His claws stemmed from the fact that it was one of his mutant powers, like his ability to heal, and being Victor's half brother they have similar genes, and thus similar mutant powers. Also, Hugh Jackman bulked up a lot for this movie, specifically the naked scene in the tub of water, if you notice he is at his biggest then. And he does look similar in a lot of his other movies, see xmen 3.

Tiffany said...

Yep, here's another one, Sean: What's up with the mutant aging process? James and Victor appear to live 100-150 years from when we first meet them, and in that time age from about ten to about thirty.

notlifebutmagnificent said...

The reason they live so long is because of their healing factor. The diseases and common problems which normally bring people to old age and death are combated by the healing factor thereby allowing them to live for an extremely long period of time.

Bullgrit said...

"and being Victor's half brother they have similar genes, and thus similar mutant powers."

Interestingly, they may be the only related mutants who have even remotely similar mutant powers. All other siblings in the superhero comics have wildly divergant powers. :-)

Bullgrit

Tiffany said...

I noticed that even in the movie, Bullgrit--the only other pair of siblings I recall being presented were sisters: one had diamond-hard skin and the other could influence people by touching them.

Sean said...

Many of the things in comic lore exist simply because they were "cool" and were later made to connect and/or make sense. When combined with Hollywood, which alters key facts that others would not imagine changing, the truth behind a certain story becomes extremely convoluted.