Like so many others, I am a huge fan of the X-Men but was disappointed in X-Men: Last Stand, so I was looking forward to learning about Wolverine’s unknown past in Origins. Although I found the movie to be pretty entertaining in a summer blockbuster sort of way, it left me wishing for less violence and more character development. There might have been two scenes in the whole movie that didn’t include fighting of some sort, and I never really got why Wolverine decided to get the “surgery” where he gets the “Adamantium” injected into this body. We’re made to believe that it was all about his sadness and lust for revenge after his girlfriend died, but that doesn’t really explain why he’s such a withdrawn, sullen guy in the other three movies. (Especially since he has no memory of the wars he fought in, or the girlfriend’s death). It also left some other questions unanswered like, how he and his brother both ended up as mutants, why he stopped aging at the time he did, and how come when he meets Sabretooth in the future there was no mention of the whole brother thing?
The film is rated PG-13 and has a lot of fighting and violence (lots of stabbing and slicing, at one point a mutant is decapitated, but there is little to no blood), as well as partial nudity. It has quite a bit of profanity, but no more than you might find in other PG-13 movies.
Things to talk about:
- When Wolverine decides to seek revenge and violence he says it’s because his choice “was taken away from me”. Do you think this is true? Are we ever really left without a choice? We have been given free will to decide how to use or squander the talents we have been given.
- Was it right of Wolverine to use his powers for revenge? It ended up costing him his girlfriend and his memory. Was it worth it?
- Would you like to have Wolverines powers? Nothing could really hurt you and you would live forever. The X-Men movies have always highlighted the struggles that go along with being a mutant with special powers. Would it be worth it?
- Why is the idea of superheroes so appealing to us? They’ve been around forever! With X-Men, it’s cool to think that there are humans who get to have special powers that make them unique. God gives us each special gifts; although they might not include our skin turning to diamonds or being able to move stuff with our minds, they are still pretty incredible. It’s up to use to learn how to use them and help them grow. What are you doing to hone your special skills?
