‘Wolverine’ combines intriguing plot, fun action

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine," released May 1, is a decent start to the summer movie season. A prequel to the other "X-Men" movies, it provides audiences with a nearly perfect explosion-to-emotion ratio.

In the original "X-Men" movie, James Logan (played, as in "Wolverine," by Hugh Jackman) had total amnesia and knew only that his dog tag identified him as Wolverine. In the most recent addition to the "X-Men" film saga, viewers learn the somewhat surprising story of Logan's life before his memory loss.

"Wolverine" begins in the 1850s, when young Logan discovers his mutant powers after the man he thought was his father is murdered by his actual father. Enraged, little Logan sprouts three claws between his fingers and plunges them into his biological father. Then, together with his half brother, Victor Creed (who later becomes Sabretooth, Wolverine's archenemy), Logan runs away.

Since both Creed (played by Liev Schreiber) and Logan are immortal mutants, the brothers spend the next 140 years or so together. They fight in every war they can find until, during what appears to be the Vietnam War, they are recruited into a special mutant unit under the command of the twisted William Stryker (Danny Houston). While Creed thrives in the everyday violence, Logan despises it and leaves rather than take more lives.

Logan is allowed six years of peace and quiet before Stryker and Creed find deadly routes back into his life, leaving Wolverine desperate to avenge his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). What follows is a series of rash decisions by Wolverine while being manipulated by both his former boss and his big brother.

The plot of "Wolverine" does not slide perfectly into place with its sequels, the earlier "X-Men" movies. A major example of this is that many future students of the Xavier Institute saw Wolverine when he released them from a government testing site run by Stryker. However, in "X-Men," no one mentioned to the amnesiac Logan that he or she had seen him before.

"Wolverine's" special effects also leave something to be desired. Logan's adamantium claws are just too shiny, and Frederick Dukes (played by Kevin Durand) is just too disgustingly fat in his disgustingly fat scene. However, the movie's explosions are wonderfully fiery, and the laser beams Scott Summers (Tim Pocock) shoots out of his eyes? Super cool.

However, the fact that Summers (the younger version of the character known as Cyclops in the other films) has his own small plot line in "Wolverine" makes the movie more confusing. It would make more sense for director Gavin Hood to either leave out Cyclops' story entirely or add plot lines for one or two other future "X-Men" as well.

Overall, "Wolverine" manages to combine an intriguing, though slightly faulty, plot with fun action scenes to create a satisfying movie experience.