If George Lucas can do prequels for his “Star Wars” franchise, then why not do the same for the Marvel Comics series of “X-Men” films?

As far as I am concerned, there should be little argument that “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” comes out on top as a far better prequel. In fact, it could be better than some of the original “X-Men” trilogy, or perhaps I just have a faulty memory, which also explains my inability to recall another movie I saw recently.

OK, I digress, but “Wolverine,” the preferred shortened title, does a bang-up job of delivering the action goods.

For the first time, we learn that Hugh Jackman’s Logan (nicknamed Wolverine) is roughly about 175 years old. The film opens with him as a sickly child before the Civil War, and after a terrible family mishap, he’s on the run with his brother Victor Creed.

In a montage of war footage that would do well in a John Wayne movie, we see both Wolverine and Victor (Liev Schreiber) as soldiers fighting for the Union during the Civil War. Then we see them fighting in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.

We don’t see them with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish - American War, or even in Grenada or Desert Storm, and we don’t know why they missed this action. But it goes without saying that Jackman looks terrific, with rippling muscles and all, as a guy closing in on being a double centenarian.

In the relatively contemporary times, Logan and Victor team up with a band of mercenaries under the command of Colonel Stryker (Danny Huston). They are sold on the idea that they are actually part of an elite special team known as Team X, comprised of mutants possessing powers that make them relentless.

Ostensibly, they are going to pursue and destroy mutants that pose a threat to the world. But as everyone knows, Stryker has his own diabolical plans to create a super-mutant, one who harnesses all the special powers into one unstoppable force. On a disastrous mission in Nigeria, Logan decides to walk away from the group in disgust.

Years later, Logan is living in the Canadian forest, working as a lumberjack and sharing a woodsy home with his teacher girlfriend Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). The beautiful romance turns tragic when Victor tracks down his brother and decides to kill Kayla only so that Logan, who acquired the nickname Wolverine from his girlfriend, will rejoin the mercenary force.

[ Source LakeConews ]