X-men Origins: Wolverine review

Have the reshoots and edits made Wolverine a better film? We find out...

When a film is in trouble, there are telltale warning signs before it's even been released. There are last minute reshoots of key scenes, re-recording of dialogue, and editing of established sequences. You'll often see no or late viewings to critics, too, and in Wolverine's case, one can even argue that the early leak of a working cut was a brilliant piece of guerrilla marketing and research.

So, the question is... where does that leave the film on release?

Let's be honest up front - it's not nearly as good as X-Men 2. And, before you panic, it's not nearly as bad as X-Men 3 - thank the Gods! But that leaves it sitting in difficult territory alongside the first film in the series, a good enough exploration of characters that we know and love, but lacking in the heart and soul that made the second film such a great piece of storytelling.

However, you can also see the film that it could have been, and I get the feeling that the re-shoots and last minute work have actually saved the film, rather than presaged a clawed and savage disaster.

We still think the movie's great!

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