X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: May 1, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
19
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
So does the film succeed, overall? On some levels. But if all you want is a guilt-free, sci-fi summer pleasure, save your money and wait another week. The crew of the Enterprise is on its way. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It's a solid, efficient comic book movie that is content to provide comic book satisfactions of the action and violence variety. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
A mix of solid action and an underused cast, with star Hugh Jackman left shouldering the burden of bad lines and forced emotion, it leaves you longing for more editing and a tighter story. Read full review
60
Total FilmJonathan Dean
Origins is an accomplished slice of comic-book entertainment, full of fights and action set-pieces impressive for a director touching big budget for the first time. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The effect-laden showdowns feel more dutiful than daring, and the rare moments of fun are parceled out frugally, like precious nuggets of adamantium. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
The clichéd script doesn't develop the secondary characters or the critical theme of the mutants' alienation. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's all a jumble and, worse, a damned impersonal one. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
A chaotic headbanger, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is saved from pure flat-footed blockbuster franchise adequacy by six things, three of them on Hugh Jackman's left hand, three on his right. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
"Wolverine" feels enslaved to its many masters - Marvel Comics, Hollywood, and the young men who devour their products - never sidestepping the déjà vu it inspires. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Nothing here about human nature. No personalities beyond those hauled in via typecasting. No lessons to learn. No joy to be experienced. Just mayhem, noise and pretty pictures. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
The action scenes and plot points frequently defy logic, the apparent assumption being that it's just comic-book stuff and doesn't really need to make sense. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an O.K., not great, Marvel movie...Wolverine doesn't rise above the level of familiar competence. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
There's little of the seen-it-all, wise-guy acerbity that made his character in the X-Men trilogy stand apart from his fellow mutants. Here, he just glowers. Read full review
49
NPRBob Mondello
The most terrifying thing about the movie, really, is that plural: Originsssss. So many mutants, so much time. Thank God we can leave that for another summer. Read full review
40
The TelegraphSukhdev Sandhu
A compromise, a ghastly hybrid, a film that appears to have pirated and wrecked its own potential. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
X-Men Origins: Wolverine will most likely manage to cash in on the popularity of the earlier episodes, but it is the latest evidence that the superhero movie is suffering from serious imaginative fatigue. Read full review
40
EmpireNick de Semlyen
Can everyone stop making moody origin stories now, please? While not a disaster, this isn’t the claws-out, rampaging adventure we hoped for. No-one cares where Wolverine found his jacket — a spin-off with him kicking ass in Japan would have been way more fun. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonTom Huddleston
With some dire blue-screen effects, dizzying tonal instability and a total absence of suspense or originality, "Wolverine" is something of a disaster. Read full review
40
The GuardianAndrew Pulver
The furrowed-brow seriousness of X-Men is its least attractive quality, but that is the mood that dominates in this film. It's hard to see how anyone other than hardcore fans will find much to entertain them. Read full review
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