Wolverine is the best there is at what
he does; although of course, what he doe isn't very nice. But long
before he was a member of the X-men, a tormented experiment of the
Weapon-X project, or even a savage bar brawler known as Logan, he was
simply a young boy. What incredible forces created this man, the
world's greatest killing machine? For years, Wolverine has searched
desperately for answers from his past, from the wilds of the Canadian
Wilderness to the teeming cities of Japan and beyond. And despite his
perseverance and longing for the truth, he remains an enigma to
himself and those around him. But, in this landmark event, Marvel
reveals all: the birth and childhood of a young boy... the intriguing
secrets of his family history... and the tragedy that changed
everything. Welcome to the greatest story never told...
So reads the back jacket of the DVD,
big words for sure. That is a lot of hype for a motion comic to live
up to. Luckily this motion comic was adapted from the amazing 6 issue
story “Wolverine: Origin”. Which finally revealed Logan's
mysterious past. Before I discuss the actual film, I must admit I
usually hate motion comics with a passion.
A lot of the times they are poorly
voiced and jaggedly animated. The Watchmen motion comic comes to
mind. I adored the graphic novel, loved the film adaptation but what
stuck in my craw was that they had one voice actor voice all the
characters... even the female ones. Don't get me started on the Buffy
Season 8 motion comics... I'm still pretty much having nightmares
from that painfully flat voice acting. Luckily for us there is no
jerky animation or poor voice acting to be had with Wolverine Origin.
It brought back fond memories when I read the original comic 11 or so
years ago.
The first thing that struck me was how
carefully put together this film was. From frame one it felt lavish
and fleshed out. It has a solid fluidity to it, backed up by strong
voice acting and a terrific score. Origin was a compelling story 11
years ago and it's just as riveting today. Origins is only 60 minutes
long, you can either watch it in one sitting. Or instead, Shout
Factory has done some very cool. They skipped your usual chapter
stops and broke it up into six episodes. Each titled after the
corresponding comic issue, my inner geek thanks you for that Shout
Factory!
This is a tragic story, not happy go
lucky at all. Wolverine didn't have a very pretty upbringing. What we
get to witness are the events and actions that created the tragically
torn character we all know and love so much today. Set in 19th
century Canada where Logan, original name James Howlett is a very
sickly child. He spends most of his days indoors, not living much of
a life. That is until an oprhan girl Rose is brought to keep young
James company. They develop a deep friendship but sadly much is amiss
around them. Son of a loving rich plantation owner things are going
pretty good, but trouble is brewing with groundskeeper Thomas Logan.
A real son of a bitch who enjoys drinking heavily and beating the
living shit out of his son Dog Logan with a belt. James mother is...
well a lost cause. Having pretty much lost her mind. Over time the
vicious beatings begin to take a tole on poor Dog Logan who becomes
increasingly violent as a teenager. An act of violence against Rose
and the killing of James dog gets both Logan's kicked off the
plantation. What happens from there is very much a Hatfield's and
Mccoy's type of story. With plenty of betrayal and heartache to be
had.
If you go into this expecting something
action packed your sadly going to be disappointed. Not to say this
sixty minute feature doesn't have some nice action. But this is
mainly a character piece, it's incredibly well written. In fact one
of the finest written Wolverine tales in this reviewers opinion. If
you've read the comics years ago and want a refresher give this a go.
If you've never read Logan's origin story then do yourself a favor...
track this badboy down. It's truly a memorable experience in both in
it's comic or animated form.
Shout Factory brings Wolverine Origin
to DVD in a lovely 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. It looks
superb, the comic has been brought to life with extraordinary
attention to detail. Have a gander at the screen grabs to get a
glance at the terrific presentation.
The Dolby 5.1 is nice as well, it won't
blow your mind or anything. But the dialog is crystal clear, the
soundtrack clean and clear.
Special features are light but worth
having a look at. Mainly the two video segments which each run around
15 minutes. The first segment details the creation of the comics
story and characters. The second segment includes discussions with
the fella's behind the comics beautiful art. I would have loved a few
featurettes concentrating on turning this land mark series into a
motion comic or even a commentary.
Overall this is an excellent motion
comic, one of the best. I'd say even if you've read the six issue run
you should still give this a watch. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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