From the pestilence of being globally torrented (being downloaded an insane number of times through the bit torrent network), X-Men Origins Wolverine, which opened recently is a textbook exemplar of Wolverine's (and Hugh Jackman's) insanely accelerating popularity; even though the film primarily featuring the origins of Wolverine is little more than another X-Men film in a lightly cloaked façade.

For those not in the loop, Wolverine is a part of the X-Men comic book from Marvel (almost singlehandedly responsible for almost all of the current superhero films out in the market), and it features the natural ascension of the homo sapiens into ones whose powers are far beyond those of mortal men. This genetically endowed bunch can shoot deadly optic blasts, teleport, turn into ice or steel, manifest telepathic control and grow deadly claws out of their knuckles. Obviously, they have to be a secret so as not to frighten the normal folk who, in their state of panic, will incontrovertibly create a new variety of racial bias and come out with pitch forks and flaming torches. Henceforth dubbed 'mutants', the deviously evil of the bunch plan to ascend as the superior race while the good guys — often banded together despite their differences — turn up for a faceoff.

Wolverine, as soon as it opens with a link to James Logan's (Jackman) genesis, exhibits a tactile emergency to establish this film as a potential popcorn spewing franchise which, for almost all of its initial 50 minutes, does nothing but burdens and hampers the experience. So much was the weight of this initial uninvolving yarn, which begins the concept of estranged brotherhood, rivalry and feral rage that the remaining film struggles to tear away from its shadow, and doesn't particularly succeed in it.

While not really acting for an Oscar, Jackman as Wolverine does what he does best in the film. He growls, gruffs, punches in a couple of subdued jabs, extends his retractable skeletal claws (the metal ones made of high-tech adamantium are introduced later) and engages in almost worthless fisticuffs with other mutants. Jackman, as visible as he was in the first three X-Men films, is snug in his character and it is his electrifying on-screen charisma which carries off Wolverine.

Same is the case with Liev Schreiber aka Victor Creed who comicdom knows better as Sabretooth — the furry and feral eight-foot-tall mutant who engages Wolverine in the Statue of Liberty at the climax of the first X-Men film (the transition from an almost human character, played by Schreiber into that of the animal played by Tyler Mane of the first film is left for future installments). Liev Schreiber's Creed — never dubbed as Sabretooth here — is a delectable evil whose anti-sociopathic tendencies are never dabbled into. There are other ties as well, which when we jump away from the fettering first act, blends in nicely with the remaining X-Men films (X-Men Origins Wolverine takes place some 10 odd years in the past).

The screenplay by Skip Woods and David Benioff picks up the pace when other familiar mutants start surfacing. There has been a premeditated decision to bring in these characters (Taylor Kitsch as Gambit, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool) without bumps in the narrative, which makes their introduction picture perfect and sensible. The state of affairs Wolverine gets into is about okay to propel the story. The lost-love angle (which turns dastardly cliché by the final act) works as a launch-pad if nothing else to incite Wolverine on a rampage, while the brotherhood and rivalry aspect needed a bit more juice. Apart from the scraps and overture of famous mutants there is little of interest in the film (although there is a great bit that reflects the Ma and Pa Kent story of Superman).

Director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) is invisible in the rubble, and he should be. Hood is not meant to handle superhero material, and this shows up in his framing and blocking. I would have liked it better had the gruffness and pathos of Wolverine's journey been handled — both aesthetically and technically — by the frame and feeling of the Bourne films (Paul Greengrass directing the next installment might be a great idea). Heck, even Brett Ratner (director of X-Men 3) would've been first-rate here.

Released by 20th Century Fox, X-Men Origins Wolverine is rated PG-13 for very little (if any) spilled blood, high-octane explosions and a few decapitated characters. The film stars Hugh Jackman as James Logan/Wolverine, Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed, Danny Huston as William Stryker (a younger version of Brian Cox from the second X-Men film). Will.i.am is John Wraith, Lynn Collins is Kayla Silverfox (the love interest), Daniel Henney is the crack-shot Agent Zero, Kevin Durand is Fred Dukes (the Blog). Dominic Monaghan is briefly seen as Bradley (Bolt). Taylor Kitsch has a good enough part as Remy LeBeau aka Gambit and Ryan Reynolds is Wade Wilson (Deadpool).

Reynolds already has a Deadpool film in development (for the sake of Trivia, he also played Hannibal in the last Blade film, another superhero-based film starring Wesley Snipes as the day-walking vampire). Gambit might be good in a solo Origins film. The Wolverine sequel will be out in a couple of years — and hopefully the film-makers will learn from their mistakes as they did in the first X-Men film.