Despite its many flaws, the latest X-Men movie is highly
entertaining.   I am not now, nor have I ever been, a fanboy. So
why did I get such a kick out of X-Men Origins: Wolverine?
Because the title character is an interesting guy, with a
complicated history and complicated feelings. Because the plot
has some good twists, not all of which are straightened out
before the final credits roll. Because the story totes us around
to an abundance of intriguing locations, from a Nigerian
diamond-processing floor, to a Las Vegas boxing ring, to an
alley in the French Quarter, to a nuclear reactor. (My favorite
was the trailer house of a melancholy carnival worker, stuffed
with vintage toys and wind-up gadgets and a hundred bare bulbs
dangling from the ceiling.) It’s got people, places, and stuff
worth looking at, and that gives any movie a good head start.
Of course, many of those people, places, and things are put
there just so they can get blown up. This is a big-boom movie,
designed to appeal to the segment of the