Logan (Jackman), a seemingly immortal man, has been a soldier through the last 200-odd years worth of world history - but after one final mission for Colonel William Stryker (Huston), Logan is looking for a peaceful life. But his old squadron starts dying, and it seems that Logan may need Stryker's help to go up against an antagonist as old as himself, Victor Creed (Schreiber)...

Having been the centre of a lot of the action of the three previous X-films, Wolverine has more than shown he's an intriguing protagonist. And finally, here's the full story of how he got his adamantium skeleton, where he came from, and how his first mutant adventures played out. With a fairly chunky cast of supporting mutants for the fanboys to drool over, and with enough shirtless shots of Jackman for anybody else to drool over, this is a big whopping superhero revenge-flick... sorta an imitation First Blood with superpowers, as our hairy hero's attempt to live a normal life is disrupted in the worst way possible.

In the not too distant future, biological mutation leads to a whole new population with strange new powers... from walking through walls to reading minds. A US senator begins campaigning to restrict these Mutants ((ndash)) and the mutants seem fragmented between those organised under Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart) to defend humanity, and those under Erik Lensherr (McKellen) who are prepared to fight the war by any means necessary...

Combining the best of what was then some 30-odd years of comic-book continuity (it's now more like 40), Singer comes up with a great introduction to the X-universe, mostly through the eyes of the grizzled amnesiac Logan (Jackman) and the terrified teenager Marie (Paquin, with the first attempt at her "True Blood" southern accent). The grander themes of civil rights and diversity from the comic are captured, along with the essence of what makes the characters interesting ((ndash)) both the nature of their powers and the individual personality quirks of the people who have them. Well-paced for both newcomers and Marvel Zombies, this is big-screen superhero action done right, and well worth the watch.