X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (12A).

Action/Sci-Fi/Romance. Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Ryan Reynolds, will.i.am, Kevin Durand, Daniel Henney, Dominic Monaghan.

Hugh Jackman sharpens his retractable, adamantium claws in this spin off from the X-Men films, expanding the back-story of one of the franchise’s most popular characters.

Screenwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods have the unenviable task of entertaining ardent fans of the comic books while forging links with the three blockbuster films.

In the end, they please no one entirely, punctuating a poorly paced narrative with explosive action set pieces overloaded with digital special effects.

The variable quality of the computer trickery and some overly enthusiastic editing reduce the impact of these pivotal sequences.

There are also a few glaring continuity errors. When Wolverine interrogates an adversary his adamantium claws, used to keep the subject in place, vanish from certain angles.

Or the underwater transformation, which begins with the lead character wearing a pair of dark shorts that somehow evaporate by the time he emerges from the pool.

Cue the gratuitous shots of Jackman’s pert posterior.

Mutant best friends Logan (Jackman) and Victor (Schreiber) fight side by side in the American Civil War, then two World Wars and in Vietnam, until shady military man William Stryker (Huston) approaches them with a tantalising offer.

“I’m putting together a special team with special privileges,” he confides, introducing James and Victor to Team X: a merry band of mutants including sharp-shooter David North (Henney), super-strong Fred Dukes (Durand), master swordsman Wade Wilson (Reynolds), teleporter extraordinaire John Wraith (will.i.am) and the electrifying Bradley (Monaghan), who can make technology do his bidding.

Disillusioned by the senseless killing, Logan leaves the fold to pursue a ‘normal’ life in Canadian Rockies with girlfriend Kayla (Collins).

However, the men in charge of Team X refuse to let their prize asset walk away, pitting the clawed warrior against his one-time brothers in arms.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a haphazard introduction to an iconic character, which doesn’t tell us a great deal about a man constantly at odds with his animal instincts.

Logan certainly isn’t the brightest cub in the litter.

It takes an inordinate amount of time for the brawler to twig that he is a pawn in a bigger game, and then more time still to punish those who betrayed him because the screenplay forces him to drag his claws through a ridiculous, cartoonish boxing match with The Blob.

Jackman snarls and sheds the odd tear during the simplistic romantic subplot but genuine emotion is waylaid by the action.

A familiar face (digitally rejuvenated) from the series makes a surprise appearance in the closing minutes.

The end credits include two forgettable scenes: an additional glimpse of Stryker and a final lingering moment with Logan, providing the clear link with the beginning of the first X-Men film.