"I'm the best there is at what I do," the cranky guy with the epic sideburns likes to growl, "but what I do isn't very nice." It's also no longer very impressive.

In 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', the hypnotic character who scowled, growled and slashed his way to the front of the superhero orgy that was 'X1' and 'X2' is barely there. Yes, Hugh Jackman has donned the signature leather jacket once more, but those metal claws now seem blunt and rusted, the fat cigars continually threaten to sputter out, and those mutton chops no longer have anything on Tom Jones circa 1970.

In a film intended to reveal more about the enigmatic loner with anger-management issues, he's reduced to cardboard cut-out driven simply by a clichéd Hollywood need to avenge some personal tragedy. This is no 'Batman Begins' or even 'Superman Returns'.

Odd, considering director Gavin Hood's character-driven storytelling in 'Tsotsi' landed him this big gig and that he's forever intellectualising Wolverine: "The theme of being at war with one's own nature, fuels and energises the film so it becomes more than just action for its own sake."

If only that were true — given little space to properly explore our hero's motivations, he's left to wrangle a lumpy script, too many characters, and complex action sequences. Not even summer blockbuster director Brett Ratner was up to that in the ropey 'X3: The Last Stand', so relative Hollywood newcomer Hood stands little chance.

He's not helped by what seems like a surprisingly limited budget, apparently not even large enough to fund sufficient hair product for the title character. A bigger consequence is that some of the substandard special effects look incomplete, while others like they were done on a Commodore 64. And, with less money to throw about, there's not much in the way of star power to provide a shiny distraction from the flaws.

Ryan Reynolds barely gets a word in as the motormouth martial artist Deadpool, and Dominic Monahan's quietly intriguing Bolt soon goes the way of his part in 'Lost'. Which leaves a steady stream of sloppy sidekicks to step up for their five-minute support slots.

In fact, it's only Liev Schreiber, as Wolverine's feral half-brother Sabretooth, who gives this 'X-Men' outing any, uhm, bite with a ragged, wild-eyed performance. He overshadows even Jackman who is given little to do apart from glare and avoid computer generated mass destruction. With the cheeky cynicism stripped from his character — don't expect a repeat of him calling a paraplegic Professor Xavier "wheels" — he just comes across as a moody guy who doesn't care.

After triumphs like 'The Dark Knight', 'Iron Man' and even 'Watchmen', it's not hard to feel the same way about 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'.