You don't have to be a clairvoyant to know that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will top the box office this weekend as easily as the character dominates his foes with his adamantium claws in the comic book.

On the level of pure spectacle, "Wolverine" is an adrenaline rush of comic book violence, sweeping cinematography and star Hugh Jackman's physical charisma. It isn't a very good movie, but that won't be an issue for audiences looking for the kind of escapist fare that defines a blockbuster these days.

Jackman reprises the role of the lone wolf mutant hero that catapulted him to stardom in the "X-Men" trilogy earlier this decade. This time we are introduced to the character more than a century before he joins the X-Men. Beginning in 1845 in the Canadian Northwest Territories where a sickly boy discovers his terrible abilities after an unspeakable act of family violence, we quickly shuttle through scenes from Logan/Wolverine's blood-soaked past.

We see Logan and his boyhood companion Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) wearing the uniform of the Union Army during the Civil War. That scene gives way to trench warfare during World War I. We're not surprised to see the duo storming the beaches of Normandy during D-Day or their participation in the morally ambiguous Vietnam War all before the opening credits have elapsed.

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'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'

1 1/2 stars = Bad
Ratings explained

• Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber
• Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity
• Web site: x-menorigins.com

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Logan and Creed are two old souls in eternally young bodies driven by an unquenchable lust to fight. Because of their abilities, Logan and the man who will eventually be known as Sabertooth are recruited by a covert military unit dubbed Team X by its founder William Stryker (Danny Houston).

Along with John Wraith (Will.i.am), Fred Dukes who would become the Blob, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), Bradley (Dominic Monaghan) and Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), Logan and Creed travel the world doing Stryker's sinister bidding.

Eventually, Logan parts company with Team X during a mission in Nigeria. He retreats to the Canadian wilderness where he shacks up with Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins), a beautiful teacher.

Just as Logan is settling into a routine of domestic bliss, Stryker and Creed return with a vengeance. The encounter transforms Logan's life in ways that are heartbreaking and physically agonizing. Everything that has happened to him over two centuries is a mere prelude to Stryker's billion dollar "Weapon X" program.

Screenwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods attempt to crib the best parts of Wolverine's sprawling mythology spread over nearly four decades of comic book narrative. The result is an unwieldy mess far too dependent on explosions and mindless violence to move the plot along.

When an elderly couple who has shown Logan kindness is murdered by remnants of Team X, you realize how unnecessarily high the death toll already is in the film. There are also far too many departures from comic book orthodoxies to list, which wouldn't be a big deal if they didn't feel so arbitrary.

Like the third installment of the Spider-Man series, "Wolverine" suffers from an overabundance of characters and a poverty of ideas. As fun as it is to see Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) on the big screen, it is mostly wasted here. His battle with Wolverine in an alley in New Orleans is a marvel of visual clutter at the expense of story.

The problem with most movies based on comic book franchises is that they are rarely as good as the source material. The best comic series have a narrative depth and internal logic developed over years -- if not decades -- by teams of editors, writers and artists. But a funny thing happens when comics are translated to the big screen. Out goes narrative integrity and focus. In comes explosions, mayhem and super heroics. Hollywood isn't interested in reproducing the elements that make a comic series special. It profits from the formulaic and predictable. It aims for scoring big on the opening weekend, not aesthetic posterity.

There are big exceptions, of course. The first two installments of "Spider-Man" and "The X-Men" and last year's "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" come to mind. We appreciate successful comic book based movies even more because we know how rare they are.

"Wolverine" is as visually enticing as films get, but it still feels soulless. Just like in the funny books, pyrotechnics is no substitute for a well-told yarn.