Fails the Bechdel test
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
2009. Directed by Gavin Hood, written by David Benioff and Skip Woods.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
Two mutant brothers, Logan and Victor, born 200 years ago, suffer childhood trauma and have only each other to depend upon. Basically, they're fighters and killers, living from war to war throughout U.S. history. In modern times, U.S. Colonel Stryker recruits them and other mutants as commandos. Logan quits and becomes a logger, falling in love with a local teacher. When Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker's crew, the Colonel sends the murderous Victor. Logan now wants revenge.
- Released
- 01 May 2009
- Genres
- Action, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 21 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Logan 163 lines, man
- Stryker 103 lines, man
- Kayla 74 lines, woman
- Hines 39 lines
- Victor Creed 26 lines, man
- Cornelius 24 lines, man
- Wraith 20 lines, man
- Agent Zero 15 lines, man
- James Hudson 13 lines, man
- General Munson 11 lines
Full cast, 63 people
- Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
- Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed
- Danny Huston as Stryker
- Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox
- Kevin Durand as Fred Dukes
- Dominic Monaghan as Bradley
- Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau
- Daniel Henney as Agent Zero
- Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson
- will.i.am as John Wraith
- Tim Pocock as Scott Summers
- Julia Blake as Heather Hudson
- Max Cullen as Travis Hudson
- Troye Sivan as James
- Michael-James Olsen as Young Victor
- Peter O'Brien as John Howlett
- Aaron Jeffery as Thomas Logan
- Alice Parkinson as Elizabeth Howlett
- Philip A. Patterson as Firing Squad Leader
- Anthony Gee as Carnival Guy
- Adelaide Clemens as Carnival Girl
- Karl Beattie as School Child
- Tom O'Sullivan as Logging Supervisor
- Myles Pollard as Phelan
- Stephen Anderton as Marcuse
- Chris Sadrinna as Van Mier
- Septimus Caton as Bartender
- Matthew Dale as Surgeon
- Nathin Art Butler as Male Nurse #1
- Peter Barry as Male Nurse #2
- David Ritchie as Dr. Cornelius
- Asher Keddie as Dr. Carol Frost
- Socratis Otto as Lead Technician - Alkali Lake
- Stephen Leeder as General Munson
- James D. Dever as Platoon Leader
- Martin Obuga as Muttering Man
- Rita Affua Connell as Nervous African Woman
- John Shrimpton as Stryker Aide
- Henry Browne as Curtis
- Tahyna Tozzi MacManus as Kayla's Sister / Emma
- Daniel Negreanu as Poker Player
- Alexandra Davies as Woman of the Night
- Don Battee as Huge Doorman
- Evan Sturrock as Drunken Man in Alley
- Rob Flanagan as Driver
- Hakeem Kae-Kazim as African Businessman
- Alison Araya as Teacher
- Eric Breker as Special Forces Commander
- Eileen Bui as Vietnamese Child
- Adrian G. Griffiths as Hunter #1
- Byron Chief-Moon as Hunter #2
- Mike Dopud as Vietnam Army Officer
- Beatrice King as Waitress
- Kanako Takegishi as Waitress
- Panou as Tank Soldier
- Johnson Phan as Vietnamese Man
- Elizabeth Thai as Vietnamese Woman
- Jade Tang as Mutant Twin #1
- Joelle Tang as Mutant Twin #2
- Scott Adkins as Weapon XI
- Warwick Young as Helicopter Pilot
- Dennis Kreusler as Soldier (uncredited)
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 133
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 6 | 18 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 to 12 | 6 | 44 |
| 13 to 15 | 9 | 8 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 9 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 26 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 7 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 6 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 7 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 5 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 2 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 5 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 21 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 1 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 9 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 13 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 24 |
| 94 to 96 | 2 | 23 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 9 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 12 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 28 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 9 |
| 112 to 114 | 3 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 15 | 27 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 4 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 2 |
| 124 to 126 | 7 | 6 |
| 127 to 129 | 10 | 16 |
| 130 to 132 | 15 | 15 |
| 133 to 133 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 16 are women's.
84 lines from women, 426 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 42 men in the cast. 3 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 17 of 610.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 130 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 20% of the words (1,963), men 80% (7,858). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
33
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Gavin Hood (man)
- Written by
- David Benioff (man), Skip Woods (man)
- Produced by
- Lauren Shuler Donner (woman), Hugh Jackman (man), Bryan Singer (man), John Palermo (gender not listed), Ralph Winter (man)
- Shot by
- Donald McAlpine (man)
- Edited by
- Nicolas De Toth (man), Megan Gill (woman)
- Music by
- Harry Gregson-Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Barry Robison (man)
- Cast by
- Debra Zane (woman), Christine King (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 44 men, 21 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 16 men, 30 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Lynn Collins 31
Men
Taylor Kitsch 28, Daniel Henney 29, Dominic Monaghan 32, Ryan Reynolds 32, will.i.am 34, Kevin Durand 35, Hugh Jackman 40, Liev Schreiber 41, Danny Huston 46
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $150 million
- Box office
- $373 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 610 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
