The Wolverine Movie Review

 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima
Directed by James Mangold

I should preface this review with this: Wolverine is my favorite character in the X-Men universe.  Overall he’s a good third place, but when it comes to Mutantopia – Logan is my guy.  He embodies what I like most in my superheroes: inner conflict, rage and of course, a distinct anti-hero personality.  Unfortunately, even with three X-Men films and a spin-off, I have yet been able to enjoy what I would consider to be a complete Wolverine movie.

The Wolverine is Hugh Jackman’s return to the character after the much-maligned Origins film, and Jackman and the filmmakers’ intent is well-publicized: Erase the memory of the entertaining but forgettable Origins film, and make a Wolverine movie for actual fans of The Wolverine.

This time we start well into the future compared to Origins, after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.  Logan (Jackman) is still haunted by the necessary death of his beloved Jean.  So he now lives his life alone in the mountains, getting by with the bare minimums and refusing any semblance of social activity.  After a hunting party violates mountain man code, Logan emerges from hiding and is quickly discovered by Yukio (Rila Fukushima).

Yukio has been hired by Yashida, a dying businessman whose life was long ago rescued by Logan.  Yashida has requested to meet with Logan one more time, to say goodbye before his time is over.  After the typical resistance, Logan agrees and we are transported to a beautifully imagined vision of Japan.

Once he arrives things go sideways and, through plot points I won’t reveal here, Logan ends up tasked with protecting Yashida’s grand-daughter, Mariko, from the Yakuza as well as an even greater looming threat.  All of this while he somehow begins to lose his healing ability and, for the first time in his life, Wolverine must confront mortality.

The Wolverine aims to give fans exactly what they want but with more substance.  The Origins film was fun and mutant heavy, but nowhere near a true Wolverine film.  People still have petitions online for how horrendous they treated Deadpool.  This Wolverine has Logan’s angst, ninjas, Yashida, ninjas, Silver Samurai, Viper, and even a bullet train chase…with NINJAS!

All of that would still not click if it did not have what was sorely needed in the previous film: A story.  Thankfully, The Wolverine truly succeeds here by giving Logan an actual arc and dimension.  The real point of the film is neither the action nor how many times we can wonder why Wolverine’s claws make that ‘SCHING’ sound when they are just tearing through skin; it is Logan coming to grips with his gift and his curse – Immortality.

When people talk about characters that actors were born to play, the usual suspects always seem to come up: Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan, Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark.  Who often gets overlooked is Hugh Jackman.  Quite simply, he IS Wolverine.  Is it a crystal clear replication from the comics?  Probably not, and that argument is really moot at this point.  He made this character jump off the page and continues to prove he deserves his due.  I am officially adding him to the very slim list of characters I could not imagine another actor tackling.

The rest of the cast take a distant back seat to Jackman, but Fukushima as Yukio was the standout.  Taken in as a child and raised as Mariko’s pet doll, Fukushima has a limited amount of time to convey her emotional conflict and she manages to make every second count.  Mariko and Viper (Okamoto and Svetlana Khodchenkova) do a fine job, Janssen’s return as Jean (even if only in dreams) was bittersweet, and Will Yun Lee as Harada was fun to watch; but all fail to leave the impression Fukushima does.  Yukio is a character Marvel should take a look at expanding for future features.

Director James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma) has taken a risky step with his interpretation here, grounding the film in a more realistic, gritty setting than the glossy feel of a typical Marvel or X-Men film.  It is more akin to The Dark Knight than Origins, both in look AND quality, which is about the biggest compliment you could give any comic-book film.  No, it is not AS good as The Dark Knight; it simply feels closer to that world than most Marvel films.

Unlike The Dark Knight though, this film’s action scenes are nothing short of enthralling. The bullet train scene, where Wolverine battles Yakuza on top of a moving bullet train, is hands down the most Jump-Outta-Your-Seat-Fist-Pumping action scene for me this summer.  In a summer full of some of the best action in recent years, that is how good it is.

Are there faults?  Sure, a couple.  The middle section takes a little too long and the final battle comes pretty close to breaking that realistic tone the film has going for it.  Overall the film took those minor gripes, laughed at me, and then made me smile some more.

For all those still unsure, let me simply my review for you:

This is THE Wolverine movie I have been waiting for.

 

If $10 is the full price of admission, this one is worth $9.

 

In addition: Yes, stay through the credits for a clever Marvel tag.  And if you are curious if the 3D was worth it, the depth is good, but it had that typical ‘forgot it was in 3D 20 minutes in’ feel.  Nothing truly stood out, to me, as worthy of the additional cost.

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider Podcast