The Wolverine

While I did not hate X-men Origins: Wolverine like so many of the movie critics did and while I liked it, each time I watch it there are really so many missed opportunities and some misuse of some great mutant characters. The Wolverine ends up borrowing from the Claremont/Miller Japanese storyline for Wolverine from the comic books. The Wolverine ends up actually having depth and substance to it, and there are not fight scenes happening every couple of minutes. Instead it ends up giving us a deep character study of Wolverine. It is clear that The Wolverine has tried to correct the problems that were complained about in the previous solo Wolverine film. Despite taking place after the events of X-men: The Last Stand, it attempts to distance itself from the rest of the X-men characters and story, instead solely focusing on Wolverine and as a result this film feels very different to all the other X-men films.

Hugh Jackman portrays Logan/Wolverine for the sixth time and he has embodied this role in such a way that I now put Jackman as The Wolverine and so if a day comes when someone else plays this role they will have a huge role to fill and high expectations. Jackman is able to take the character to new levels and gives even more depth as he added further layers to his character as he tries to deal with his demons and shows those to the audience perfectly. To counter Wolverine we have Yashida who is played by Hal Yamanouchi and he does a good job. As the main villain in the film he does not come off as menacing, but instead he is devious as he appeal to want to repay Wolverine for saving his life in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb fell by giving Wolverine the gift of mortality. Yet his villain became quite menacing once in his Silver Samurai suit and is virtually an equal to Wolverine and truly pushes him to the limits during their battle. Svetlana Khodchenkova as our other villain on Viper has her up and down moments. Khodchenkova while beautiful for the role kind of lacks a motivating purpose that the audience needs from villains. Tao Okamoto plays Mariko who is the love interest for Wolverine ends up being capable to handle herself in many situations so she is not just a pretty face who is constantly needed for saving. The rest of the supporting cast give good performances and really help to make this movie a strong solo Wolverine movie.

The story for The Wolverine was leaps and bounds better then what came from the first solo Wolverine film. I really enjoyed the concept of the change of location of Japan somehow this seemed to fit for Wolverine because of his natural wanderer tendency, along with the fact that his claws are so reminiscent to those of the Samurai sword. I loved that we received more back story that shows The Wolverine having an actual connection to Japan from being a prisoner during World War II and when the atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, Wolverine ends up saving the life of the guard who had unlocked his cell pit  before the bomb dropped so that like the other prisoners could try to get to safety. For me the story was able to work for me because I was never quite sure what the climax was going to be as they kept me guessing who was truly who within the story. The pacing for The wolverine worked very well, while it was a face paced action movie it was not afraid to slow down from time to time to delve in and give depth to the characters. The direction with the pacing was able to work as the movie slowed and picked up precisely when it needed to.

The action for The Wolverine was a strong aspect of this film. While like usual I truly enjoyed the action with The Wolverine I felt that everything was taken to the next level with this installment. Personally, the action sequence for the atomic bomb explosion in Nagasaki was really cool to see and just worked in my opinion to truly help set up the story. Along with that action sequence the black ninjas moving along the rooftops and the fight sequence between them and Wolverine was really cool simply because the stealth of ninjas is simply awesome to watch and in all honesty I am still a kid at heart and what kid did not grow up thinking ninjas were totally awesome? While the fight sequences was a little underwhelming in my opinion, Wolverine in fights is still pretty cool to watch.

The Wolverine was a movie that I really enjoyed. While it did have its flaws and some things that I am still not sure why a character or scene took place they were few and far between. Hugh Jackman has once again completely enveloped himself as Wolverine and only increased the depth in the end of the character. They paired Jackman with a strong cast that he was able to work well with and that chemistry seemed to resonate on the screen. The Wolverine was able to distance itself from other X-men films without truly alienating them which I enjoyed. Another awesome aspect was the after credit scene which I will simply say has got me truly excited for the next X-men installment in 2014. I am giving The Wolverine three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a movie definitely worth seeing even if you are not much of a comic book fan and is a definite must see for the comic book fan. The Wolverine is one movie that will definitely end up in the movie collection.

-The Movie Man