The Wolverine (***)

Directed by: James Mangold

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hal Yamanouchi, Hiroyuki Sanada, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Famke Janssen

Seen: July 28^th 2013

*** Out of ****

Where the first standalone Wolverine movie was actually rather terrible, this second one is rather good. James Mangold corrects almost everything that was wrong with the first one in taking Wolverine to Japan, and adding some decent early Wolverine history to the story. Visually the movie is impressive and it handily beats the first Wolverine movie with a very stylized approach in both the action and the more talky or dramatic scenes. The movie does a great thing to address the one weakness that Wolverine movies will almost always have – it makes Wolverine vulnerable, susceptible to death, and in that lies the real tension and engagement of this movie.

In 1945 (flashback), during World War II, Logan, the Wolverine (Jackman), is held in a Japanese prisoner camp near Nagasaki, and when the infamous atomic bomb is dropped, he rescues Japanese officer Yashida (Yamanouchi) by shielding him from the blast. Nowadays Logan lives in Yukon where he keeps to himself and mostly just wishes he was not immortal so that he can end himself to end the tormenting visions/dreams of Jean Grey (Janssen). He is tracked down by another mutant, Yukio (Fukushima), who was tasked by Yashida to find Logan and bring him to Japan for a last goodbye before Yashida dies of cancer.

Logan sets off to Tokyo where he meets with Yashida and his family. Yashida wants Logan’s immortality, which he can apparently transfer, but Logan refuses. Shingen (Sanada) is Yashida’s untrusting son, while Mariko (Okamoto) starts to slowly capture Logan’s heart. Logan’s heart is however also captured by something else that evening, introduced by Yashida’s doctor, another mutant, Viper (Khodchenkova), seemingly in a dream for Logan. Yashida dies the next day, and at his funeral the Yakuza attempts to kidnap Mariko, but Logan whisks her away amid chases and more injury than he was supposed to feel being what he is, and they head for Yashida’s Nagasaki home, all the while falling for each other. This is however just the start of all the intrigue and Yukio comes to warn Logan of his impending death. Logan has to race against time in efforts to find Mariko when she is kidnapped, and he also has to face the source of everything that goes wrong, which leads him to a big confrontation that is part spectacular and part disappointing.

The Wolverine is a strong entry into Marvel’s X-Men pantheon, and is a worthy detour en route to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Where the movie really threatens to lose the plot is in the final fight. The Silver Samurai might be imposing, but the fight is lacklustre at best. The further revelation regarding the Silver Samurai is not even that big of a surprise, but it does move the story ahead towards an even bigger threat for The Wolverine. Everything up to and including the lead-in to the final fight is really good with great levels of suspension and good pacing of plot, and the final fight is not a complete derailment, but rather a small speed-bump. The Wolverine, unlike X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is a good add-on to the Marvel X-Men movies, and if you’re a Wolverine fan you’re sure to be entertained. Be sure to stay until the end of the credits, as there is a bit of a set-up/teaser for X-Men: Days of Future Past.