It’s fair to say poor old Hugh Jackman didn’t have the best of times during his last outing as the title character, but he tried to bring some credibility to what was otherwise a cringe-worthy film in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Four years on and he’s back to give it another shot, and because he’s such likable guy I’m more than happy to go and see him once again as the iconic figure, and luckily there’s not an origins story in sight.
The Wolverine picks up the pieces following the fallout of X-Men 3. Wolverine is heart broken, and quite literally haunted by his actions of killing fellow mutant and love interest Jean Gray (Famke Janssen, reprising her role). Because of this he’s renounced violence, left the X Men, instead choosing to live in the mountains by himself where nobody can bother him. He can’t help himself however, being a hero and fighting for justice is in his nature and it’s not long before he gets drawn back into that world. He’s greeted by a mysterious and gifted fighter, Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who requests he travel to Japan to meet her boss, Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi) – a man Logan saved during the 1945 Nagasaki Atom bomb dropping. This begins one of the famous stories from the comic, as the Wolverine travels to Japan for the first time, meeting one of his love interests Mariko (Tao Okamoto) and facing one of his most dangerous foes, The Silver Samurai – albeit quite a different take on the comic book version.
While other critics have made calls of ‘boring’ and ‘dull’, I’d prefer to go with ambitious. Ambitious because we live in an age of cinema that seems obsessed with the end of the world. Come on, seriously, how many times can the world nearly end? And it’s not exactly surprising to us when the hero saves the day. The Wolverine, however, has taken a stab at something else which should be commended rather than panned. This change in direction may be in part down to the new behind the scenes team of director James Mangold, and writers Mark Bomback and Scott Frank who manage to bring a new found intimacy to a franchise often lacking.
This is the most vulnerable Logan has ever been, first emotionally and mentally, then physically, and it’s probably the most vulnerable we’re likely to see him. It makes for a refreshing change and adds a new level of excitement into a title which had been dying slowly following the origins movie. Don’t be fooled by the trailer as it’s a much quieter and more personal story than you would expect for a superhero film. While this won’t be for some, because they’ll expect all out action, I’m quite a fan of the quieter story with lots of personal development for a character – which there is plenty of in The Wolverine. The film even looks better than last time – the fight scenes were more fluid, the claws didn’t look comical and even the over the top action spot on a high-speed train rooftop looks a lot better than how the trailer suggested.
The Wolverine leaves X Men Origins eating its dust and Hugh Jackman of course owned the screen with his ever commanding presence, which was vital for those fans who aren’t comic book savvy, and weren’t aware of the story, because recognizable faces are few and far between. I was rather disappointed by his showdown with The Silver Samurai – who apart from being changed significantly for the big screen also barely provided a decent fight between the two, but the other action scenes in the film more than made up for this, and don’t forget to stick around for the post credits scene, it’ll give fans goosebumps!
The Wolverine title has now had a new leash of life injected into it and I can imagine they’ll be at least one more solo film left in Jackman before he decides to hang his claws up (terrible, but I had too). With some great action sequences and a personal tale (one we can all relate to, because come one, who hasn’t killed their girlfriend and gone to live in the mountains before heading to Japan? I know that’s what I do every time), The Wolverine has done more than enough to be considered a successful film.
Rating: A nice personal story, with barely a ‘bub’ in sight! (6/10)
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