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Movie review: 'The Wolverine' is a barrage of berserker fun
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The Wolverine gives its hero (Hugh Jackman) plenty of opportunity to hack and slash his way to redemption. Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Hugh Jackman returns to his signature role as Marvel’s most popular antihero in "The Wolverine," a sequel to both 2009’s painfully inept (and awkwardly-titled) "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand."
The first point in the current movie's favor is doing away with its predecessors' kitchen-sink approach to cram in as many characters (that you have no way of caring about) as possible into a limited running time. Also gone is the overly convoluted “storytelling” that gave the two aforementioned films a kind of narrative diarrhea that killed whatever credibility or continuity they might have otherwise had. This time around, viewers are presented with a more focused tale that actually takes its inspirations from some of Logan’s most memorable printed adventures.
The story is set in present-day Japan, where Wolverine, aka Logan, goes to heal his soul following the events of "Last Stand." While the filmmakers have gone out of their way in interviews to downplay the events (and existence) of that film, "The Wolverine" relies on the ending that saw Logan forced to kill Jean Grey (Famke Janssen, appearing here in sporadic dream sequences), the woman he (and Cyclops) loved. Logan’s journey to the Far East is precipitated by a summons from Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", "Push"), the aged head of a Japanese crime family who owes the ageless mutant a life debt for having helped him survive Nagasaki’s World War II decimation.
Near death, Yashida offers Logan a chance to escape his immortal torment and live out his days as an ordinary human, care of a procedure that would strip our hero of his famed healing factor. Naturally, things go awry when Yashida passes away and rival factions rear their heads to usurp his empire. Complicating matters is the presence of Yashida’s granddaughter, Mariko (Japanese model Tao Okamoto), who, while no damsel in distress, must nevertheless rely on Logan's protection when every ninja, gangster and mercenary in Tokyo comes after her head.
The main nemeses are hordes of ninjas, a femme fatale in the form of the skin-shedding, acid spitting Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") and Kenuichio Harada, aka Silver Samurai (Will Yun Lee, "Die Another Day" and "Hawaii Five-O"), a young man with his own claim to the Yashida throne.
Seeing Hugh Jackman with the claws (more convincing than the cartoonish CGI ones he was saddled with in "Origins") and hair again is like welcoming back an old friend – this is the character the man was seemingly born to play. This is the actor’s sixth time in the role, including his memorably crass cameo in 2009’s "X-Men First Class". By now, Jackman knows Wolverine well, and it shows. The pain his character exudes here draws much from our empathy and knowledge of his past exploits, and Jackman and director James Mangold know how to use it, and when they let him cut loose his trademark rage, it is awesome to behold. This isn’t Shakespeare, but damn if it isn’t fun!
The first point in the current movie's favor is doing away with its predecessors' kitchen-sink approach to cram in as many characters (that you have no way of caring about) as possible into a limited running time. Also gone is the overly convoluted “storytelling” that gave the two aforementioned films a kind of narrative diarrhea that killed whatever credibility or continuity they might have otherwise had. This time around, viewers are presented with a more focused tale that actually takes its inspirations from some of Logan’s most memorable printed adventures.
The story is set in present-day Japan, where Wolverine, aka Logan, goes to heal his soul following the events of "Last Stand." While the filmmakers have gone out of their way in interviews to downplay the events (and existence) of that film, "The Wolverine" relies on the ending that saw Logan forced to kill Jean Grey (Famke Janssen, appearing here in sporadic dream sequences), the woman he (and Cyclops) loved. Logan’s journey to the Far East is precipitated by a summons from Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", "Push"), the aged head of a Japanese crime family who owes the ageless mutant a life debt for having helped him survive Nagasaki’s World War II decimation.
Near death, Yashida offers Logan a chance to escape his immortal torment and live out his days as an ordinary human, care of a procedure that would strip our hero of his famed healing factor. Naturally, things go awry when Yashida passes away and rival factions rear their heads to usurp his empire. Complicating matters is the presence of Yashida’s granddaughter, Mariko (Japanese model Tao Okamoto), who, while no damsel in distress, must nevertheless rely on Logan's protection when every ninja, gangster and mercenary in Tokyo comes after her head.
The main nemeses are hordes of ninjas, a femme fatale in the form of the skin-shedding, acid spitting Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") and Kenuichio Harada, aka Silver Samurai (Will Yun Lee, "Die Another Day" and "Hawaii Five-O"), a young man with his own claim to the Yashida throne.
Seeing Hugh Jackman with the claws (more convincing than the cartoonish CGI ones he was saddled with in "Origins") and hair again is like welcoming back an old friend – this is the character the man was seemingly born to play. This is the actor’s sixth time in the role, including his memorably crass cameo in 2009’s "X-Men First Class". By now, Jackman knows Wolverine well, and it shows. The pain his character exudes here draws much from our empathy and knowledge of his past exploits, and Jackman and director James Mangold know how to use it, and when they let him cut loose his trademark rage, it is awesome to behold. This isn’t Shakespeare, but damn if it isn’t fun!
Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) shares a moment with Mariko (Tao Okamoto).
While the crux of the drama here is the notion of immortality as a curse – one can almost hear Freddie Mercury's wail for another cinematic immortal, "Who Wants to Live Forever" – what most people will want to know is how the action holds up. Happily, it is excellent, with ample opportunity for Wolverine to hack, slash and stab his way to redemption. A fight sequence atop the roof of a speeding train is well worth the price of admission. Next to the rock 'em sock 'em robot fisticuffs of "Pacific Rim", this is as good an action set piece as you'll see this summer movie season.
As parent company (and, ironically, studio and box office rival) Marvel gets the next phase of their cinematic universe up and running on the way to 2015's "Avengers 2", it's certainly exciting to see Fox stepping up their game. As license holders to the films of X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Fox has just as much opportunity as Marvel to build a common continuity among their properties in much the same way that Marvel set up their "Avengers" franchise. Unlike the awkward attempt by Sony last year with "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Wolverine" bodes well for Fox's future offerings, as well as the studio's confidence in their viability, best exemplified by the presence of a post-credits teaser hinting at bigger things to come.
Let’s just say, unlike the fan service fluff at the end of "Iron Man 3", this teaser, as with the film that came before it, won't leave followers of Marvel's merry Mutants disappointed. — BM, GMA News
As parent company (and, ironically, studio and box office rival) Marvel gets the next phase of their cinematic universe up and running on the way to 2015's "Avengers 2", it's certainly exciting to see Fox stepping up their game. As license holders to the films of X-Men and the Fantastic Four, Fox has just as much opportunity as Marvel to build a common continuity among their properties in much the same way that Marvel set up their "Avengers" franchise. Unlike the awkward attempt by Sony last year with "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Wolverine" bodes well for Fox's future offerings, as well as the studio's confidence in their viability, best exemplified by the presence of a post-credits teaser hinting at bigger things to come.
Let’s just say, unlike the fan service fluff at the end of "Iron Man 3", this teaser, as with the film that came before it, won't leave followers of Marvel's merry Mutants disappointed. — BM, GMA News
Mikhail Lecaros is a professional magazine editor and freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are solely his own.
