The Wolverine

• Directed by James Mangold
• July 26, 2013 (US)
• Based on the 1982 comic book limited series Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller

Stripped of his ability to rapidly heal, Wolverine battles deadly assassins while feeling guilt over Jean Grey’s death.

Sometimes you SHOULD give some ideas a second try. Like making a Wolverine movie. The Wolverine is much more what I wish X-Men Origins: Wolverine had been. It’s filled with plenty of the fantastic and the superhero and does a good job of communicating those elements but doesn’t linger on any of them so much or go through such effort to display them in every detail that it makes it feel silly. It’s not trying to show cool moments, but rather tell a story with fantasy elements present. 

Don’t get me wrong. This film contains plenty of cool action that leans into the superhero elements, but it doesn’t get a goofy feel like the predecessor did. While fantastic and cool it also feels weirdly possible. It doesn’t linger on any one particular moment to the point it out stays its welcome. It’ll last just long enough to add the moment to the movie.

Set after the events of the third X-Men film, this movie is about Logan (Hugh Jackman of course) coming to terms with the death of Jean Grey as well as what occurred while he was in prison in Nagasaki just before the bombing. And yes we do get a cool moment where Wolverine regenerates to establish in the mind of any viewer that this guy has superpowers. But this story is not ABOUT superpowers like the last one.

As a story this is a complete standalone film. The narrative is mostly independent of anything else that came before. Aside from the fleeting references to the last X-Men film you don’t need to have seen any of the other X-Men movies or even the preceding Wolverine film to understand what’s going on here.

To give a little sense of danger Wolverine gets a serious reduction in power for reasons that eventually play into the plot. It makes him vulnerable to death. Before he could pop out bullets after he was shot, and healed pretty quickly in a way that would make Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod blush but here he takes the hits and suffers from them. Yet what carries him through is a never give up attitude.

This is perhaps one of the best portrayals of Wolverine in all of the films. He’s tough and determined and a bit of an asshole who doesn’t have time for anybody’s shit. Much as I interpreted him from the comics when I followed his series. The toughest of the tough but not mindlessly violent though his mindless violence when used is used with a purpose. Always well aware of the situation and mostly in charge.

Hugh Jackman turns in a much more sophisticated version of Wolverine that he had previously. There’s anger and rage and regret. He’s suffering pain and has shut himself away from the world. This is the story of a wounded hero who must reclaim that which was lost.

As much of a superhero story it is also a love story and a family drama with heavy Game of Throne elements I dare say. Competing rivalries and hidden agendas and plots within plots. And ninjas! I can’t member the last time I saw a movie outside the 80s that had this many ninjas in it.

The villain of all this Ichirō Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) wants to give Wolverine the death he now wants by stealing his power through dubious scientific means. I say ‘dubious’ because mutant powers in Marvel are genetically based so a machine to suck out the power makes little sense. The character is based on Silver Samurai and Ogun but looks like the former in a really cool way.

Another thing The Wolverine gets right is that it’s not jampacked with multiple characters just to have them. X-Men Origins: Wolverine had far too many guest characters. It was clear it was not only an attempt to cash in on the success of X-Men but on the part of Fox to expand the mutant universe. Here while there are mutants and characters from the X-Men it is only just enough to tell the story. It’s been decades since I read what this is based off of so I can’t really comment on that. My point being is that this is not overcrowded with superpowered characters just to have them.

The Wolverine is a great entry into the Wolverine series. The material is taken seriously making it more than just an action movie. A must watch!