I was really looking forward to seeing The Wolverine, REALLY. There has been a strong bunch of superhero movies since the shoddy X-Men Origins: Wolverine film back in 2009, let’s not talk about The (not so) Amazing Spiderman, so I was hoping for big things with this film – but sadly I was left feeling slightly cheated – again.
Wolverine is an intensely complex character with a rich history and an impressive list of awesome foes in his locker so there’s no shortage of potential quality to draw on for his films, yet somehow, no one seems to be able to get it right. The director this time round is James Mangold (Walk The Line) and he’s set out to emphasise the cerebral component to Logan’s complexity rather than his violent hack and slash tendencies.
The story begins with the devastating WWII atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki, Japan, and sees POW Wolverine outrun the blast, saving a Japanese officer on his way. Skip almost a decade and Wolverine is a vagabond, lost to the Canadian wilderness until a sultry Japanese assassin, Yukio (Rila Fukushima) somehow tracks him down and drags him to Tokyo to meet her mysterious boss who wants to settle an age old debt.
Surprise surprise the boss is the officer Wolverine saved in Nagasaki but he’s now an old man (obvs) and he is determined to repay Wolverine for saving his life.
Well, repay him he does and in no time Wolverine, flanked by Yukio and love interest Mariko (Tao Okamoto), is being hunted down by Ninjas, gangsters and all sorts, led by poison-lipped Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova). It’s all over the place, only peaking (too early) during one of the film’s best scenes – which was unsurprisingly given away by the trailers – the bullet train fight. Now THAT scene absolutely rocked, but the fact that I’d already seen it slightly ruined the intensity.
Mangold’s attempts to give this film some pace and depth sees Famke Janssen reprise her role as dead phoenix Jean Grey (See X-Men: The Last Stand) who appears to Wolverine from beyond the grave and causes some sleepless nights. Deep.
I won’t ruin the ending for you but fans be warned, it ruins yet another one of Wolverine’s iconic and otherwise awesome foes, as was the case with Deadpool, Sabretooth et al, who were portrayed poorly in previous Wolverine movie outings. Hugh Jackman‘s performance is OK, but unfortunately this time round he lacks some of the punch, quick-wit and class that makes Wolverine a truly lovable rogue.
The Avengers, Iron Man 1 (not 2) and 3 and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy have shown the way – fun, action-packed, entertaining and credible – superhero movies can be made – it’s just a shame no one told James Mangold.
Go and see it, it won’t be the worst film out when it’s released on July 25, but don’t expect too much and you might enjoy it somewhat better than I did.
