Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Mrmoviebuff — 24 Feb 2017

Despite a clunky third act, 'The Wolverine' is a fantastic comic-book movie, and contains one of the best performances from Hugh Jackman, playing the title character, that we've seen for years. The movie begins in 1945 at a POW camp in Nagasaki, Japan, as an atomic bomb goes off, Logan (Jackman) rescues officer Ichiro Yashida (Ken Yamamura).

We cut to years later, at the present time, where we see our hero having dreams and often hallucinates about Jean (Famke Janssen), feeling the everlong guilt when he killed her in the events of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006) when she became the Phoenix.

He wakes up again, and it seems that he living rough, sleeping in the woods with very little left of his life. He is then approached by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who tells him that Master Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), the man he saved all those years ago, owes him an overdue thanks.

Logan seems reluctant at first to go to Japan just to say goodbye to an old man he once knew, but goes along anyway since he doesn't have any other choice. When he arrives in Tokyo, he meets Yashida's granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), and is told that he must protect her, as her father, Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada) is planning against her.

The movie then becomes a mission where Wolverine is essentially Mariko's bodyguard throughout the whole process. Logan keeps getting these visions of Jean and it makes it difficult for him, emotionally, and when he finally meets the older Yashida, he promises Logan that he can make him mortal, and live long and die a normal death.

Logan begins to feel strange over the next few days as his healing abilities seem unable to work, not only is he emotionally unstable, mourning the death of Jean, but he is physically unable to fight, as it seems that Yashida's plan to make Logan mortal is working.

'The Wolverine', directed by James Mangold (who also directed 'Walk the Line'), is a darker, grittier, and more realistic entry into the "X-Men" franchise. It's more grounded and less of a spectacle.

The action scenes are crafted brilliantly, the acting is superb and committed, and just the overall movie, is brilliant to watch, especially in the comic-book genre. The third act is the movie's weak spot as it does bog down towards CGI nonsense, but overall, this is a brilliant, polished movie, and is certainly a huge improvement over 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' (2009).