Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Hoops2448 — 26 Aug 2013

I always feel that movies set in Japan are automatically at an advantage because of the inherent beauty and tradition that comes with the country which is why The Wolverine is such a colossal disappointment.

When Logan (Hugh Jackman) saves a Japanese man's life in Hiroshima in 1945 he sets off chain reaction that brings about death and destruction in the present when Wolverine is summoned by the man so that he can say his goodbyes.

While Jackman is a talented performer, The Wolverine is beyond saving as it is derivative, predictable and most of all, its boring. Working off a horrendous script by writers Mark Bomback and Scott Frank, director James Mangold shows a talent behind the camera for the action in the film with a high speed chase on a bullet train being a breathtaking piece of cinema but he fails to display emotion or evoke character out of his wooden performers.

It's not entirely his fault, the acting is dire with both female leads dragging the film down. The constant references to X-Men: The Last Stand and the presence of Famke Janssen's Jean Grey reminds viewers of the nonsensical mess of a film that was, which should make The Wolverine look stellar by comparison but it only really makes you long for the days of Bryan Singers X films.

While the film does try to fix the character of Logan, ridding him of some of his grief and shame, it just feels like a stop gap before Jackman is set to appear in the following X film, Days of Future Past.

Ultimately its a feature that doesn't live up to its potential and makes light of its own story of redemption by having Logan murder countless numbers of people as if for sport making the whole movie a waste of anyone's precious time.