Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Alexproductions — 06 Sep 2013

Hugh Jackman finally got the lead in his own movie! After being associated with X-Men Origins and more, The Wolverine delivered the entertainment value we hoped for in this film.

The movie trails Logan (Hugh Jackman) and his journey to Japan to be thanked by Yashida, (Hal Yamanouchi) who Logan saved as a young soldier. Yashida was very sick and wanted Logan's power of immortality so he can be healthy again. We see Yashida die, and learn that his company has been left to Yashida's granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto) and not his corrupt son. She becomes the new owner Yashida Technology and her life is immediately in danger as the others try to kill her and take over the company.

Meanwhile, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) kisses Wolverine in what seems to be an unrelated scene. Wolverine gets injured and doesn’t heal. Logan and the audience begin to uncover the plot to steal Logan’s powers. We learn that Viper passed Wolverine a spider in the kiss which now lives on his heart and neutralizes his powers, making him vulnerable. We follow Logan through his attempt to retrieve his power and save Yashida's granddaughter, Mariko.

Between the amazing (mostly CGI (computer-generated imagery)) fight scenes, and the quality of the cast's acting, I really enjoyed the film. There was a great fight scene in the film, (also featured in the trailer) on the top of a bullet train. Logan's bone claws dug into the train to keep his position. When he would take them out to dodge objects or fight, he would lose contact with the train which was traveling below him at 300MPH. He would then literally fly above the train. It thought that was a truly amazing effect.

What I didn't like was the flaw in Logan's vulnerability. After counting four gunshots to the chest, and a knife to the elbow, Logan still managed to fight and get around as if he still had his regular abilities. He didn’t even seem to worry about the wounds for a whole day, which made that period of the movie feel fake to me. I also am not sure what it is with Hugh and his shirt off. Seriously, 40% of his screen time is spent shirtless. It got to a point where the 44 year old man should have just put a shirt on. Also, there are a few shaky camera scenes when Logan is running and the camera is following him. I know it is supposed to add a level of intensity to the film, but it’s not intense when you start to get dizzy. The dizziness occurred at least twice, during my viewing of the film. Despite the few things I didn't like about The Wolverine, I mostly enjoyed it and was entertained. After hearing about the amazing spoiler in the credits, I stayed after everyone else in the theater left to see what it was all about. If you do not want to hear about this scene, I recommend you ignore the rest of the review.

It is two years later and Logan is going through airport security. The x-ray is beeping like crazy and metal objects near him are floating. He quickly turns around to find Magneto behind him in line. As they are talking, time stops except for the two of them, Professor Xavier rolls up near them. He looked almost too perfect and produced from CGI (computer-generated imagery). As in the first X-Men Wolverine, Xavier says the same sentence. “It’s as I told you when we first met, Logan, you're not the only one with special gifts." This to me was the first reveal of the future 2014 X-Men movie, Days Of Future Past.