Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Darthstatto — 25 Jul 2013

The Wolverine succeeds mostly by doing everything right that the Logan's first solo outing did wrong. Chiefly, focusing on the main character and not diluting his presence with a procession of weak, 4th tier mutants.

Using the Miller/Claremont run of Logan in Japan as a blueprint we find the Canadian moping after the final moments of The Last Stand and haunted by his actions. He is drawn into a conspiracy in Japan featuring Corporations, Ninjas and Yakuza.

Jackman obviously has Logan down to a fine art after 6 films and he plays well on screen with his new co-stars. I especially enjoyed his interactions with Yukio. The weak point in the cast may well be Viper. Not that she is particularly badly played, but her character seems misplaced and over the top in a film that is mostly grounded in reality.

The same can be said of the last act. The rest of the film is grounded in a gritty reality that is abandoned for a run of the mill bad guy show down that hits all the usual cliches. The plot also gets a little convoluted and it can be hard to keep check on who's aligned with who.

Quibbles aside, this is the best solo outing we could have hoped for after the dire Origins. It revives the character of Wolverine from the doldrums (First Class cameo not withstanding) and through a jaw dropping credits stinger sets up next years Days of Futures Past.