Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Agent M — 14 Nov 2014

After First Class raised the bar for the X-Men franchise, it was interesting and worthwhile to see where things would go from there. With Origins being a lazy and frankly unnecessary prequel detailing Wolverine's backstory, an adaptation of the popular Chris Claremont comic arc would seem like the perfect fit for the most popular character in the series.

And for the most part, The Wolverine is a solid entry in the series. Hugh Jackman once again is great as ever as Logan and clearly cares for the character when portraying him. The Japanese setting also adds more variety to the film and provides some great action scenes which are some of the best in the series.

The problem with this film is that there's nothing really new about the story. Whereas First Class felt fresh and exciting because of its setting and younger cast, The Wolverine spends much of its time with generic and boring supporting characters who are unable to keep up with Jackman's charisma.

The villains are also just as bland and lack any clear proper motivation with the final act building up to a daft climax that completely changes the tone of the film. It's a real shame that as this could've been the definitive Wolverine standalone.

Whilst still a solid film in its own right, it's nowhere near the best in the series.