Review of The Wolverine (2013) by Jason T — 14 Jul 2014

You have to give this superhero movie some credit for at least trying something different for the first two-thirds. The final act of the movie is much more conventional concerning the genre. Hugh Jackman is always a lot of fun to watch, although he isn't given as many great lines as in other outings as Wolverine.

As the movie begins, he is in hiding somewhere in Alaska, in mourning over the loss of Jean Grey (whom he had to kill in X-3, I suppose I would be pretty upset if I had to kill the woman I loves as well!) If the fact he was living in the woods having nightmares every night didn't tip you off Wolfie was depressed, the extra long hair and beard should have tipped you off. Anyway, his self imposed asylum does't last long when a diminutive redhead who swings a mean samurai sword hunts him down to let him know someone is looking for him. The man looking for him was saved by Logan during WWII when he was protected from one of the Atom bombs dropped on Japan. He says he knows a way to make Wolverine mortal, so he can live a "normal" life and eventually die of old age. Logan refuses, and the old man dies that night. Which is when the fun and action begins. There are a couple of really cool action scenes; one during a funeral and the other on a high speed train. Why these scenes need to happen is not as clear. The plot is not really convoluted, but it's difficult to know the motivations of various characters. Despite all of his depression, Wolfie does have a love interest in this movie, Mariko, the granddaughter of the man he saved years earlier. She does a decent job in a thankless damsel in distress role. Their romance didn't seem really convincing though, I kept thinking of the fact Logan is over 150 years old according to X-Men: Origins. Rila Fukushima fares better as Logan's "bodyguard" in Japan. She has a look that leaps out of the pages of a comic book. Score: 6.