Sunday 15 September 2013

The Wolverine


My original plan was to see this on my Birthday but after a long day at work, followed by Monsters University and dinner, my friends and I were a little too tired to dedicate more than 2 hours to Hugh Jackman and his claws. So we saved The Wolverine for another day.

I must admit that my initial response to there being yet another Wolverine movie was not one of excitement. I hadn't particularly enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine and I didn't really see the need for there to be another Wolverine movie. But I started to hear rumblings from people who'd seen it, about an amazing post credits scene. So naturally I was curious. Having now sat through 2+ hours of the film, I can tell you that for me, the post credits scene was not worth it. It's not that the film is bad. It's just overlong, and the story's not all that interesting. 

The film is basically yet another tale of Logan (Hugh Jackman) trying to redeem himself from his past demons. This time around he travels to Japan to visit a man - Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), whom he saved from an atomic bomb blast during WWII. Yashida would like to repay Logan for saving his life all those years ago by taking away Logan's mutation that allows him to heal. As it is this mutation which makes Logan immortal, Yashida thinks that to give Logan the ability to die, rather than continue to see those he loves die, would be a blessing. Of course he could just want the ability for himself, which would allow him to be cured of the cancer that is killing him.

Throughout the movie we not only have flashbacks to Logan's past in Japan in 1945 but we also see his visions of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom he killed in X-Men: The Last Stand. It's a very tangled web that's being woven, and as it's trying to incorporate elements from the X-Men films, as well as keeping in line with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it's not always that easy to follow. The fight scenes, especially the one on the roof of the train are impressive, but the storyline stringing the fight scenes together is a little less so. Ultimately I just didn't really feel as though I gained anything from seeing this movie and I don't think it really added anything to the X-Men series, or was necessary in the run up to the release of the next X-Men film. Which is what is hinted at in the post credits scene.

I would recommend this to hardcore fans of the X-Men series, or those who like their Hugh Jackman to be sans shirt and with claws. 6 out of 10. 


Viewing Date - 4th August 2013
UK Release Date - 26th July 2013

Cast Overview:
Logan ~ Hugh Jackman
Mariko ~ Tao Okamoto
Yukio ~ Rila Fukushima
Shingen ~ Hiroyuki Sanada
Viper ~ Svetlana Khodchenkova
Yashida ~ Haruhiko Yamanouchi
Young Yashida ~ Ken Yamamura
Jean Grey ~ Famke Janssen

Director ~ James Mangold
Writer(s) ~ Mark Bomback (Screenplay) and Scott Frank (Screenplay)

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