Following a trend of summer blockbusters, whose names include World War Z and Pacific Rim, where disasters strike cities worldwide, the latest film in the X-Men franchise begins with a bang – the real life bombing of Nagasaki in 1945. From there, sword-on-claw action and reflective scenes of loss and humanity construct a faithful adaptation of the comics with plenty to appreciate for fans in search of more scenes with Hugh Jackman in a wife-beater. Removing the superhero film from the more familiar settings of New York City and Metropolis, The Wolverine takes place in modern Japan and uses its unique setting to tell a story of honor, anguish, and affection.
Logan sets out from his refuge in the Canadian wilderness with Yukio (Rila Fukushima), an anime assassin come to life with a request: that Logan accompanies her to say goodbye to Ichirō Yashida, the dying head of the most powerful corporation in Asia. The meeting takes a turn when Yashida offers to sap Logan of his immortality and grant him the chance for a normal life, assuming a normal life still involves an adamantium skeleton. The twist is that Yashida is not ready to die and wants Logan’s powers for himself. That desire is shared by Viper, a poisonous femme fatale played with menace by Svetlana Khodchenkova. Rounding out the villains is Yashida’s son and crime boss Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada). Taking Logan’s mind off a series of nightmare sequences involving Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom Logan had to kill at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand, is Shingen’s daughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto in her first film role).
The Wolverine explores the idea of its titular character losing his trademark regenerative ability, and coping with the idea that he may actually be a human after all. Otherwise, what is he? A mutant certainly, but maybe closer to an animal? Like a bear in the woods, he’s being hunted, and he’s definitely not Japanese, as the film will show you again and again. He sure can “snikt” his way through hordes of tattooed Yakuza minions and faceless ninjas, but when it comes to chopstick etiquette, and the concept of “love hotels,” he’s a bit naive. Despite a unique setting for the genre, it seems like everyone in Japan is either a ninja assassin or a criminal. That said The Wolverine is a smart film and at least a fair bit better than Wolverine’s last starring role in X-Men Origins. The pacing is split between entertaining, high-action fights and chase sequences thoughtfully tied together by necessary exposition and quiet moments of Logan facing his own mortality.
I was admittedly disappointed to see Darren Aronofsky walk away from directing duty back in 2011, but James Mangold, director of films like the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and outlaw western 3:10 to Yuma, delivers a film that is entertaining and satisfying while still providing a contemplative portrait of one of comic’s most popular heroes. Hugh Jackman essentially is Wolverine, and it’s hard to imagine the role being played by anyone else much in the same way it’s hard to imagine Tony Stark as anyone but Robert Downey Jr.
The fanboy in me regrets that Jackman and RDJ may never appear as their characters together on screen due to the way the licenses are split between studios. The Wolverine is the second solid X-Men film in a row, so I’m hoping we aren’t in for a pair of clunkers when X-Men: Days of Future Past arrives next year. In the meantime, though, I’ll have to commend the work of the production in this The Wolverine review.
