The Wolverine reviewed

    

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox and Marvel

As a long-time fan of Logan/ Wolverine, I enjoyed watching the first outing of Hugh Jackman as the titular character in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  With that being said, I think they could have done a much better job for his origin or “first” story arc.  I feel character development surrounding the angst of Logan and his mutation was weak, Liev Schreiber played a passable Victor Creed, and Ryan Reynolds gave a decent enough performance as the maniac Deadpool to warrant discussion of a standalone movie for him.  Toss in some of Wolverine’s history working in Canada and his love interest (Silverfox, played by Lynn Collins), and now you have the makings of a busy, over-reaching mess.  Sure it was action packed, but is that what fans of Wolverine really wanted?  Probably not, as is evidenced by the strong support and turnout for Jackman’s new movie as Logan… The Wolverine.

     The Wolverine has successfully remedied most of the aforementioned issues that its predecessor suffered from.  Taking the general plot from Chris Claremont’s Wolverine mini-series (1982), we get a glimpse into Logan’s time he spent in Japan away from the X-Men.  While there, he learns to deal with his seeming immortality, manages to fall in love with someone other than Jean Grey (Mariko Yashida played by Tao Okamoto), and battles for his (and others) lives with the help of Yukio (Rila Fukushima) against the scheming Yashida clan.  Included in those battles are our first glimpse of Viper and the Silver Samurai (although I don’t think he is ever referenced as such).

     As far as I’m concerned, this is much closer to a character driven story than it is a comic book action flick.  There is plenty of action, but the interactions between Logan, Mariko, and Yukio are emotionally-driven, and I think that really helps tell this story.  When we get to an action sequence, it moves the story along between the characters as a useful accoutrement, rather than serving as nothing more than a simple, visual adrenaline rush .We learn more about who Logan really is in a few conversations—something that the first movie wasn’t really able to do in two hours.  Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) didn’t really work for me as a villain choice, and what director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) felt he needed to show us includes a little over-the-top comic book action (I think there was just no escaping a bit of that).  Marco Beltrami provides a great soundtrack blending classically Japanese compositions with well-placed, action-ready pieces that compliment the scene, rather than overpower and force the feeling on you.

     If a third Wolverine movie could be written and directed as well as The Wolverine, I would definitely not look at it as a “trilogy” money-grab.  It would be a welcome addition to the cinematic story of one of the more complex characters in the world of superheroes.  I’m giving this:     8.0 out of 10