Movie Review: The Wolverine - Crying Wolf

Great action sequences kind of make up for a busy plot in The Wolverine.

Comic book adaptations for the big screen have been a gamble in recent years. But at least these cinematic experiments gave directors a chance to figure out what works. This is probably why The Wolverine manages to come into its own and separate itself from the comic book.

This time round director James Mangold brings us an adaptation of the 1982 comic that is a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand. An adamantium-clawed mutant, Logan (Hugh Jackman), receives a request to travel to Japan to say goodbye to an old friend, an ailing Yashida (Hal Yamnouchi). Years earlier, Logan had saved the Japanese boy-soldier when the atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki. With a new lease on life, Yashida went on to become an industrial giant after the war. He is now an old man on his death bed who proposes that Logan ‘pass on’ his healing abilities. In return, Yashida will relieve him of his immortality.

A suspicious Logan, while captivated by the idea of ‘eternal rest’, rejects the offer. Yashida then asks Logan to protect his beautiful granddaughter, Muriko (Tao Okamoto), to whom he has bequeathed his empire, bypassing her father as his heir.

But even before Yashida’s funeral is over, the Yakuza try to abduct Muriko.

This is where the movie transitions. In much of the second act Logan comes up against his trauma caused by what happened to Jean Grey in the third installment of X-Men (We can’t give it away). If the action sequences were not that distracting, this would have been a rich vein to mine. The one thing that gives Wolverine his strength and his identity is the bane of his life as well. Life is full of irony. The blessings of power, or say immortality, are double-edged; duality has always been the bread and butter of heroes and villains. But more importantly, we have to question, what do we make of the morality of characters such as Wolverine — who can cause so much pain and be so violent.

As the movie sticks to a classic three-act structure it tends to drag in places. Periodic forced transition scenes are a weak point as is the script for some of the characters, especially the token love-interest Muriko. Her sole purpose seems to be acting as a catalyst to precipitate emotional flashes in Logan. Joining Muriko is Viper, a poison-secreting mutant, whose character goes as deep as her latex green suit. Unless we know more about her motives, she too emerges little more than a pretty prop.

If these elements of the film disappoint, the action sequences do not with their neat swordplay and the adamantium samurai mech. But sadly, they don’t take advantage of the 3-D factor, especially the scene shot on top of a bullet train. They really could have worked the scene in which Wolverine lifts off and flies back the length of the train to sink his claws into a bad guy.

Overall, this film is an improvement over the last Wolverine movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and director Mangold has done a fairly good job. While it could have benefited from better writing and more fulfilling characters, the action sequences are definitely worth a watch although they would have been just as good in 2-D.

One last thing, do not forget to stay past the end credits for a special stinger.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, September 1^st, 2013.

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