Film Review: The Wolverine (Revisited)

Wolverine has been through so much. In spite of that, he remains one of the biggest superheroes of comic-book legend, and thanks to Hugh Jackman's performance in four previous X-Men movies, he became one of the biggest cinematic icons of modern times. Even though the character received his stand-alone film in 2009, filmmakers wanted to go farther and deeper with the character. Taking after Chris Claremont's and Frank Miller's comic, The Wolverine would test the character's limits in Japan.

This film is nowhere near as overblown as other X-Men films: the action is confined to just a few fights. Some of the highlights include a fight on top of a high-speed bullet-train, confrontations with a small army of ninjas, and a final showdown with a giant armored samurai suit. These are fairly cool fights that show off quality choreography and a few cool weapons, but there's very little wow factor. The film does satisfy in the same way thrillers like The Man From Nowhere or Crying Freeman do, but it feels far less like a superhero movie, or even an X-Men movie. Those searching for big, explosive action might be let down, but there is still merit in this moody, slow-burning drama.

The Wolverine takes its time to breathe, giving a steady focus on the title character. It is a much-needed character study; as a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine is a broken man, tormented by guilt and deprived of purpose. As he travels to Japan and becomes caught up in a major conspiracy, he is revealed to be a figurative ronin: a master-less samurai struggling to regain his honor, perhaps even through death. Due to these issues, and with the threat of taking away his healing powers, this is Wolverine at his most vulnerable, and it makes for a very intense struggle. The conflict runs good and hard throughout the story, and the plot is well-structured. The story has a dense layer of conspiracy that's not exactly easy to comprehend, especially with so many side characters, but other parts are predictable. At the film's core, however, strong parallels are drawn between Wolverine and the Bushido code, and it makes for a rather compelling show.

This film uses pretty straightforward photography and editing, and it's refreshing that way. Acting is good: Hugh Jackman is still perfect as Wolverine, and the rest of the cast is decent and feels authentic. Writing is good. This production uses good-looking sets, props, and costumes. Locales in particular look authentic, and it helps, since the setting plays a major role in this story. Music is not bad either.

The Wolverine is the film the character deserves, with emphasis on "THE" to indicate that this is not just another plain ol' superhero flick, but an exploration on the character and his quest for absolution. Viewers might find this dull, but it exceeded my expectations in spite of the dramatic aspects. In the end, I enjoyed watching the character, both for the action and for the melodrama. It is a worthwhile experience overall.

This film has an extended cut available on specific home video editions. It is an evenly-paced cut that boasts some longer dialogue and longer action scenes (primarily with the ninja fight toward the end), including a little more R-rated cursing and a bit more bloodshed. For mature audiences, it's not a bad cut of the movie.

4/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Film Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wolverine still stands as one of the most prolific, most popular, and most badass superheroes of Marvel lore. The man is literally immortal: he heals instantly, even from mortal wounds, and thanks to that he was grafted with an invincible metal skeleton, complete with retracting adamantium claws. Wolverine kicked plenty of butt in the three main X-Men films, but a stand-alone Wolverine film has always been in the cards, to give fans another chance to see this awesome character in action. So, they made X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in what would be the first in a line of stand-alone prequel movies for each X-Men character.

In hindsight, this proved to be a futile move; despite the film's commercial success, it is easily one of the worst films of the series, and plans to make more Origins films fell through. The film is one hot mess: a haphazard blend of rip-roaring action and plot contrivances.

The good news is that the film is still very tight, highly entertaining, and it does have some great moments. It is really cool to watch Wolverine rampaging through whole hoards of bad guys, taking out hum-vees and helicopters on a motorbike, and fighting mutants around a nuclear reactor plant. The film moves fast and is never skimpy on the action or style.

The story involved in inherently compelling, thanks entirely to the allure of the title character. It is a tragic tale of love, betrayal, and vengeance that helps shape Wolverine into the berserker we all know and love. The plot covers some of the same ground we've seen before in the original X-Men films, but this time you get to see the full background on how Wolverine got suckered into Colonel Stryker's plans. There are a few major twists, which will seem contrived at first glance, but do hold up on repeat viewings. The plot suffers the most with a number of scenes that don't really contribute; many of the action scenes are frivolous, and scenes involving a young Cyclops seem to the thrown in just for the hell of it.

A lot of the film's biggest issues rests with the editing, which is extremely choppy and screwy. A lot of shots are cheaply-cut to cover up deficiencies in the action. Worst yet, most scenes do not transition well from one to another, causing characters to appear at seemingly random places (such as Gambit suddenly appearing on a rooftop, or Victor appearing at the final fight out of nowhere). It is clear that the conflicts between the studio and the director have contributed to a film that's at conflict with itself, unable to find a balance between the heartfelt drama and the hardcore action.

On the plus side, photography is mostly-solid. Performances are a bit of a mixed bag: Hugh Jackman continues to excel at playing his iconic character, and Liev Schreiber is superb as Victor Creed. I enjoyed Danny Huston's and Lynn Collins' performances. Most of the other actors playing the side characters are pretty weak. The writing is pretty weak. This production uses okay sets, props, and costumes. Special effects vary from good to terrible. Music seems uninspired as well.

Wolverine's stand-alone film is not an inherently bad story; in fact, its potential is more effectively conveyed in the film's corresponding video game. Somewhere along the line it got mucked-up, and I blame it mostly on too much post-production tinkering. I still value the film as a guilty pleasure, and it does make for a satisfying stand-alone action flick. In an X-Men marathon, however, it doesn't fit as smoothly with the other films (especially since events in X-Men: First Class contradict this one). Diehard fans will probably want to check this out once, but for casual audiences, you can do better.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Marginal)