The Wolverine is a 2013 American-Australian superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Wolverine. It is the sixth installment in the X-Men film series and follows the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Hugh Jackman reprises his role from previous films as the title character, with James Mangold directing a screenplay written by Christopher McQuarrie, Scott Frank, and Mark Bomback, based on the 1982 limited series Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. In the film, Logan travels to Japan, where he engages an old acquaintance in a struggle that has lasting consequences. Stripped of his immortality, Wolverine must battle deadly samurai as well as his inner demons.I have to be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this going in - at all, as Fox's track record with the X-Men franchise has been spotty at best. Let's see if this film manages to be dud as well.
The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
Logan retreats to the Canadian wilderness following the death of Jean Grey, where he is tormented by hallucinations of Jean, whom he was forced to kill, and of the Nagasaki bombing in 1945. One day, after getting into a fight with some hunters, he is located by Yukio, a woman with mutant powers enabling her to see people's deaths, representing Yashida, the CEO of a technology corporation, who is dying of cancer. Logan saved Yashida's life when he was a prisoner of the latter while at a Japanese POW camp near Nagasaki during its bombing, and Yashida wants Logan to accompany Yukio to Japan to return the favor.In Tokyo, Logan meets Yashida's son Shingen and Shingen's daughter, Mariko. Yashida offers to conduct a transplant, removing Logan's immortality and transferring it to himself. Logan refuses and prepares to leave the following day. That night, while Logan dreams of Jean, Yashida's doctor, the mutant Viper, injects a robotic parasite in Logan's system, which affects his healing factor. The next morning, Logan is informed that Yashida has died, and attends the funeral, where he saves Mariko from Yakuza assassins with help from Yashida's associate Kenuichio Harada, a skilled archer and Mariko's former lover, who still loves her. In the process, Logan is shot and finds out he is not healing as before.
After fighting more assassins on a bullet train, Logan and Mariko hide in a local hotel. While Mariko sleeps, Logan stands guard outside and experiences another hallucination of Jean before passing out from his injuries. When he awakens, he discovers that Mariko had the hotel owner's grandson, a veterinarian, stitch him up. Meanwhile, Harada meets with Viper who, after demonstrating her mutant powers on him, demands he find Logan and Mariko.
Logan and Mariko go to Yashida's house in Nagasaki. As they slowly fall for each other, Logan starts revealing his past to Mariko. Meanwhile, Yukio has a vision of Logan dying, and goes to warn him. However, she is too late and Mariko is captured. After interrogating one of her kidnappers, Logan goes to confront Mariko's fiance, corrupt Chief of Justice Noburo Mori, who reveals that Shingen has ordered the kidnapping.
At Yashida Corporation's headquarters, Shingen reveals Yashida has left Mariko his empire, and prepares to kill her when Harada arrives with his Black Ninja clan and Viper; Harada rescues Mariko, while Viper poisons Shingen. They then take Mariko to a research center based in Yashida's home town.
Arriving at Yashida Corporation with Yukio, Logan uses Yashida's medical technology to locate the parasite and extract it, but appears to die during the operation. Yukio is attacked by Shingen, who prepares to kill her when Logan awakens and intervenes, killing Shingen. Logan and Yukio then follow Harada and Viper to the research center, where Logan is attacked and captured by Harada and his men.
Meanwhile, Yukio arrives and defeats Viper by hanging her, while Logan fights the Silver Samurai, who cuts off his adamantium claws and begins to extract Logan's healing abilities, revealing himself to be Yashida, who had faked his death and starts to regain his youth. Mariko intervenes and stabs Yashida with the discarded claws, giving Logan the opportunity to disable the armor with his bone claws and throw Yashida off a cliff before passing out. While unconscious, Logan hallucinates about Jean in a white room, but decides to finally move on. Before he wakes, Jean remarks that she is all alone there.
Mariko becomes CEO of Yashida Corporation and bids farewell to Logan as he prepares to leave Japan. Yukio vows to stay by Logan's side as his bodyguard, and they depart to places unknown.
In a post-credits scene, Logan returns to the United States two years after the events in Japan, and watches an ad for Trask Industries and their advances in the field of robotics before being confronted by Magneto (with his powers restored). Magneto announces that Logan's help is required to stop a new enemy that threatens to exterminate the mutant race. When Logan inquires why he should trust Magneto, Professor Charles Xavier arrives to reassure him. Logan is surprised to see Xavier alive as Xavier reminds Logan that he is not the only one with gifts.
The Verdict:
I don't want to start this review on a bad note, but good grief, I'm going to have nightmares about that chick they got to play Yukio. (Shudders) While I don't have anything against Asian people, it's just that she looked really weird creepy with that red hair. Maybe it was a bad wig or something, but throughout the course of the film, that REALLY bothered me in every scene she was in. I googled some images of Rila Fukushima out of costume and those don't look as bad as she does in this film.
Originally, I wasn't going to see this in the theater and was just going to either "acquire" a copy via the Internet or just wait until the DVD/Blu-Ray release. Of course, I had several friends on Facebook, who I know who don't know jack SHIT about comic books and these superhero films that they are based upon, saying that this is the best X-Men film to date. Yeah, I had to go see this for myself for I can write about it here. Also, take a note - just because you are remotely familiar with these superheroes from cartoons (which are commonly dumbed-down to start with) you grew up with or just vaguely know who they are because you play Marvel vs. Capcom or Injustice: Gods Among Us on a regular basis does NOT entitle you to be the core "knowledgeable" fanbase behind these characters. When you have read about 10-30+ years worth of comics of their history, then get at me. Okay, okay. Rant over... Let's get this review on track.
As a whole, this film isn't anywhere as bad as X-Men Origins: Wolverine was, but if I'm perfectly honest, I really hope Fox loses the X-Men license in the VERY near future. I don't know how many more of these mediocre or barely passable X-Men films I can tolerate. Days of Future Past MIGHT be good, but I'm not holding my breath on that as there's a lot of ways they can fuck that up too.
To many of you guys' surprise, I'm NOT going to complain about how this film's story isn't close enough to the highly popular comic book storyline by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. Out of the many years of my teenage years when I first read this storyline to roughly 15+ years later, I have seen SEVERAL interpretations of this storyline so I don't have anything to bitch about on this. It's Hollywood and they are going to do their "dumbed down" version for the people who don't know, but they did manage to hit all of the major points. Yukio wasn't as bad ass as I would have liked while Mariko and Logan's romance seemed a bit rushed in one aspect, but I think that was mainly due to this film's pacing. I didn't care for how the Silver Samurai was literally swapped out for one of Tony Stark's spare Iron Man suits or leftover parts from Japan's real life Gundam displays, but I can understand why they went with the change. Silver Samurai's original design was lame, even more so by today's standards. Making him a huge giant robot eliminates the need for explaining his powers.
I guess I should explain how he cut off Logan's adamantium claws though. Even though that event shocked even me after first, after thinking it through I can believe it to an extent. In the comics, Silver Samurai had the mutant power to "charge" his katana with his impenetrable force field. This allowed him to cut through any substance, except for adamantium. I'm guessing since the Silver Samurai robot was made out of adamantinum entirety in this film, that's why he was able to cut through Logan's claws like a hot knife through butter. Plus, don't forget that Logan naturally has the ability to extend and grow bone claws, but these are easily breakable until he underwent the adamantium bone-fusion experiment. I was a bit confused on why Logan didn't just ask Mariko to repair his claws somehow by using some of the leftover adamantium around in that lab after the battle was over with. Oh well, I guess they would have to explain that shit in a future film.
I guess I should explain how he cut off Logan's adamantium claws though. Even though that event shocked even me after first, after thinking it through I can believe it to an extent. In the comics, Silver Samurai had the mutant power to "charge" his katana with his impenetrable force field. This allowed him to cut through any substance, except for adamantium. I'm guessing since the Silver Samurai robot was made out of adamantinum entirety in this film, that's why he was able to cut through Logan's claws like a hot knife through butter. Plus, don't forget that Logan naturally has the ability to extend and grow bone claws, but these are easily breakable until he underwent the adamantium bone-fusion experiment. I was a bit confused on why Logan didn't just ask Mariko to repair his claws somehow by using some of the leftover adamantium around in that lab after the battle was over with. Oh well, I guess they would have to explain that shit in a future film.
My biggest issue as a comic book nerd with this film comes from Madame Hydra, aka Viper. I'm confused here. If Marvel Studios has the rights to everything Avengers-related, including Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and those associated properties then how does a Captain America villain got into this film without Marvel Studios creating any additional drama for Fox? This type of trolling is must be why Josh Whedon is pretty determined to drag Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (Magneto's children) into Avengers 2. As much negotiations that went down just for Marvel to get Daredevil, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider back and they still didn't manage to get Silver Surfer back for a cameo in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, I'm surprised they let having Viper in this movie slide without question. Regardless, Svetlana Khodchenkova bought a respectable portrayal to the character that I wasn't disappointed with in the slightest. I didn't see the need to make her like Reptile from Mortal Kombat though, but to each his own I guess.
From left to right: Viper (Madame Hydra), Mariko, and Yukio
In terms of other actors in this film, I really can't complain in the least. Hugh Jackman is a natural fit to Logan as Robert Downey Jr. is to Tony Stark, but Jackman is really starting to show his age in this film. I honestly don't see too many Wolverine/X-Men-related films in his future before he's too old to keep pulling off this character to believable results, unless they start using the same graphical clean-ups that they have been using for both Magneto and Professor Xavier. Will Yun Lee is becoming that guy you call for roughly any American-made film set in Japan or dealing with its culture, but I just can't get the mental image of him being in both V.I.P. and Witchblade (TV series) out of my head. Even more ironic that the guy dies in roughly almost everything he's cast in. As soon as I noticed he was in this, I went "Yeah, he's going to die by the end of this..." Famke Janssen continues to haunt Logan's dreams as the ghost of Jean Grey. It makes me wonder how much they paid her to come back for such a minor (in terms of length and duration, not emotional impact as Jean's memory has a powerful impact on this narrative) part in this film. Tao Okamoto manages to repair the wounds in Logan's heart as Mariko while Rila Fukushima plays Logan's self-appointed "bodyguard" dubbed Yukio. Despite my personal issues with Rila's costume, I didn't have any complaints in terms of her acting. Maybe it was just me, but both Hiroyuki Sanada (Shingen) and Hal Yamanouchi (Yashida) came off as easily forgettable in the few scenes that they were depicted in, despite being the core antagonists of this film.
As for the narrative as whole, The Wolverine captures the essence of what made the original story by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller such a success, while managing to intertwine Logan's inner struggle with coping with the events of the ending of X-Men: The Last Stand and his own immortality. Many of us crave to live forever and actually fear the looming death that is eventually going to consume us in life. It is a rare insight to see that Logan is actually vulnerable for once and we as an audience can actually fear that he could actually die in this film. That definitive struggle as Logan battles with his emotions on whether or not to give in and just accept that that death has finally arrived to grant him the peace that he wishes to finally obtain truly defines this film and sets it apart from some of these other superhero films that this film is competing with this summer. At the end of the day, it's still a film about a hero's quest to renew his resolve in being a hero to the masses, but it's also a film about the cycle of life and death.
The Wolverine manages to avoid being the lackluster blockbuster outings that were found in X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men: First Class, but manages to hold its own as maybe there is slight glimmer of hope that Fox can possibly do something great with future X-Men films. I'm giving this an 8 out of 10.
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