X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened in May 2009, and it reeked of limited character development, a cliched plot, and more two dimensional tertiary characters than a crowd waiting to get into a Black Friday sale. For the amount of love 20th Century Fox seemed to have for Hugh Jackman and his Wolverine, one would imagine that they would give him a solo outing worthy of that admiration. Well, four years later, they did. Only this time, it was simply called The Wolverine.
Based on the fan-favorite Frank Miller and Chris Claremont comic saga from 1982, The Wolverine finds our eponymous mutant reeling after the conclusion of X-Men: The Last Stand. When a man from his past summons him to Japan to offer him a gift, Logan finds himself facing off against the Yakuza to protect the man's granddaughter. Only this time, a mysterious woman takes away something very dear to Logan: his healing factor.
After the lukewarm response to the origin film, I began to think that the X-Men franchise was running out of things to do with Wolverine. But they captured my attention when they brought on acclaimed director James Mangold, and took the storyline from the Japan saga in the comic books. So I decided to give the film a chance.
I was rather impressed. The idea to remove a hero's powers is nothing new. It was explored rather well in Spider-Man 2. But with Wolverine, it was different. He still had his claws and his strength, so he still had a fighting chance. What the removal of the healing factor did was raise the stakes. It took the film to a new level, instituting a fresh sense of vulnerability to make the character of Wolverine interesting again. It creates a high-risk, adrenaline fueled, action thriller, where anything can happen, and you're never assured that Wolverine will make it.
The gritty, secluded, exterior in which we first find our hero paves another road for the character. Whereas the character has always been an aggressive loner, the film takes that to the extreme, and we find him in the darkest places that he has gone to. This is a shell of a man, haunted by his past, and at rock bottom. This gives him a great place to start his trail, and the path he follows is the most interesting place we've seen Hugh Jackman take him.
Where the film deters is the third act. It has an extraordinary build up, yet it doesn't quite satisfy. Your mind can think of different places the film could go, but when the film finally arrives there, it just doesn't feel fitting to where we've been heading.
Hugh Jackman returns for a record setting sixth appearance as Logan. While there has never been anything wrong with his performance as the character in the past, this is clearly the best he's turned in. He's given so much more to do than he has before, and he works with with the material spectacularly. He puts a different stamp on his character, for the first time truly letting us see his fears, his vulnerabilities, and his raw emotion.
The choreography for the major fight sequences is extremely inventive, pulling stunts and sequences that feel unique and original. Rather than just slashing everything in sight with his claws, Wolverine is given much more imaginative fighting skills. The bullet train sequence is easily a scene to be remembered.
If you've been iffy about the character in the past, this is the place where you'll join the fan club. It's an excellent film, even if the third act is lacking a bit. And without going into spoiler territory, stay through the middle of the end credits, as it may be the best credits stinger I have ever seen (even on par with The Avengers).
B
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