The Wolverine

"Good"

The Wolverine Review


It's only been four years since 2009's X-men Origins: Wolverine, and it's hard to see how this film does anything to correct that film's messy plot, harsh editing and uninteresting action. This one has a much more interesting Japanese setting and some great characters, but its focus on action over depth leaves it feeling gratuitous and empty. We may be entertained by the whizzy chaos of it all, but we never feel much suspense.

It begins in Alaska, where Logan (Jackman) is still licking his wounds after the death of his lover Jean Grey (Janssen), who appears regularly to him in sexy, soft-focus dreams. Then a young woman (Fukushima) turns up, insisting that he return to Japan to see Yashida (Yamanouchi), whose life Logan saved in the A-bombing of Nagasaki. But in Tokyo, Logan finds that the near-dead Yashida wants to relieve him of his healing immortality with the help of a sinister blonde doctor named Viper (Khodchenkova). Meanwhile, Yashida's son Shingen (Sanada) is miffed that his daughter Mariko (Okamoto) is the heir to his father's fortune. And there are armies of tattooed goons and arrow-shooting ninjas chasing Logan wherever he goes.

The film has a brisk pace, barely pausing to regain its breath before plunging into another massive action set-piece. But none of these sequences stands up to even the slightest scrutiny: laws of logic and physics are abandoned as the hugely muscled Logan battles everything in sight. Even after Viper steals his powers, he still has those retractable adamantium claws, which come in handy when you're fighting tenacious thugs on top of a speeding bullet train.

Director Mangold puts the Japanese settings to use very nicely, and the film is packed with clever samurai touches that add the illusion of depth. Jackman adds to this as well, with a darkly shadowed performance as a tormented man who might as well dive headlong into whatever mayhem is breaking out. Other characters add spark or gravitas as needed, but this movie is all about Jackman, really. So even relieving him of his ability to heal doesn't make us worry that anything serious will happen to him, especially when the final battle is against a rather boring shiny metal robot. It's fun while it lasts, but should have been so much more than that.



The Wolverine

Facts and Figures

Genre: Action/Adventure

Run time: 126 mins

In Theaters: Friday 26th July 2013

Box Office USA: $132.6M

Box Office Worldwide: $415.4M

Budget: $120M

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Production compaines: Ingenious Media, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Donners' Company, Marvel Entertainment, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Big Screen Productions, TSG Entertainment

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Fresh: 149 Rotten: 67

IMDB: 6.8 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: Hutch Parker,

Starring: as Logan / Wolverine, as Mariko, Rila Fukushima as Yukio, as Shingen, as Viper, as Noburo Mori, Hal Yamanouchi as Yashida, as Harada, Ken Yamamura as Young Yashida, as Jean Grey, Shinji Ikefuji as Pock-Face, Qyoko Kudo as Aya, Conrad Coleby as Red Beard, Taris Tyler as Bar Man (Red Beard's Friend), Sarah Naylor-Liddell as Yukon Bar Patron, as Magneto, as Professor Xavier

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews