Synopsis
Wolverine returns, well sorta. Trying to cope with the death of Jean Grey, and his never ending existence, Logan lives the life of a wild animal in the great northwest. Dragging along day to day, he is contacted by a mysterious Japanese woman, who leads him back to a piece of his past in Japan and a possible solution to his immortality. Of course, not everything is as it seems and he soon finds himself in the middle of family dispute, and up against the ‘Silver Samurai’.
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Story above action, folks. That’s the key to a good film. Kind of based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s Wolverine from 1982, this movie does a superb job of making Wolverine the focused character of the story. That’s something that X-Men Origins: Wolverine didn’t have the time or space to execute thanks to so many characters and stars packed into one film; that sort of silly shit usually drowns out the main focus of the story, as well as the main character. Ask Sam Raimi how Spider-Man 3 turned out because of just that issue.
Anyway, so with the movie basically to himself, outside of that whole Japanese family corroding from the inside out part of the story, The Wolverine develops into a personal journey for Hugh Jackman’s scarred character to find a way through his own issues of immortality and the death of the only woman he ever loved. Jackman does a superb job with displaying Logan’s internal struggle and truly captures this tragic character’s own doubts and fears. He does a great job with showing how stuck Logan is in his grieving process, and how desperate he is to find a solution — at any cost. To put it bluntly, no one else can capture the character like Jackman. I mean, he really nails it because he’s given the time to explain Logan and to show where he is in this point of his life after all the previous events of the X-Men films. Again, he just absolutely nails it.
As for the story itself, it’s intense, but there are lulls here and there. The good parts are when Logan is in full force with his action. He is mean, quick, brutal and everything you want (and expect) out of Wolverine. The best of the best moments are on the bullet train, especially when the fight leads to the top of the train. The climax of the film is the pinnacle of the action, but I won’t ruin that part for you, just trust me. You won’t be disappointed with the action in The Wolverine.
Now, the movie lulls a bit with the relationship development between Logan and Mariko (Tao Okamoto). I’m not sure if its the acting from Okamoto or the weak writing made for the two characters, but the spark really doesn’t begin to show its face until the love scene begins. You might be saying, ‘well, yeah — that’s when it’s supposed to hit’, but relationships have to build a better foundation before getting to that point. Otherwise it’s a one-night stand, and I’m pretty sure that is not what they were shooting for between the two characters. For a better part of half the film there is zero build or emotion between the two characters. Even after Logan saves Mariko’s life (the second time), she is as cold to him as she was when they first met. Now, I fully understand that there is a sense of Japanese tradition that outlines this story and prevents the two from building anything at all, and the world the story resides in is created perfectly because of it, but if you’re going to uphold Japanese tradition against the outsider (Logan), then go to bed with him, that sorta conflicts with what is already established. In short, there is just not enough development between the two characters to lead to that moment and it’s not very believable. I like that he saves her and that helps uphold his hero status, but the story between the two characters deserves just a bit more than that shallowness. Is it a deal breaker for the film? Nah, but it would have made it much better if it had been done properly.
I like me some strong stories, folks.
Outside of that one complaint, the story has some pretty damn good moments. The connections between the players in this story, especially the final one, is intertwined beautifully. This story certainly makes up for the ‘whatever-it-was’ in X-Men Origins. Director James Mangold and his writers, while not perfect in their execution, certainly have shown they are capable of making a great movie with a great Marvel character. I hope and pray they continue their efforts and are given time to perfect their storytelling with Logan, as faith in 20th Century Fox’s efforts are completely restored (at least for me) because of what Mangold and crew did with The Wolverine.
As for the Blu-ray portion of this film, while mainly made up of a yellow/red/blue tone, looks superb. 20th Century Fox, who isn’t known for the strongest Blu-ray transfers in the past, did a fantastic job with this one. There’s plenty to appreciate and love visually with The Wolverine. There are zero moments of graininess or artifacts, and absolutely no color banding or compression issues with this HD transfer.
As for the audio portion of the movie, you get that brought to you in DTS-HD 7.1 (you’ll love it — especially during the action scenes) and the film arrives in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.
Finally, here are the features you’re looking at:
– Alternate Ending
– X-Men: Days of Future Past
– The Path of Ronin
o Inspiration – A Ronin’s Journey
o Design – Mastering the Arc
o Execution – A Killer Team
o Hugh Jackman – The Man Behind the Mutant
o Reflections – The Evolution of Wolverine
The Path of Ronin featurettes are damn good. You get some strong perspective on the character, the actor and various other aspects of what Mangold and Fox where trying to accomplish. The X-Men: Days of Future Past feature is such a tease. The Alternate Ending is…well…you judge for yourself. Despite the lack of commentary, the overall special features are good. Could have been great with commentary, though. Just saying.
