The Wolverine Review

The Wolverine

This is a complicated film to set up. It’s the sequel to the less than inspiring X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which was third in the X-Men franchise. Then came the forgettable X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), which was a prequel to the first of the X-Men films. Then X-Men: First Class (2011) was made, which was also a prequel to the first X-Men (2000). Is anyone else confused?

In The Wolverine, Hugh Jackmanrevisits his most famous role as the mutant with adamantium claws who possesses the inability to die. He’s still grieving for Jean Grey, who died at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand, he’s lost contact with all other mutants and he desperately needs a haircut. He’s summoned to a dying, ex-comrade’s house in Japan, ostensibly to say goodbye but the motive is much darker; Wolverineis asked to give up his power of immortality for the old solider.

(Spoiler alert: tiny plot points may be revealed)

It’s a disappointing and dull watch. The hand to hand combat scenes become tedious after an initial bust up and we don’t want to see Wolverine fighting a metal robot, this isn’t Transformers, we want action, preferably with other mutants, who are seemingly near extinct in this film. What perhaps saves The Wolverine from blending in with thousands of other action films is the Japanese Bullet train scene.

We’ve all seen heroes fighting atop a speeding train, there are scenes like this in almost every testosterone driven thrill fest. Wolverine has to fight off baddies who are trying to kidnap the daughter of a multi-billionaire mogul, who is in turn the son of the dying soldier. The pure, unadulterated speed of this section is impressive. Wolverine is buffeted back and forth, using his claws to penetrate the train’s roof while the bad guys have to use the lowly knife. It’s genuinely exciting - my heart rate was up, I was biting my fist and Hugh Jackman wasn’t even shirtless.

Throughout the X-Men series, we’ve seen strong women, conflicted women, blue skinned women and near unbeatable women. So why were they barely present in The Wolverine? There’s a feisty, kick ass, mutant girl played by Rila Fukushimawho acts as a messenger and bodyguard and most importantly, is intriguing. Do the film’s scriptwriters ensure that she becomes the centre of Logan’s world? No because she has a personality and a penchant for the punky look. Logan goes instead for the wet and generic rich girl in constant need of rescuing. Again, seen it all before. At the risk of sounding like Magneto himself, I want to see Wolverine with a mutant; a mere mortal doesn’t seem worthy enough for me.

2/5 stars