In a saturated market of superhero fastballs, The Wolverine proves how valuable a good change-up can be. I'll be honest; while most movies in this sub-genre are fun, so many of them feel far too similar. How many movies involving an origin story, a save-the-world plot, and spectacles of destruction can we take before they all start to blend together? Thankfully, The Wolverine strips away a lot of these superhero staples and gives us a story of an entirely different flavor. With its emphasis on organized crime and an internal character struggle, this is more Dark Knight or the first Iron Man than Man of Steel or The Avengers. It certainly contains enough action to satisfy hungry fans, but the core story is driven by characters, not spectacle.
The Wolverine begins with a scene set during the WWII bombing of Nagasaki, Japan as the title character saves a solider's life from the nuclear blast. Fast-forwarding to the present day (and after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand), we catch up with Logan (Hugh Jackman), and he's not living the happiest of times. After picking a fight with a group of bar thugs in the Yukon, a young Japanese warrior woman named Yukio (Rile Fukushima) intervenes and explains why she tracked him down. The man whose life Logan saved, billionaire industrialist Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), is now dying and wishes to bid farewell to his savior. Logan reluctantly agrees to accompany Yukio to Tokyo, and when the old man passes away, Logan finds himself an unwitting protector of Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who is being hunted by a rival gang. Also involved in the plot are one of Mariko's protectors, deadly-accurate archer Harada (Will Yun Lee), and a mutant with reptilian abilities who is appropriately named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova).
After X-Men: The Last Stand disappointed so many viewers, myself included, it's amazing how much better it appears in hindsight given the direction taken with Logan's character here. He is haunted by visions of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and the decision he made to kill her, and this plays a large role in his assertion that being immortal isn't all its cracked up to be. On the contrary; he has to wrestle with the inevitability that everyone he grows close to will pass him by, and it's a weighty burden. The Wolverine doesn't do the kind of heavy lifting and philosophizing that The Dark Knight series or even Iron Man does, but it's still nice to see that amid all the action sequences and villains to thwart, the movie never loses sight of its hero as a character.
Director James Mangold is primarily known for drama films, but he deftly handles any scene with a pulse. The Wolverine contains numerous chases and fights, many inspired by martial arts and all of which are well-executed. The most unique of these involves a fight atop a speeding bullet train where, for once, the filmmakers pay a little attention to the laws of physics. And while the introduction of a large silver samurai robot (as seen in some of the ads) at first seems pretty silly, there's actually an interesting reason for its presence.
Hugh Jackman, much like Robert Downey Jr., dominates a Marvel character in a way few could. Not only is his physique more impressive than in any of his previous turns as Wolverine (and so soon after playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables), but he has the perfect grip on what makes the character tick. Rile Fukushima proves to be an excellent ass-kicking sidekick, and model-turned-actress Tao Okamoto shows enough ability to make her role as the love interest work. Mention also must be made of Svetlana Khodchenkova, who oozes the perfect blend of sex appeal and malice, but her villainous role is a bit underused.
As is Marvel tradition, The Wolverine contains a mid-credits Easter Egg, and this short scene may be one of the most satisfying in recent memory. It's quite the spectacular reveal, and I can safely say it will have fans giddy for this franchise's future prospects. As for the two-hour movie that precedes it, The Wolverine proves that not every superhero tale has to engage in a battle of one-upsmanship to be satisfying. Sometimes, it's better to get back to basics and deliver a character-based story with action elements than keep finding new ways to blow stuff up.
Rating: *** (out of ****)
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