The Wolverine
After a slew of epic superhero films, where the action sequences feature the destruction of entire cities, it makes a refreshing change to see something different. Enter The Wolverine, a more thoughtful piece of comic book action.
Iāve had issues with the X Men movies in the past. I thought Bryan Singerās first two movies, despite flaws, showed promise, but then The Last Stand derailed the series. To make matters worse, the first prequel film X Men Origins: Wolverine - despite some interesting ideas ā proved to be a rushed shambles of a movie. I thought the X Men series was done for. I kind of hoped it was. And when First Class was similarly rushed into production, I expected another disaster of X Men Origins proportion, only to be pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be not just half-decent, but the best of the bunch. The only criticisms I could make about it were the confusing inconsistences with the previous movies. Surely, it was Foxās attempt to reboot the franchise and forget what had come before.
Even so, I didnāt have high expectations when The Wolverine was announced, especially when initial director Darren Aronofsky dropped out (his film The Fountain is one of my all time favourite films). Donāt get me wrong, I love Hugh Jackman in the role and I think heās a terrific actor, but in all honesty every X Men movie weād seen had been a āWolverine pictureā in my opinion. First Class was the only exception, and even then he got a cameo. In short, I was a little Wolverineād out. And whatās more, on paper, the story didnāt sound all that interesting, nor did the trailer inspire.
How refreshing it is to see then that James Mangoldās The Wolverine turns out to be not only thoroughly entertaining throughout, but one of, if not the, best in the series to date. Following the thrills of Iron Man 3, and the loud Man of Steel, itās encouraging to see that studios trusted Mangold to give us something different. Thereās action to be sure, but The Wolverine is not about big set pieces, itās a character study.Ā After four (and a bit) movies, we finally get to discover who James Logan aka The Wolverine truly is. Heās a tragic character, āblessedā with the ability to live forever and therefore eventually lose everybody that he loves. Here we pick up the character a year or so after the events of X Men 3, where he was forced to kill Jean Grey - the woman he loved ā in order to save the world.
The movie makers describe this film as a darker tale, but thatās a term that gets bandied around so much that it seems to have lost all meaning. Nowadays, people seem to make every sequel ādarkerā, take their characters into darker places, as if that automatically makes the film more interesting. Here though, whilst the character may very well be in a dark place, as is expected after losing a loved one, I hesitate to give it such a label as I think it would be doing the film a great disservice, as if the tone of the movie was one-note. Iād describe it as serious and adult. And, whilst I donāt wish to be critical of comic-book movies in general, The Wolverine stands out because it doesnāt feel like āa comic book filmā, it feels like a serious piece of cinema.
In fact, if anything lets it down, its that the final set piece feels too familiar, as if weāve seen it in every other comic book film. The Silver Samurai looks too reminiscent of The Destroyer in Thor, the female villain Viper feels like a cross between Poison Ivy and Toad of the first X Men film ā not really all that interesting. And yet, even so, it doesnāt matter all that much because they are simply there to add an extra level of threat. We donāt need a big villain because the main story involves Wolverine now being vulnerable. And so every fight is a big battle, every unnamed thug is a threat, and every wound could spell the end for our favourite mutant.
Just as Iron Man 3 deconstructed Tony Stark and explored his character more outside of the suit, The Wolverine follows suit and reminds us why the title character is so appealing. The fact that the story does take itās time means that we can get into Loganās head, we can feel for him and actually buy into his and Marikoās romance. Ā So many other big budget films, comic book adaptations or not, are in such a rush to get their lead characters together, they donāt care about showing us how they got to that place, but in this case I actually buy it. Certainly more so than Logan falling in love with Jean Grey over the course of three X Men films.
The Wolverine may not be talked about as much as Iron Man, or Man of Steel, or half of the other comic book films that have been released over the past couple of years, and thatās a shame because finally we got a movie worthy of the Wolverine name. Itās a worthy addition to the franchise, and by far one of the most interesting and involving comic adaptations in recent years.
I just hope that next yearās Days of Future Past can continue the uphill trend and give us the X Men movie weāve all been waiting for.
