Review: The Wolverine

Review: The Wolverine
*Spoilers Alert.
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official "The Wolverine" Poster.

      One of the most anticipated movies of 2013, 'The Wolverine' franchise was aiming to redeem itself in front of his fans and critics. And for the most part this movie does exactly that and a bit more.

"Hugh Jackman".

"Rila Fukushima" and
"Hugh Jackman".

      After the events of 'X-Men: The Last Stand', 'Logan'(Hugh Jackman) is now living as a hermit in the Yukon, tormented by constant hallucinations of the death of his epic love 'Jean Gray'(Famke Janssen) and trying to get away from everyone he loves so that he can keep them safe. However, 'Yukio'(Rila Fukushima) locates 'Logan' and eventually convinces him to head to Tokyo in order for her master 'Yashida'(Haruhiko Yamanouchi) ,who was saved by 'Logan' during the atomic bomb on 'Nagasaki' and is now head of the largest technology corporation in Japan, to say his goodbyes before his death. After the death of 'Yashida', it is now 'Logan''s turn to save his granddaughter 'Mariko'(Tao Okamoto), since everyone is targeting her. Here 'Logan' will enter a journey that will affect him mentally, spiritually, as well as physically and will change him forever. All while being in situations that he has never been in before. Other characters include 'Dr. Green/Viper'(Svetlana Khodchenkova) a mutant immune to toxins, 'Shingen Yashida'(Hiroyuki Sanada) 'Yashida''s son and 'Mariko''s father, 'Kenuichio Harada'(Will Yun Lee) 'Mariko''s former lover and head of the 'Black Ninja' clan, and 'Noburo Mori'(Brian Tee) a corrupt minister of justice who is about to marry 'Mariko'.

"Svetlana Khodchenkova".

"Tao Okamoto".

      After the 'not so great' movie 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', producers wanted to take a new direction with this known character and take it to a known place and stay true to the character's origin. And that is exactly what they did. This is the first 'X-Men' movie that truly is character driven rather than action driven. Though the entirety of the movie you felt that it wasn't just another action movie where the characters are underdeveloped. The main character 'The Wolverine' had such great baggage that was used in a really good manner; moreover, most of the supporting characters were addressed in a very good way and were able to have their respective development. Whether all were successful is not really the point. The point is that finally we saw an 'X-Men' movie that is truly good and that was developed in the right way. The serious tone that was dominating the movie with splashes of good comedic moments was shown. Moreover, I loved the Japanese culture influence on the whole movie, from cultural aspects to the inclusion of domestic actors/actresses.

"Hugh Jackman".

"Rila Fukushima" and
"Hiroyuki Sanada".

      Director "James Mangold", who is known for his work in 'Walk the Line' and 'Knight and Day', did a magnificent job. His directing style and technique complimented this movie perfectly. Hopefully future 'X-Men' movies will be approached at the same angle as "Mangold" did with this one. Though the screenplay was originally penned by "Christopher McQuarrie"('Valkyrie' and 'The Tourist') who is uncredited in this movie, the writers "Mark Bomback"('Race to Witch Mountain' and 'Total Recall') and "Scott Frank"('Minority Report' and 'Marley & Me') did a very good job with all the aspects of the movie from characters to the actual story. The music in this movie was spectacular. "Marco Beltrami", known for composing the music of movies such as 'The Hurt Locker' and '3:10 to Yuma', did an incredible job highlighting the overall serious tone of the movie and the Japanese influence.

"Svetlana Khodchenkova".

"Tao Okamoto" and
"Hugh Jackman".

      What I really liked about the movie's scenes and pacing is that they are not basically 100% compatible with an adapted comic book movie, yet they felt good while watching 'The Wolverine'. The opening sequence was a really good way to open the movie. From there, the movie moves at a rapid yet acceptable pace. The inclusion of the action sequence was done in a manner that didn't undermine the movie and didn't affect its overall development. The scenery transition from one scene to another was really good and never once did I feel like a scene was rushed. The funeral scenes as well as the bullet train sequence were one of my favorite scenes due to the directing and its pacing, as well as the clever inclusion of comedy in it. Other favorite scenes include the 'Logan'-'Yukio'-'Shingen' fight scene, 'Black Ninja''s attack on 'Logan', and the climax battle. The ending was shocking after it was revealed who was inside of the 'Silver Samurai'. Also the fate of 'Logan' and the changes that occur with him were unexpected.

"Will Yun Lee".

'Silver Samurai' and "Hugh Jackman".

      "Hugh Jackman" is the 'Wolverine'. His performance in every 'X-Men' movie is always the best, and the same is to be said in this one, especially since this movie was a character driven movie, which enabled "Jackman" to furthermore develop this character and show us more who the 'Wolverine' is. This movie had two main plot lines for this character. The first, which was the best for me, was accepting his immortality. And the second one was being a 'ronin'- a samurai/ a soldier who lives by his own code. Though these two parallel stories did not really intertwine the way they should have; nonetheless, they were good stories to drive this character. What I really liked about the 'Wolverine' was the new aspects and situations that they brought to the characters that we didn't see before, such as not being able to heal quickly. The mixing and new changes brought to the character were appreciated. "Hugh Jackman" has already proven himself to be a star that can lead such a huge franchise as 'X-Men' and this movie just solidifies this fact.

"Haruhiko Yamanouchi".

"Famke Janssen" and
'Hugh Jackman".

      Moving on to the other characters, 'Yukio', who was played by a new actress on the Hollywood scene "Rila Fukushima", was an interesting character. Loved the dynamic between her and "Jackman"'s character. I also thought that "Fukushima"'s character had a very interesting story and character development. As for "Tao Okamoto"'s character 'Mariko', I had mixed feelings about her. Yes at one point she did do a good job and had great character chemistry with "Hugh Jackman" in a weird way, still her character should’ve been worked on more and could have had a greater impact on the overall story. "Svetlana Khodchenkova"'s character 'Dr. Green/Viper' was another character that I wasn't so sure about. The character overall was interesting, that said it never truly put her mark on the story and needed to be involved more. "Haruhiko Yamanouchi” who was plays ‘Yashida’, was a very interesting villain yet not the best one. As for the other characters, such as 'Kenuichio', 'Noburo' and 'Shingen', all of them were good characters and important for the overall story, yet not that interesting. And finally we have "Famke Janssen" who played 'Jean Gray', whose inclusion in the movie was so clever and was pleasing for the 'X-Men' loyal fan base.

      Overall, 'The Wolverine' will be considered as the better 'X-Men' movies. Whether another 'Wolverine' movie with "Hugh Jackman" will be made is still to be seen. Until that, the post-credit scene at the end will make you so excited for the next movie 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', which will certainly one of the best movie of 2014.

Official "The Wolverine" Poster.

-'The Wolverine' Info:
-Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, and Famke Janssen.
-Based on: 'The Wolverine' by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.
-Studio(s): 20th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment, and Seed Productions.
-Directed by: James Mangold.
-Screenplay: Mark Bomback and Scott Frank.
-Music by: Marco Beltrami.
-Running Time: 126 minutes.
-Budget: $ 120,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 132,556,852.
                      -Foreign: $ 282,271,394.
-Rating: -IMdb: 7.1/10.
               -Rotten Tomatoes: 68%.
               -Metacritic: 60%.

               -PERSONAL RATING: 8.0/10.

-'The Wolverine' Trailer: