The Wolverine

Note: This review contains spoilers for X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Despite the cold reception X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Origins) faced on release, the X-Men film series continued going strong and development began on a follow-up film simply titled The Wolverine, based on the original Japanese arc of the Wolverine comics. Although development began in 2009, with Darren Aronofsky later set to direct, it ran into certain production troubles along the way. These troubles included a delay brought on by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Aronofsky’s departure and finding a replacement director willing to take on the lengthy commitment. In spite of these obstacles, the final film released in 2013 to higher critical praise than Origins and greater box office returns, earning $414.8 million against a budget of $100-132 million.

Considering how much Origins had missed the mark, I knew going into The Wolverine that there would be some improvement, especially after seeing some fans characterize it as an “apology” for its predecessor. What I didn’t quite expect, however, was that The Wolverine not only held up very well after over a decade, but is easily one of the stronger films in the franchise.

In August 1945, Logan (Hugh Jackman), who is held as a POW near Nagasaki, saves the life of an officer named Ichiro Yashida (Ken Yamamura) during the city’s atomic bombing by shielding him from the blast. Decades later, following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Logan is tormented by hallucinations of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom he was forced to kill. In the Yukon, where he lives as a hermit, Logan is located by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a mutant who can foresee people’s deaths, who brings Logan to Tokyo so Ichiro, now the CEO of a tech zaibatsu, can repay his life debt. When Logan meets Ichiro (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), who is dying of cancer, he turns down an offer to transfer his healing factor, which would save Ichiro’s life and make Logan mortal once more. Shortly after he refuses, Ichiro dies and Logan attends his funeral the next day. However, the funeral comes under attack from yakuza, who attempt to kidnap Ichiro’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto). As Logan thwarts the attempted kidnapping, he quickly learns that someone has weakened his healing factor, rendering him more vulnerable than ever as he tries to keep Mariko safe and learn why she was targeted.

Yukio (Rila Fukushima, left) brings Logan (Hugh Jackman, right) to Japan.

Where X-Men Origins: Wolverine tried and fumbled at crafting a serious Wolverine storyline in a film franchise that was arguably already about him, The Wolverine knocks it out of the park. Right away, the opening scene not only sets up Logan’s relationship with Ichiro, but also shows off his selfless side. His camaraderie with Ichiro presents a powerful contrast with how the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (The Last Stand) had affected him. Regardless of one’s feelings about the writing quality of The Last Stand, Logan’s depression over the loss of both Jean Grey, the woman he loved, and Charles Xavier, the man who guided him, feels like a natural continuation of his character arc. Considering the heavy Japanese themes of the film, his characterization as a ronin, a samurai without a master, feels both fitting and inspired.

Thanks to the film’s more consistently serious tone, the writing is allowed a lot more depth than the previous outing. During the first act, there’s an event where a bear is shot with a poison arrow and Logan confronts the hunter about making the animal die a slow and painful death instead of just putting it out of its misery. This event serves as great foreshadowing for the rest of the film, as Logan himself is weakened by Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), a mutant who can expel toxins from her mouth and is immune to all poison, as he goes on his quest for justice and personal journey for purpose. Not only had The Last Stand left him emotionally vulnerable, he spends much of the film physically vulnerable and in a real danger of dying if he can’t reverse his condition. Despite this, he’s still willing to put his life on the line for those who are helping him, which makes him a compelling character and helps the conclusion of his arc feel earned.

Alongside Logan, Yukio and Mariko are well-written characters in their own right, but they also have great chemistry with him, enough that you’d want to see the teased further adventures with Logan and Yukio. Although Jean Grey appears to Logan in the form of hallucinations, she’s also an effective metaphor for Logan’s mental health and ability to move on. The film also features a good depiction of Japan and takes advantage of its unique features while respecting the culture as best it can. For example, Logan has a nickname of Kuzuri, meaning “Wolverine”, and, in a neat attention to detail, Silver Samurai wields both a short and long sword.

While The Wolverine is pretty well-written, some may find contention with the fight against Silver Samurai in the climax, which leans more into the sillier tone of other comic book films. Although the final battle does complete Logan’s character arc and is thankfully confined to one location, I can’t completely disagree with this assessment, as the rest of the fights and special effects felt more grounded and the design of Silver Samurai is a bit too convenient for the plot. One other criticism I had was that Viper, one the of the main antagonists, is a step down compared to other X-Men villains, as she doesn’t do much beyond standing around or spitting poison in other people’s faces. On a lesser note, there’s also the mid-credits scene, which takes place two years later and sets up the next film, Days of Future Past. Though this scene is done very well, the only disappointing thing is that it implies Yukio won’t return.

Admittedly, the Silver Samurai fight is pretty silly.

Alongside the strong writing, The Wolverine has impressive acting. This naturally includes Hugh Jackman, who proves once more that he’s the perfect fit for Logan, though Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Haruhiko Yamanouchi are strong in their roles as well.

Then there are the impressive special effects. The CG is much improved over Origins, as certain effects like Wolverine’s claws look more convincing. Additionally, some creative camera work makes certain action scenes, particularly the fight atop a bullet train, look incredible and the mid-credits scene features a good use of mimes like X2. Although the film wasn’t shot entirely in Japan, it still captures the feeling of the country very well.

 

 

At the time of the film’s home video release, fans could buy a four-disc set that contained the DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D versions, as well as a new unrated cut dubbed the “Unleashed Extended Edition”. This cut contains twelve extra minutes of footage, with extended action sequences, additional character interactions and increased blood and gore, plus a couple more f-bombs. Although this set is harder to track down now, we went through the effort after watching the original theatrical cut.

Put simply, the Unleashed Extended Cut is the ideal way to watch The Wolverine. The added and extended scenes actually add to the experience and help fill in some gaps. For example, Yashida’s family dynamic gets explored more and a new flashback to Logan’s time in a hole following the bombing of Nagasaki maintains some continuity with his background as presented in Origins. Plus, the bloodier action sequences do a much better job at capturing the brutality of Logan’s abilities. Keep in mind, however, that if you weren’t a fan of the third act in the theatrical cut, this cut won’t really change your mind.

In the context of the X-Men films up to the point of its release, The Wolverine is easily one of its strongest entries thanks to its comparatively more grounded narrative and somber look at Wolverine as a character. While it may not come close to the later Logan in quality, it’s certainly an improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine.