First things first: I love me some Hugh Jackman. Maybe I don’t have Kate and Leopold-type love, but I do have Swordfish-level love. He’s compelling and commits fully to every role and, yes, easy on the eyes. Though Wolverine is not my favorite comic book character and the X-Men are not my favorite comic book heroes, there was no chance that I wouldn’t be seeing The Wolverine. There was little chance I wouldn’t see it on opening night.
Opening night it was. 3D by chance – it was the time that worked for the family – and, boy, was that a waste of an upcharge. There are some 3D films that really pop out at an audience. This wasn’t one of them. In fact, I cannot think of one moment where the 3D really took me or enhanced the film. If you see The Wolverine, don’t worry about 3D.
I liked the movie quite a bit. What surprised me after seeing it (and I remain surprised a few days following the viewing) is that there is an awful lot going on thematically in the movie. Any film that opens up with the bombing of Nagasaki better have broader things on its mind than Jackman popping his claws, and The Wolverine does. I wasn’t expecting a meditation on re-birth – perhaps I should have been considering Wolverine’s particular power set – but, inasmuch as a superhero movie can delve deeply into such a concept, The Wolverine does. And does so fairly subtly through a number of different plot threads. There’s some material here for later consideration – more than I found in Avengers or Iron Man 3 or Man of Steel. I didn’t expect that.
I also didn’t expect how cheesy the third act would be – shockingly cheesy, by-the-way – but more on that in a paragraph or two.
Jackman is as great as I expected and he certainly looks the part. Ripped. Shredded. Whatever word you want to choose. He transforms himself into Wolverine (who is, interestingly enough, never referred with the article “the” in the comics) and has been worth watching in all the X-Men movies – even X-Men 3. We tend to lionize Robert Downey, jr’s performance as Tony Stark, but I would argue Hugh Jackman inhabits Wolverine just as effectively.
The supporting cast is uniformly solid, save Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper. My goodness, she’s painful. Her audition must have been nothing like her performance. One wonders why director James Mangold didn’t Eric Stoltz her from the film. Bracketing her, the other actors measure up to the bar Jackman sets particularly Rila Fukushima as Yukio and Ken Yamamura as young Yashido. Both share significant screen time with Jackman and their scenes energize the film. They are the most critical characters beyond Wolverine and it was important that they could carry that weight.
They do. A long time.
Another surprising element of the film is the love triangle that is on display here. With Wolverine’s subconscious drifting toward a former lover in Famke Jansen’s Jean Grey while his conscious world is becoming increasingly tied up with Tao Okamoto’s Mariko. Okamoto is very solid in her role. It’s a less flashy role than either Yukio or Jean and it treads the damsel in distress roads that we’ve seen all-too-many times in other films far too closely to be revelatory. She’s good. She’s good enough, but a stronger performance would have helped the film.
There are some stunning visuals in The Wolverine. The Nagasaki scenes are arresting. There is a high speed battle on a Japanese bullet train that took my breath away. Wolverine’s battle with a horde of ninjas on the way to save Mariko is really amazing – if we forgive the fact that the ninjas subdue Wolverine as he’s trying to storm a stronghold only to deliver him to the very same stronghold! The Wolverine is a well made film.
But it’s almost undone by it’s third act. The third act is a mess of comic-booky concepts that seem utterly out-of-place in the world the film has generated. It’s got villains monologuing, bad CGI and an all too pat resolution. The Wolverine is not alone among superhero films in these flaws, but the end of the film really lets down the promise of the beginning.
HOWEVER, the mid-credits stinger MORE THAN makes up for the deficiencies of the third act. It’s actually worth the price of admission and I won’t spoil it here. I want to, but I won’t.
The Wolverine has grand ambitions it doesn’t quite reach, but it is worth a view by more than comic book lovers. Jackman’s performance should please an audience. The deeper themes of the film should challenge an audience. The Nagasaki moments should affect an audience.
The Wolverine receives three-and-a-half Popped Claws out of a possible five.
And There Came a Day... 