The Wolverine
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamato, Rila Fukushima
Length: 126 minutes
Country: USA
Another day, another superhero movie. It’s undeniable that cinema seems overly saturated with characters that possess superhuman abilities. There was once a time their powers seemed jaw dropping, battling both their inner and outer demons gave for an entertaining watch that hadn’t been possible for those of comic book culture to witness on the silver screen. For the most part this craze has been thoroughly enjoyable. In fact, the first X-Men was the film that gave me confidence in this subgenre and as the Box Office is my witness, it has grown to become a supernormal profit churner for Hollywood. Unfortunately, The Wolverine becomes the epitome of a typical action movie meandering around its unsubtly positioned themes and ideas.
The Wolverine sees the return of Logan (Hugh Jackman), struggling with inner turmoil after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, in which he was forced to kill the love of his life, Jean Grey, when she became the Dark Phoenix. The story takes place in Japan, where he meets an old acquaintance, Yashida, from his time in a POW camp in Nagasaki. During his trip, Logan is stripped of his immortality, an ability that haunts him to live with the consequences of his past. The film’s setting sets up a unique tale for Logan, the only familiar face we see in this film, but it ultimately fails to deliver on the promise of a deep character study in a foreign land.
The wonderful setting of Japan often feels underutilised to its full potential. Apart from the gorgeous scenery and the funny little culture quirks, the significance of the location seems very tacked on, as if the atomic bombing of Nagasaki is it’s only emotional tether. Even the ronin mythology is clumsily inserted to indiscreetly mirror Logan’s nature.
Hugh Jackman inhabits the role of Logan with brutish and superfluous charisma, but it’s not enough to hide the disdained ineptitude of any of the other characters. Everyone one of these thinly veiled people are poorly presented and uninteresting stereotypes of the action genre. Rila Fukushima plays the role of Yukio with equal grace and ferocity, but as the guardian and close companion of Logan, she ends up burdened with all the expository dialogue, resulting in the audience being spoon-fed every plot point.
The Wolverine does a good albeit not completely consummate job of exploring its protagonist’s fractured psyche
In the continued vein of insulting the audience’s intelligence, the villains are quite possibly the stupidest, most dull and disappointing put on screen. Exhibit A: Brian Tee plays Noburi Mori, a corrupt minister of justice (the irony is unbelievable) who dances around scantly clad women, achieving none of his unidentifiable ‘evil’ goals. Exhibit B: Dr. Green aka The Viper, whose ability is injecting venom by licking a person’s face. As beautiful as actress Svetlana Khodchenkova is, and as funny as the description of her ability is, throughout the film she is as useless as a dryer lint dildo; nothing more than a pretty face on a mad scientist. Exhibit C: The Silver Samurai, who you’d be mistaken to think is a cross between the Silver Surfer and Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai, but is actually far less cooler and once again given very limited screen time to even hope to become significant in the audience’s eye.
I was lying when I said all the villains are awful, in fact the one the film focuses on the most is actually is the best explored in the whole story. Albeit it’s the metaphysical villain of guilt and self-doubt that Logan deals with, but nonetheless the film begins with this struggle and just as it start to carve a dark and sincere path for his story, he’s thrown claws first into Tokyo. This is coupled with the fact that you never end up taking this film seriously, its perception of death and loss feel artificial and are ultimately tainted by its aforementioned less than stellar supporting characters. This is escapism CGI filled summer ‘fun’. If it’s thoughtful, elegant and realistic visions on the death and despair in Japan you’re looking for, you’re better off watching Ikiru, Departures or Grave of The Fireflies. Films that don’t feature close to any of the action in The Wolverine but deliver the solemn tone that director James Mangold is trying to articulate in this world of mutants.
Luckily if you’re ready to sit back, relax and let the narrative wash back like a lifeless tidal wave, then you’ll enjoy the film because the action is actually not bad. Much of it leans to the more ridiculous; Logan fights yakuza on top on a high speed ‘bullet train’ going 150 mph. The well-choreographed battles between Wolverine and the mix of Samurai/Ninja/Yakuza/ foes are the highlight of the film, managing to draw you away from the melodrama that came prior, if only for a moment. Surprisingly, the film doesn’t launch straight into the action, instead it sides for a slow and moody approach that initially works to its favour. But when all hell breaks loose at a funeral, it does become cartoonish and over the top very quickly.
The Wolverine does a good albeit not completely consummate job of exploring its protagonist’s fractured psyche and while it’s miles better than the trifling mess that was X-Men: Origins (will.i.am…seriously!?), it’s still a severe disappointment given the promise of a fresh start in the wonderfully diverse Japan. Regrettably, this is mainly derivative of its nonsensical storytelling and poorly developed supporting characters. In fact, the film peaks in the mid-credits scene, building up taut anticipation for Bryan Singer’s return to the X-Men franchise coming next year in the time travelling, mutant filled X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now that is a film worth looking forward to.
Comments