Movie review: 'The Wolverine'

39The Wolverine39 UA Action Director James Mangold Cast Hugh Jackman Hiroyuki Sanada Famke Janssen Will Yun Lee Rila Fukushima Tao Okamoto Svetlana Khodchenkova and Hal Yamanouchi Ratings 39The X Men39 lost steam after the first two films when Brett Ratner desecrated the charm of the material with the third film 39X Men Origins Wolverine39 turned out to be even worse and it looked like the franchise had been killed Matthew Vaughnrsquos 39First Class39 brought a new shade to the series and Bryan Singerrsquos plans of 39Days of the Future Past39 meant that Hugh Jackmanrsquos character would get one more movie 39The Wolverine39u00a0 Therersquos good news ndash 39The Wolverine39 is significantly better than the previous installment even though thatrsquos a step up from a really low benchmark 39The Wolverine39 is based on Frank Millerrsquos limited series and setting the film in Japan was the best thing that couldrsquove happened to the franchise The new setting gives viewers a break from the New York and European locales found in dozens and dozens of modern superhero films Some may call it a display of Japanese exotica but director James Mangold does his best to make it not seem like a lame exotic pagoda Asia tour for American viewers While the previous film was set in the rsquo70s this one is set in the present where Logan is tired of being immortal and seeing his loved ones die Hersquos bitter about the events the unfolded in 39X Men 339 and haunted by the ghost of Jean Grey Famke Janssen wherever he goes S gets real after Logan is summoned to the deathbed of a rich business titan at his palatial house and his wish of forgoing immortality soon begins to come true The first thing yoursquoll notice about 39The Wolverine39 is its considerably bleaker and mature tone compared to 39Origins39 This is a more characterdriven movie more surefooted and selfassured perhaps due to prior knowledge of the direction the franchise is taking in the future Until the third act the film is pretty much a noir focussing on the dual nature of its protagonist rather than throwing in as many cool looking mutants as possible the way the previous films did The studio guys screwed up the last time and it is admirable that they understood their fansrsquo frustration and fixed a lot of their mistakes Logan falls for a Japanese woman and feels guilty of betraying the deceased Jean an emotional adultoriented theme rarely found in superhero films Jackman once again runs the show single handedly hersquos an unstoppable monster in one scene and suddenly a compassionate tragic hero in the next it is impossible to imagine anyone else playing the character Therersquos also a geekgasmic post credits scene to please those looking forward to the big 39X Men39 ensemble that arrives next year Unfortunately 39The Wolverine39 keeps falling into the trapdoor of cartoonish violence that has so often plagued the series Every heavyduty character moment is offset by some action scene hurriedly written in to keep ADD teenagers from falling asleep While the ninja stuff is fun the big action scenes have some over the top dodgy CGI which is made even worse by the abysmal 3D Mangold stays quite faithful to the comics and Svetlana Khodchenkovarsquos Viper is a sassy if one note nemesis Fans of the Silver Samurai however will have a bone or two to pick with Mangold because he is shoved into the story the same way Deadpool was in the previous movie It doesnrsquot matter because the film appeals to the casual viewer who isnrsquot very familiar with the comics and it is a passably fun entertainer on that front just not a memorable one