"The Wolverine" (2013) Movie Review

"The Wolverine" Movie Review 

Introduction

“The Wolverine” takes place after the event in X-men:The Last Stand. As wolverine survived the battle in X-men: The Last Stand, he was haunted by the fact that he has to kill his love, Jean Grey who had gone berserk during the event in that movie. He was constantly living under his nightmares. This time around, a mysterious Japanese girl has found him and invited him to Tokyo. One of Wolverine’s old Japanese friend, Yashida is dying and he wishes to see him for the last time. In Tokyo, due to certain events, Logan (a.k.a Wolverine) has lost his healing ability. He is going to face enemies who would be able to put him to death.

What has happened which caused Wolverine to lose his healing ability?

Who are the real enemies he is about to face?

Will he finally free himself from his misery and die like a normal human?

Let’s put your claws up and check it out in the nearest cinema!

Full Review: 
(for summarized review, please visit: http://www.wljack.com/2013/07/movie-review-wolverine-2013.html) 

“The Wolverine” as mentioned above, is the sequel after the event in X-men: The Last Stand. Wolverine has lost most of his friends and most importantly the love of his life, a.k.a Jean Grey. The psychological impact faced by Wolverine was well portrayed in this movie making it not just a mindless slashing and hacking action movie, but it has also delivered the insight of how it would feel when you have lost someone important in your life.

James Mangold has done a good job in making the film not just focusing on the action sequence but also the storyline and characters development. The film has some twist of events which might surprise you in the end. Throughout the movie, there were a lot of unanswered questions. But all of these were not plot holes as they were brilliantly answered as the movie progresses. Every scene happens for a reason. Thus, making its story-telling quite compelling and mysterious at certain times.

As for the action sequences, it was simply amazing. There are quite a lot of action scenes which were creatively shot. The most notable moment is when Wolverine is fighting a bunch of Yakuza on top of the bullet train. It is really nice and I am sure a lot of audience will like that part of the movie too.

On the other hand, the pacing of the movie is fast.  But the movie does slow down a little at certain scenes for the development and interaction between the characters. By the end of the movie, you will get to know the sentimental side of Wolverine better. Besides, there were a few jokes and funny dialogues inserted in a few of the scenes too.

For the acting and performances, overall most of the casts have done a magnificent job in their roles. Hugh Jackman has returned again reprising his role as the Wolverine for the sixth times on screen.  It is seldom for us to see the same actor playing the similar superhero character for so many times. But nevertheless, Jackman has never disappointed us. His acting is undeniably good and his portraying of The Wolverine character is spectacular. To me, Hugh Jackman is already the real Wolverine.

As for the new casts, Tao Okamoto (playing the role of Mariko) and Rila Fukushima (playing the role of Yukio), both have done a good job too. I am sure the audience will probably like both of them too by the end of the show. I have to admit, I don’t really like Yukio at the first glance, but due to her stunts and her performance later on in the show, she has convinced me to like her too.

The soundtracks blend well with the movie and they were good enough to immerse you into the fast-paced action scenes. It might not be as fantastic as Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack but it can provide a certain amount of epic background atmosphere which complement well with the mind-blowing actions.

Apart from that, the movie is mostly filmed in Japan. Most of the scenes involve Japanese buildings or landscapes which are visually beautiful for the viewers. All of these have added a new flavour to the X-men franchise. Throughout the film, the audience are also exposed to some Japanese cultures too (such as the funeral ritual, Japanese language, ninjas and ..even..the love hotel). This setting is something fresh in a western blockbuster movie. Some other western movies might have been filmed in Japan too. But The Wolverine has actually taken the effort to really introduce more regarding the local cultures to the audience.  

There is one bad thing about the movie though. It’s regarding the villains in this movie. I found that the villains were not as well depicted as the protagonists. For example, Viper (one of the mutant villain in this movie) feels somehow coming out of nowhere and nothing much is really explained about her. At times she seems to be a very tough opponent but at times she just seems like a joke as a villain because she’s rather weak in the end. Her character just doesn’t feel right and a bit inconsistent. Same goes to another few antagonists too.

Another minor issue is, there is lacking of blood in this film. You can see Logan (Wolverine) slashing the enemies, but you can’t see any blood, would that be possible? But it’s still an understandable issue due to the viewership rating of PG-13.

Overall, this is definitely something more than I’d expected from an X-men movie. To be frank, I really hated the first wolverine standalone movie a few years back, X-men Origins: Wolverine. But, to my surprise, this movie seems to stand out from the other movies of the same series. Instead of feeling like the usual “superhero” movie, The Wolverine makes me feel like it’s an insightful movie with some James Bond movie element in it.

I totally love it!

What I like about the movie:

1. Great storylines with a twist, fast-paced yet engaging, serious mood but has humours too
2. Cool action sequences
3. Convincing acting by most of the casts
4. Epic background soundtracks
5. Nice background settings and visuals
6. HUGH JACKMAN!!! (He has made Wolverine comes to live again!)
7. A FANTASTIC POST-CREDIT SCENE!!!

What I dislike about the movie:

1. Villains which are a bit out-of-place and inconsistent
2.  Lacking of blood from enemies who were basically slashed with claws (but can be acceptable because not all audience can accept scenes with too much blood)

Verdict:
This movie deserves 9.0/10.0!

In my opinion, this movie has surprised me with the standard much higher than what I have expected. It is easily one of the best movie in the X-men franchise!

Cool actions, good storylines with surprise, epic soundtrack and nice cultural settings! Thus, it is a must watch for Wolverine fans or audience who enjoys action movie!

By the way, remember to stay behind for the post-credit scene!

However, for people who are anticipating a movie which can top the Dark Knight Rises, you might be disappointed or might not like The Wolverine that much! Or else, the audience who simply hates X-men or Wolverine, this is a movie you should stay away then!

Published by WLJack.