The Wolverine

After being forced to kill an out-of-control Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Logan (Hugh Jackman) has left the X-Men for a life of solitude in the frigid north. He is tracked down by Yukio (Rila Fukashima), the bodyguard and adopted granddaughter of Yashida, a man Logan saved during World War II. Now a wealthy industrial magnate on his deathbed, Yashida offers to take Logan’s healing factor and end his long and lonely life. Though Logan initially rejects the offer, it isn’t long before he finds himself badly hurt and protecting Yashida’s granddaughter and heir Mariko (Tao Okamoto) from the Yakuza and another clandestine threat.

Directed by James Mangold, this latest X-Men spinoff strikes a decidedly different tone than its predecessors. Whereas X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were showy, special effects-laden wannabe blockbusters with bloated casts and tepid writing, The Wolverine is a more serious affair, an action/crime/family drama that just happens to have mutants. Overall, it’s a significant improvement.

Credit goes to the men both behind and in front of the camera. Because Mangold doesn’t treat his film like a cartoon, it is harder for the audience to dismiss it as such. There are still plenty of action sequences – including, most notably, a fight atop a bullet train – but they feature sharp choreography in place of sloppy and egregious CGI.

Jackman, on the other hand, is as good as he’s ever been in the title role. Whereas the previous films attempted to soften and romanticize Logan’s character, this take provides depth without sacrificing credibility. Yes, Logan is still haunted by his life of tragedy and destruction, but he’s also ruthlessly determined and given enough rage to complement his regret.

Supporting performances vary. Yukio may look like an anime cliché, but Fukashima plays her with enough self-awareness, wry humor, and (like Logan) regret to transcend appearances. Similarly, Okamoto toughens up Mariko to the point where she is more than just a damsel in distress. As the nefarious scientist Viper, Svetlana Khodchenkova is decidedly more one-note, but the note that she strikes is appropriately terrifying. The male roles aren’t nearly as well-drawn. Hioyuki Sanada plays Mariko’s father Shingen with such obvious malice that it arguably spoils the plot. Will Yun Lee as family assassin Harada shows off some nifty archery skills, but his modern-day samurai shtick has been done before.

The script is similarly uneven. Though heavily inspired by Chris Claremont’s comic book series, The Wolverine is not a literal adaptation. It manages to make good use of the Japanese setting and weave together a tangled family history without becoming too cumbersome. However, the denouement is convoluted and flat, and toward the end, the film lapses into the sort of cartoonish action it had previously avoided.

The Wolverine is both the sixth X-Men film and the sixth time Jackman has donned the character’s familiar claws. Unlike films before and after (next year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past looks to be a grander, more ensemble-driven affair), it lacks big stakes and a big-budget feel; it is a side story through and through. However, it also does an admirable job of salvaging the character and adding to the on-screen mutant mythos.

7.5/10