The X Men lost steam after the
first two films when Brett Ratner desecrated the charm of the material with the
third film. X Men Origins Wolverine turned
out to be even worse and it looked like the franchise had been killed. Matthew
Vaughn’s First Class brought a new
shade to the series and Bryan Singer’s plans of Days of the Future Past meant that Hugh Jackman’s character would
get one more movie. There’s good news - The
Wolverine is significantly better than the previous installment, even
though that’s a step up from a really low benchmark.
The Wolverine is based on Frank Miller’s limited series and setting
the film in Japan was the best thing that could’ve 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 70’s, this one is set in the present where Logan is tired
of being immortal and seeing his loved ones die. He’s bitter about the events
the unfolded in X Men 3 and haunted
by the ghost of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) wherever he goes. Shit gets real
after Logan is summoned to the death bed of a rich business titan at his palatial
house and his wish of forgoing immortality soon begins to come true.
The first thing you’ll notice
about The Wolverine is its
considerably bleaker and mature tone compared to Origins. This is a more character driven movie, more sure footed
and self-assured, 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,
focusing 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 fans’
frustration and fixed a lot of their mistakes. Logan falls for a Japanese woman
and feels guilty of betraying the deceased Jean, an emotional adult oriented
theme rarely found in superhero films. Jackman once again runs the show single
handedly, he’s 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. There’s also a geekgasmic post credits scene to please those looking
forward to the big X Men ensemble that arrives next year.
Unfortunately The Wolverine keeps falling into the
trapdoor of cartoonish violence that has so often plagued the series. Every
heavy duty 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
Khodchenkova's 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 doesn’t matter
because the film appeals to the casual viewer who isn’t very familiar with the
comics, and it is a passably fun entertainer on that front, just not a
memorable one. It's time to accept the fact that the X Men and the Avengers are fun only when they're together, their standalone films won't ever be as entertaining.
(First published in MiD Day)
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