The Wolverine – Review
Superhero films are all the rage and few are more popular than Wolverine. After the conclusion of the original X-Men trilogy, he was the only one to get his own film in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. None of that would be possible without Hugh Jackman and it is impossible to imagine the character portrayed by anyone else. The X-Men franchise is at a crossroads at the moment though. Their movie rights are owned by 20th Century Fox and for a while it seemed unclear which direction they wanted to take things. This year’s The Wolverine gives us a good indication of where things are headed.
Aside from Hugh Jackman, other prominant roles are played by Tao Okamoto, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, and Famke Janssen even makes a return of sorts. The story has it’s roots during the second World War when Wolverine was being detained in the bottom of an old well by the Japanese outside of Nagasaki. American bombers are seen approaching and panic ensues but what no one knows yet is that they are destined to receive a nuclear payload. Wolverine helps a young Japanese soldier to the bottom of the well and shields him with a large metal plate and his own body.
This young Japanese soldier survived to become a very successful business tycoon. Fast forward to the present time and he is an old man near the end of his life. Wolverine meanwhile, while physically the same as back in Nagasaki, emotionally is damaged. He has recurrent dreams and nightmares of Jean Grey and feels as though his life has no purpose. Then one day he is found by a young Japanese women who tells him that she was sent by the Japanese soldier he saved many years ago and that he is old and wants to say thank you and goodbye. Wolverine reluctantly agrees to make the journey to Japan to say goodbye, but he soon learns that not everything is as it seems.
There is certainly a lot to love about The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman’s performance is flawless. Deep questions are posed regarding the implications of living forever. How long can you live and still have something to live for? It’s a great premise because these aren’t just generic evils that any superhero could be slotted in to battle. The issues he faces are problems that are uniqiue to Wolverine.
Heavily Asian-themed films can be hard to pull of when the star is white. Too often everything around the star ends up as little more than caricature and side-props. Not so in The Wolverine. Things are done in a respectful and interesting way.The overall message and presentation of the film are strong enough that its shortcomings appear relatively minor. Probably the most significant shortcoming has to do with the final battle, who Wolverine faces, and the implications of that battle. Superhero and any other films which have fantastical elements always walk a fine line between opening your imagination and just seeming ridiculous. Anytime something in one of these movies makes you take a step back into reality it is not a good thing.
The Wolverine is definitely worth watching. It’s as thrilling as anyone hoped it could be. What is probably even more exciting is the current state of X-Men as a whole. I’ll just leave it as saying that The Wolverine is not a standalone film, and the future looks very exciting.
