Wolverine must face his demons when he is summoned to
Japan by an old acquaintance who steals his healing powers. ACTION/SCI-FI
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The Wolverine (2013)Directed by James Mangold
Written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank Starring Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Brian Tee, Hal Yamanouchi, Will Yun Lee, Famke Janssen Sequel to 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand Based on characters from Marvel Comics |
The Wolverine is a large step up from the original solo film, offering a better take on the character and daring to study him more thoroughly. Hugh Jackman gives his best performance yet as the main character. The Japanese setting is also a nice change of pace, as the film is loosely based on one of the comics' most famous stories.
The story this movie is based on features the main character traveling to Japan, where he ends up fighting fighting samurais and ninjas. While the film doesn't follow the comic beat for beat, it still offers a nice change of scenery for the franchise. Hugh Jackman gives his, in what I believe, best performance yet as Wolverine. He portrays a more world-weary and beaten down version of the character, one who must now battle his own demons if he wishes to move on. This leads to the film being a much more introspective piece compared to other films in the series, something I quite enjoyed as it explores the character the most of any of the films. It's not light on action, though, as there are several great action moments. The standouts being the wedding fight scene and the one on top of a moving train. The only disappointment is the CGI heavy ending, which somewhat undermines what the rest of the film had done so well. After the debacle that was the first solo Wolverine outing, The Wolverine shows that the character can successfully carry a movie on his own. Hugh Jackman gives his best performance yet and the Japan setting works great for the movie. I look forward to Wolverine's next solo outing. |