The Wolverine (2013)

Silver Samurai!!!!

I really need to star this review by stating my dislike for Hugh Jackman. I don't like Hugh Jackman. I don't think he is a very good actor. I downright despise him as Wolverine. I don't even like him in movies he's been in that I have loved ("The Prestige, "The Fountain", ... um... that's about it). I think he seems like a perfectly fine human being, but I just don't like him. That being said, "The Wolverine" was an enjoyable film with some fun action sequences.

Director James Mangold has made possibly the most intriguing and well-thought out film of the "X-Men" franchise, but it still falls a little short of what these films are fully capable of. I don't know if it was my disinterest in Jackman's portrayal of the character, or just the lulls in the plot, but I found it hard to keep my attention from wandering from the screen at times. The actors all seem to know that the audience is going to be in there no matter what, and it was hard to find many performances worth noting. Except for the always reliable Hiroyuki Sanada, playing the son of the man who called Logan to Japan. His character is a little one note, but he plays him with such a menacing gaze, that it is hard to take your eyes off of him.

The one thing that took me completely out of the film were the excessive Jean Grey scenes. I realize that this is the sixth movie in a very bad series, but after the first nightmare involving the deceased mutantess (how is this not a word?), the idea becomes overplayed (much like the Xavier bald jokes in "X-Men: First Class"... or the cameos in "X-Men: First Class"... or the script of "X-Men: First Class"). However, the story itself, though predictable, is mostly captivating, and Mark Bomback and Scott Frank's dialogue tends to have an honest ring to it. Ross Emery's cinematography is bleak and stunning, and Mangold shoots his action sequences perfectly. Overall, it was worth the time, but the not 3D money.

Grade: B-
3D: Nope.
Easter Egg: Yes

Starring: Hugh Jackman Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima
Director: James Mangold
Writer(s): Mark Bomback & Scott Frank
RT: 126 min
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language