The Wolverine (2013) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

"The Wolverine" is a mishmash of plot elements, having Logan deal with the psychological aftermath of "X-Men 3", and not quite able to move forward in his long life. Then Yuriko comes looking for him, and he gets whisked away to Japan to see a man (Yashida) he saved when the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Yashida lived to create a business empire, is dying, his son was a disappointment in business acumen, but his grand-daughter Mariko was the apple of his eye.

Logan gets drawn into a long segment on being on the run with Mariko, chased by organized crime elements. He also finds his healing factor de-powered, but manages to press on with protecting Mariko. There are some decent scenes of character interplay in a genre film like "The Wolverine".

The rest of the film is hastily put together to get from one action scene to another, even if the plot doesn't really gel well enough to be an engrossing tale. The conclusion is pretty lackluster and uninteresting given the minimal efforts to forge the antagonistic forces that Logan ends up contending with in the end.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

I am also one that thought that this was pretty good, but not great. I am a Wolverine fan from waay back. I had a copy of Incredible Hulk #181. I was talking about him in high school back in 1986. So please understand that I really want the best for this character, but this movie was not it.

It had a lot of good sections, but as other have said, the story starts to criss-cross itself in terms of alliances and motives. I still have no idea what the motive was behind "Viper". She really seemed out of place.

Logans loss of healing (not a spoiler since its in the trailer), never really made sense either. Was it gone or just slowed down? If it was gone, then he should have died several times over in the action he experienced. If it was just slowed down, then they should have made that clear.

I just never got pulled into this one. His claws could not break swords? He had trouble fighting several guys? I guess they were going for more realism, which is fine, but they need to follow their own rules. Either this is the comic book hero that can take out 20 guys no problem, or he is a more "normal" guy that would die from a single gun shot wound like the rest of us.

Worth watching, but not the defining piece of film for my favorite Marvel hero.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I thought many of the questions were reasonably answered or at least rather clearly implied without having to have constant exposition to explain the exact mechanics. Without his instant healing he could not just keep going and going against 20 men. Taking damage had an impact on his ability to fight and it was somewhat cumulative. Viper's motives are not spelled out but it seems reasonable to assume she was there for the money and/or power after being successful in the scheme.

I found this movie to be reasonably plot-driven and each action scene made sense as to why it happened and moved the plot forward except the train rather than the typical super thin plot just to tie together a bunch of unrelated actions scenes. I found this movie to be one of the better ones plot-wise that holds up after all the revelations at the end rather than the usual twist that makes all the character's actions and motivations early in the movie make no sense.

The one problem I had with the movie is that Logan said many many times he wasn't that person any more but never once did he actually try to be any different. He should have been like Vash the Stampede in Trigun for most of the movie where he did his best to prevent anyone from dying and taking the damage himself to match the character's statements with his actions. There were several times Logan killed people quite personally that did not really pose a threat and he should have let them live, despite them possibly being fatally wounded.

One question about the viewing. Did anyone else notice that some of the scenes looked stretched wide on the order of a 4:3 image stretched to 16:9? It really stood out during one shot of Logan during the fight with dad where he did the usual shirtless pose and he looked extra wide. I thought it might have been done on purpose to make Hugh Jackman look bigger but then later I noticed the same effect on Viper in the lab where she was looking wider than normal.

 

[TravisR]

One question about the viewing. Did anyone else notice that some of the scenes looked stretched wide on the order of a 4:3 image stretched to 16:9?

I mostly noticed that during the Jean scenes and so I chalked it up to those being dreams.

 

[Patrick Sun]

How much money did they spend to smooth Famke's face in her scenes?

 

[Sam Favate]

Is Famke Janssen due to be in Days of Future Past? The cast is so big that I can't remember if she was announced for it.

 

[dpippel]

She hasn't been announced or hinted at, although James Marsden is rumored to be showing up as Cyclops. Can't remember where I read that little tidbit though.

 

[Edwin-S]

I always wonder why I go to these films. I mean, I really had no use for superhero comics as a kid. The only Marvel comic I would actually read was The Howling Commandos, and that was only because they were so ridiculous that I took them as comedies, not war books. That being said, I went to see this and, surprisingly, I thought it wasn't bad. The beginning wasn't too promising, because it started reminding me of the Alberta scene in X-men 2,IIRC. The bear walking a short distance from Wolverine looked so fake that it took me out of the film.

Things in this movie didn't really get going until the funeral scene. After that it picked up immensely; however, the train scene did start to take me out of it, because, once again, it was so ridiculous and fake looking. I also thought the "romance" between Wolverine and Mariko was really predictable. I was hoping they wouldn't go there and, at first, it looked like they wouldn't; they did and it was weak. Frankly, I thought a Yuriko/Wolverine match would have been better, since they seemed to have a bit more chemistry; however, the best outcome would have been to have zero love scenes in the film. It is tiresome watching a love story being jammed into every movie. The only other thing that annoyed me was the ending credit clip. I really hate it when they make a character disappear without any explanation.

The thing I liked most about this film is that they did a lot of location shooting in Japan. It was interesting seeing the different Japanese backgrounds. I suppose the story could have been tighter, but I was able to follow it pretty well and it didn't bore me. Overall, I think I would give it a B.

Still, the movie I'm most anticipating right now is ELYSIUM. So far, the trailer for that film is the only one that has really been interesting me. The other film that may be interesting to see is GRAVITY.

 

[JonZ]

I thought this was better than Man of Steel and alot better than Iron Man3

Dont forget to stay for the midcredits sequence.

 

[JonZ]

Double

 

[Brian Dobbs]

7/10.

I enjoyed the change of pace for "superhero" films. It took its time to breathe throughout. Enjoyed the scenery. Jackman is Wolverine.

The Japan storyline didn't resonate with me. I get that it was based off a popular series, but I was more/less indifferent about it.

There's very little blood. You can't have Wolverine slash a bunch of guys and have no blood. Their arms/legs would be cut off and blood would go everywhere. Instead, it's almost like they just get knocked down.

i doubt we'll see R-rated Wolverine with Jackman. I think we'll have to wait for a recast and smaller budget.

Also, why did they rip off his line from X-Men First Class? Really? They couldn't have been more clever there?

 

[TonyD]

About to watch and hear The Wolverine in Disney Orlando with Atmos sound.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

There's very little blood. You can't have Wolverine slash a bunch of guys and have no blood. Their arms/legs would be cut off and blood would go everywhere. Instead, it's almost like they just get knocked down.

i doubt we'll see R-rated Wolverine with Jackman. I think we'll have to wait for a recast and smaller budget.

I'll try and find it but the director indicated in an interview that a bloodier version is ready and will be released on Blu as a directors cut or uncut version or some such. In other words, we'll see that version soon.


EDIT: Found it here:
http://mynerfherder.com/2013/07/23/the-wolverine-to-get-uncut-and-bloody-blu-ray-release/

"“I’m very happy with the theatrical cut. The studio was very generous in terms of letting me finish the movie as I wanted, but I do think we will have a slightly more violent version. An unrated, a bloodier version.”

 

[DaveF]

" ...Yashida lived to create a business empire, is dying, his son was a disappointment in business acumen, but his grand-daughter Mariko was the apple of his eye. ... The rest of the film is hastily put together to get from one action scene to another, even if the plot doesn't really gel well enough to be an engrossing tale. The conclusion is pretty lackluster and uninteresting given the minimal efforts to forge the antagonistic forces that Logan ends up contending with in the end..

The disconnect between setup and climax was the core weakness for me. Yashida starts as an honorable man, indebted to Logan. There were echoes of the incredible relationship between Xaviar and Magneto. Then he is a psychopath, violently robbing Logan of his power. How did he get here? Why did he think Logan would be cool losing his powers? Logan rejected this wholly. There crucial middle part of the story, connecting beginning and end, was missing.Hugh Jackman continues to be great as Wolverine. And that man looked amazing! I was more impressed by him than Henry Cavill in Man of Steel. (Oh that I had 6 months and a Hollywood trainer.)I really enjoyed Yukio. "I'm your bodyguard" was great humor and fit the movie very well. And the actress has such an arresting, comic book face, triangular with big eyes.

 

[Sean Bryan]

If you think about it, Yashida was set up from the start as somewhat dishonorable because he was afraid to commit the ritual suicide with his comrades. That planted the little seed that this man wasn't ready to accept death, then or seventy years later.

 

[TonyD]

One question about the viewing. Did anyone else notice that some of the scenes looked stretched wide on the order of a 4:3 image stretched to 16:9? It really stood out during one shot of Logan during the fight with dad where he did the usual shirtless pose and he looked extra wide. I thought it might have been done on purpose to make Hugh Jackman look bigger but then later I noticed the same effect on Viper in the lab where she was looking wider than normal.

I noticed it too. At least five times and maybe once with Viper.Also thought it might be to make him look bigger but I also saw that the effect changed as Logan or the camera moved to a different angl on the same shot.Reminded me of the way an old movie looked,I think it might be The Big Country bluray with Peck.So maybe it was due to the way the movie was shotor the camera used.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Thought this was cool

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I don't think a more violent and bloodier version would do anything for this movie except create even further distance between what the dialog was stating the main theme was and the actual actions on screen. It is kind of hard to buy into the idea that Logan was tired of living and had given up his ways because there was nothing worth fighting for when he kills or seriously injures anyone that even slightly makes him mad. It also eliminates the transition and supposed change in the character after the events of the movie.

I did have another question. Who really shot the bear with poison arrow? I don't think it was the guy Logan attacked and makes much more sense that it was Yuriko (plus Viper is the poison expert) so that Logan would do what he did and now have no choice but to leave the area, making it easier to convince him to come to Japan. However I see nothing in Yuriko's character that would make me think she would be capable of such a terrible act.

 

[Sam Favate]

The poison arrow sequence is taken from the opening pages of the 1982 series, and the arrow seems to belong to the hunters. Yukio is too honorable a character to use it.

 

[mattCR]

I didn't take it that way at all; I took it as though as a young man, he became fascinated with the idea that Logan could 'live forever', and as time went on, and he aged, he thought more and more about the man he knew who couldn't die and didn't age. And as his empire grew, his desire to stay in control of it ate at him until he started pouring money into the chase of the fountain of youth.

Honorable or not, his age and mortality and desire to live won out over any honor.