The Wolverine (2013), directed by James Mangold, stars Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee, Hal Yamanouchi, and Famke Janssen. The film picks up with Wolverine (Jackman) after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) as he struggles to overcome the death of Jean Grey (Janssen). He spends his days living as a mountain man who drinks his pain away. That is until he is tracked down by Yukio (Fukushima), a mysterious woman who delivers a message from Yashida (Yamanouchi), a man whose life Wolverine saved during WWII. Close to death, Yashida urges Wolverine to travel to Japan so he can repay him for saving his life all those years ago. Wolverine reluctantly agrees, but soon after arriving finds himself at the center of a plot to assassinate Yashida’s daughter, Mariko (Okamoto). Wolverine is forced to act as her protector as they travel throughout Japan, dodging danger at each turn. But as secrets are revealed, it becomes clear to Wolverine that he might be the true target. The question is: Why?

Jackman is once again a strong lead and his performance as Wolverine is effortless. The film features a satisfying continuation of his arc following the events of The Last Stand. Although once again focusing on the theme of Wolverine’s past coming back to haunt him, the film avoids feeling redundant. Exploring the past feels like an integral part of the character as opposed to an individual part of his story. That being said, the character is also challenged in new, interesting, and unique ways such as his desire for mortality as opposed to immortality. This is unique to an immortal character such as Wolverine and therefore feels like a truly subversive direction in which to take the character. The film also explores what would happen if Wolverine were to begin losing his powers. This is a typical arc in most superhero stories, but it’s one that’s especially effective for a character such as Wolverine. His power has always been regeneration/immortality, so taking away that power adds a level stakes that is unlike other heroes. This is all amplified by the inherent tension that is provided by the fact that the story sees Wolverine dropped into what is essentially a den of wolves. He’s a fish out of water, but he seems to be at the center of everyone’s various plots. 

Supporting characters such as Yukio are somewhat bland but thankfully receive enough nuance to remain memorable regardless. Unfortunately, Viper, the film’s main villain played by Svetlana Khodchenkova is a massive disappointment. The character barely speaks and her powers are portrayed using some truly terrible CGI. By the time she’s disposed of in the third act, we still don’t have much indication of her motivations. It just feels like a true waste. That being said, the film is packed with other villains that take some of the weight off of Viper’s shoulders. They slightly make up for that character’s failures and once again support the feeling of Wolverine being dropped into a den of wolves. 

The film begins with a fantastic opening that directly blends the historical with comic book lore. Comic book films are more enjoyable when they attach themselves somewhat to our own history. I guess Fox learned their lesson after the positive reception of X-Men: First Class (2011). This opening sequence also immediately provides a connection between Wolverine and Yashida, the initial driving force of the film’s plot. It’s an impressive piece of exposition that we don’t often see in comic book films. 

Besides of few spotty pieces of CGI, the film looks beautiful in a technical sense. This is partly due to it’s unique setting for an X-Men film. There’s a satisfying sense of juxtaposition between the quaint Japanese architecture and the violent plots bubbling below the surface.

The film follows a somewhat typical protector story, but it’s elevated significantly by director James Mangold. He provides a true sense of seriousness/weight to the material that was lacking in previous films. This is partly because the film features the series’ best balance of comedy and drama. There isn’t a ton of comedy, but when it does appear, it works. The comedy is finally able to play off of what we know about these characters previously. For example, Wolverine is forced to take a bath at one point. This isn’t funny unless the audience deeply understands Wolverine as a character and how animalistic he truly is (even down to his hygiene). 

The film has a lot of decent surprises that keep things moving along, but unfortunately, a lot of these twists create frustrating inconsistencies/plot holes. Fan opinions of the film are split down the middle and I find myself agreeing with both sides equally. The climax of the film leans heavily into the comic book side of things and this may disappoint some viewers considering the more grounded approach of the first two-thirds. Although I agree with this criticism, I don’t find it to be as much of a knock on the film as most naysayers imply. On one hand, I care about consistency of tone, but on the other hand, I wonder what fans expected going into this film. This film’s climax just seems par for the course when considering the genre. 

Overall, I find this to be one of the better X-Men films even though many fans consider it to be one of the most divisive. There are a lot of inconsistencies in terms of realism and some of the CGI is spotty, but it succeeds in being entertaining despite these flaws. It pushes forward the character of Wolverine in satisfying ways and generally just feels like a unique chapter in the franchise. Although nothing here is mind-blowing, I still can’t understand the hate. B