Title – The Wolverine (2013)
Director – James Mangold (3 10 to Yuma)
Cast – Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto, Famke Janssen
Plot – After years of living in exile Logan (Jackman) is summoned to Japan by a dying billionaire who wants to offer him the chance to be free of his powers. Once in Japan Logan is drawn into a fierce battle between families and gangs that threatens the safety of his very being.
“Eternity can be a curse… a man can run out of things to live for”
Review by Eddie on 16/12/2013
It’s never a great indictment of a movie when it’s two best scenes are bookend in the opening and then the closing credits sequence, Wolverine is prime example of this for James Mangold’s Asian centred reboot of the reboot is a movie so forgettable it can only be described as a degrading piece of work on Hugh Jackman’s CV.
Beyond being milked dry now the Wolverine incarnation that Jackman continues to portray (whether by want or contractual obligation I am not entirely sure) has become so stale on screen that not even a jolt of Storm’s electricity could revive it. Many upon release actually heralded this movie as the venture we’d been waiting for but I would beg to differ and say that this film is barely more enjoyable than Origins, the truly awful first solo outing of the side burned hero and makes the whole film a slog to get through.
Director James Mangold has a steady hand behind the camera but one wishes that the film’s original director Darren Aronofsky would of stuck out the journey because the film feels stunningly flat with only the aforementioned opening and end credits scene really feeling energetic. Fights are played out in generic style, one liner’s sign posted from a mile off and countless unnecessary sub plots seemingly placed into the film for no good reason with all this leading to one of the year’s lamest and overlong finales that would of undone any good works previous to it anyway.
It’s nice to see a superhero movie not set in a big American city and Hugh Jackman is never bad but one wishes he would look for more challenging roles such as he did with Les Miserables and the fantastic Prisoners. With Days of Future Past out next year it will be interesting to see how big of a role Wolverine plays in proceedings but after this effort I think it best he plays minimal roles and perhaps retires for good into the wilderness living out his days with Grizzly bears for I think we have seen just about enough of him by now.
1 and a half crispy fried Hugh Jackman’s out of 5
Related articles
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So, is one of the signs of the Pop Culture Apocalypse where Hugh Jackman stops playing Wolverine? At this rate, it may never come.
As long as that money is rolling in sadly that is true.
Eddie
I didn’t much like this one either. Some of the action was entertaining enough, and, like you said, Jackman is always good (in this role), but the plot is so holed and the villain so bad that it doesn’t inspire me.
Great thoughts James, it all felt wholly uninspired as a film.
Eddie
Agreed. Said pretty much the same in my own review.
Personally I just wish all superheroes would retire, then we might get some original movies made!
Imagine that, a superhero free year! That would be fantastic actually.
Eddie
Finally someone who isn’t singing this one’s praises. I really wasn’t at all impressed with The Wolverine, couldn’t agree more Eddie!
Awesome V! I could not believe it’s high rating on Rotten Tomatoes even, felt like I had watched a different movie.
Eddie
I don’t get it at all, I thought story-wise it was very poor. Jackman delivers as he usually does but the whole film just felt “off” to me!
I always have been a huge fan of Jackman in this particular role, and the character of the Wolverine also has so many layers that I personally cannot get enough of it on screen. Read my hugely biased review at – http://moviebore.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/the-wolverine-movie-review/
Hey mate, I to once enjoyed seeing the side burned mutant on screen but I really feel all has been said about him now, feels almost pointless to keep bringing him back.
Eddie
Nice work man. This was pretty much utter disappointment for me, too. But i think i might have liked it a tad bit more. Overall, though the whole hype about this being “the Wolverine film fans have been waiting for” is wildly inaccurate. I thought it to be a step-up from Origins, however. That shit was truly bad. 😀
Man I think they missed the boat to make that “waiting for” film hey! I mean Hugh will be 80 years old and still trying to make that I reckon.
Eddie
I don’t like any of the x-men movies. They’re always centered around Wolverine. Cyclops never had a memorable moment in the entire trilogy. This movie was ok but nothing special
I enjoyed the first one mate and the 2nd was quite well made but since then it’s been pretty slim pickings.
Eddie
Good review Eddie. It was surprisingly more about the character of Logan, rather than the action hero of the Wolverine. However, when they did turn that other cheek and decide to get a little violent, it still surprisingly worked and made me feel like this was as effective of a story as we were going to get when it came to a stand-alone Wolverine flick.
Good you enjoyed it 93, I really wanted to especially with all the talk about how it was the version of the story they wanted to make but it let me down in pretty much all aspects.
Eddie
This movie was good until the last half hour. Then M. Night Shymalan accepted the challenge to take a dump on the movie and did so convincingly.
Indeed whoever came up with that last hurruh should be banned from screenwriting it was horrendous.
Eddie
Ditto.
I gotta admit, that fight scene on the train was cooler than I thought it would be. In the trailer I thought it looked lame, but I actually enjoyed that scene.
That was one scene that worked, if only they had come up with more original set pieces than that singular moment it would of been a lot more enjoyable.
Eddie
“a degrading piece of work on Hugh Jackman’s CV”?
Chances are, you’re lucky you haven’t seen “Movie 43” or was it 44, maybe 49… It’s the one that even Hugh Jackman wouldn’t recommend watching.
Aside from X-Men 2, the portrayal of Wolverine has been mostly miss, although I wouldn’t put that solely on Jackman, who obviously loves the character. Granted, The Wolverine has its flaws, but it is still better than the last solo outing, and he does remain a fan favorite in the comics (he pops up in no less than six separate titles, being a member of the X-Men AND The Avengers).
His appearance in Movie 43 has been pushed to the back of my darkest memories. I guess it’s all about supply and demand and if people keep wanting the man he will keep on coming.
Eddie
Believe me—Jackson is not under a seven-film contract. He keeps playing Wolverine because he wants to. Is it just the money, or is he having fun, too? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that it is very, very rare for an actor to keep returning to a character this many times, even if it’s an iconic, career-making role. Yeah, this film adds nothing to the character’s mythology; in fact, it feels hermetically-sealed. And I’m begging to grow tired of the superhero formula that has developed in recent years, where a plot is developed for the first two-thirds of the movie, then the entire final third is a gigantic action sequence. But Wolverine was always one of my favorite comic book characters, and Jackson is his living embodiment. I like the fact that an actor of Jackson’s stature, an exceedingly talented song and dance man capable of winning multiple Tonys and Oscars, is humble enough to still be playing a superhero with razors coming out of his knuckles.
Obviously the man’s name is “Jackman,” not “Jackson.” This is the peril of typing while tired.
Nice point Reasonable, I do appreciate the fact Jackman never seems to take himself to seriously hence his ever growing rep as Hollywood’s resident nice guy. As mentioned in the review though his work in films such as Les Mis and Prisoners makes me wish we saw more of that and less of razored knuckles.
Eddie
I certainly can’t argue with that.
heya there thanks for liking my review on “The Wolverine” even though it is of a differing opinon and the rating certainly shows a dichotomy in the overall impressions of the film. Its nice to see that there are some users out there who aren’t so polarised to see an opinion and not Immediately write the person off as a moron and not worth listening to.
and while i really don’t agree with your review of the movie, i can certainly see how the film’s problems will cause someone to doze off.
cheers!
I think I may have had some almost dozing off moments in this film sadly Ten Year, just didn’t have anything in it that I could truly enjoy.
Eddie
I felt that Jackman just seemed bored during this. It was entertaining enough but pretty forgettable
Agreed Mikeyb, it must surely be getting to a point where it feels like he has got everything out of playing that character.
Eddie
I was never really bothered enough to see this film, the first Wolverine movie was rubbish, so I guessed this would be too. I really think they need to let the X-Men take a long break. Maybe revisit it sometime down the line.
Wholeheartedly agree John, it’s a shame if anything they seem to be wanting to make even more.
Eddie
They really should learn when to quit.
So harsh, so harsh. I love wolverine and although I do agree, they could quit at any time and I’d be okay, I still enjoy them a whole lot.
I wish I could still enjoy them, it just feels like all ground has been well and truly covered with this character by now.
Eddie
I didn’t have a great amount of problems with this one. I saw it with a couple of friends and had a great time. But, I understand the frustration with Jackman. He is a huge talent and doesn’t play too many roles where he has to use it.
I had absolutely no idea Aronofsky was supposed to direct this?! Wow, what a different film that would have been.
Good review.
Yeh just imagine from what I can gather it was going to be pretty brutal as well like a hard r rating.
Eddie
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