The Wolverine has a few Bumps, but the Film Succeeds where Origin Fails

The Wolverine (3 out 5 Stars)

Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight and Day)

Written by Mark Bomback (Total Recall), Scott Frank (Minority Report), and Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukishima, and Famke Janssen

In 2009 Wolverine got his own shot at his own film, with X:Men Origins: Wolverine.  Wolverine is one of the most popular, if not the most popular X-Men character for mass audiences.  If you were to ask many people to character they either know the best, or their favorite within the X-Men world, most people would say Wolverine.  With that said, anticipation for Jackman's first solo film centered on this character were highly anticipated.  The film was a flop for critics, and fans, no one liked it, and the box office numbers while decent caused a decrease in the franchise.  In 2011 there was a break from Wolverine with, X-Men: First Class, and now four years after his last film Jackman is back as 'Logan' the Wolverine.

The Wolverine centers around, well Wolverine (Jackman) sometime after the events from X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).  Wolverine has isolated himself in the mountains of Canada, but the old animal instincts are still within his repertoire.  Logan is dealing with the PTSD from killing the women he loved, Jean Grey (Janssen).  Logan is seeing visions of Jean in his dreams; she laying on the guilt, his own internal guilt, which has plagued him and caused him to isolate. In a bar one night Wolverine unleashes his inner beast, and is confronted by a mutant named Yukio (Fukishima).  Yukio explain that the man Logan saved in a flashback at the beginning, Yashida has requested his presence on his deathbed.  Wolverine agrees to fly back in order to say his goodbyes, and potentially let go of his own immortality.

The Wolverine tackles the three act arc play, lending the beginning to the set-up Wolverine his PTSD, the middle, which focuses on the connection between Wolverine and his connection and protection Mariko (Okamoto), Yashida's grand daughter, and then finally an action packed finale.  While the script is not perfect for the film, it achieves something Origins lacked, depth, intensity, and a great exploration of Wolverine in an interesting situation.  The film misses the boat on bringing about a convincing villain, the film focuses too much on Viper, she is neither interesting nor someone worthwhile to cannon of this story.  One of of my favorite parts about this film was Yukio, which brought another strong female Asian character, who can hold her own, two in one year (Pacific Rim had the other) is a massive accomplishment. The X-Men films struggle with their, except for Magneto and Stryker (in X-2).  Without spoilers the end villain brings about the intensity, with which you have hope to see battled out.

While the script prevents a "great" villain, Mangold creates an action packed film, which never needs one.  The script has a depth, thanks to the Logan, Mariko pairing.  The two were both searching for something to save them, and they found each other.  Mangold was not a bad choice for this film, but his shaky camera style which appeared in Knight and day shows up once again, and it can be more distracting than a style that adds to the substance of the film.

With that said, the action sequences are fun, the story is engaging, and the lead Hugh Jackman is once again fantastic as Wolverine.  This film will marks the sixth appearance of Jackman as Wolverine, and his best to date.  Jackman gets to explore the loss of love, the journey and exploration of self, and kick some ass all in the same film.  Jackman was born to play this role, and he is great as this character.  Wolverine was his first major role in the States, and with every film Jackman adds a new layer to this character.  In this film he commands the screen, and will continue to be a dominant force in the next X-Men film, stay for after the credits.

While this film is nowhere near perfection its a satisfying chapter in the X-Men films, and made me forgot about the terrible Origins movie.  Wolverine is an entertaining action packed film.

July Movies to See and Skip!

June was an interesting month.  Man of Steel did better than Superman Returns, which will help launch  DC comic series, but the film was more Michael Bay than quality series reboot.

The most successful films of June have been This is the End, Monster's University, and I predict The Heat will fall into this group.  End is a success because of its cost and percentage drop off each week.  Monster's is outdoing other Pixar films.  Heat is an R rated film which out did a major Rolan Emmerich film (White House Down).

How does July look, pretty boring, beyond a few films that could be plain fun!

July 4th

The Long Ranger (July 2nd) which cost a lot of money, and is from the brain of Verbinski and Bay looks like it could top White House Down as a massive flop.  I have not heard anyone clamoring to see this film, and it just looks plain awful.

Despicable Me (July 2nd) is not going to re-invent the wheel, the story is going to be cute and hilarious I expect nothing less, and the minions are just great.

The Way Way Back (Limited) is a film I have already seen (Review here: http://eternalthoughtsofkevinsmind.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-way-way-back-is-heartfelt-coming-of.html).  Jim Rash and Nat Faxon have constructed something beautiful, funny, and entertaining, go see it!

July 12th 

Pacific Rim comes from the brilliant mind of Guillermo Del Torro, and looks like it's massive visual effects could make other films look like child's play.  I am excited, but cautiously, as to to not build up the high too much.

Grown Ups 2 is missing Rob Schneider, which my friend John and I noticed while at the movies last evening.  This will not drastically alter the quality of the movie, but this movie could be in a lot of trouble these stars are losing steam, and I am shocked this got a sequel.

Fruitvale Station was a smash at Sundance, look out for writer/director Coogler to make a big splash, and Michael B. Jordan to impress many.  This could be a major competitor for the Oscars.

July 19th 

Red 2, was a surprising sequel, the first was well like by critics, but did not make a lot of money.  I thought the first was a bit boring, and did not laugh as much as I should have, Mirren was the star, not surprising.

R.I.P.D. looks like it could be fun, but is Ryan Reynolds a jinx for films like this?  This film looks like it could be a lot of fun, the premise is kind of cool.  Reynolds and Bridges look to be a great team, and this graphic novel turned film could be a success.

Turbo also stars Ryan Reynolds as the voice of a snail turned motor racer?  I am not going to waste time on this cheap premise.  Animated films have been lazy this year, and this film is proof.

The Conjuring is another attempt at horror films trying to be a landmark, or the next Exorcist, or Amityville Horror.  This has a great cast, and comes from director James Wan (Saw), it could be good, but I am holding out that this is going to be too novelty.

Girl Most Likely stars Kristin Wiig, and looks like it could be fun, but the Icona Pop song over the trailer is just lame.  I think this is going to be a big miss, it looks too quirky for its own good.  I love Wiig, the cast, and the directors Sherri Springer Berman and Robert Pulcinni directed American Splendor, but they also did The Nanny Diaries, conundrum.

Only God Forgives bring Nicolas Winding Refn back together with Ryan Gosling for another go around, their first being Drive.  This was shown at Cannes and the film received a lot less love than Drive, in fact it got pretty awful reviews.  Refn style as a director is interesting, this could be one the critics are too harsh on, or they could be giving a "danger Will Robinson."

July 26th 

The Wolverine has the worst marketing, and a lot to live up to, in a bad way.  Origins was seen as a one of the worst Marvel films, even worse than Last Stand, this could smell trouble for Old Man Logan.  Back to the marketing, people are not even aware the film is being released, this is one of those films that just may be a failure without even getting a fighting chance.

The To Do List is this year's Easy A/Pitch Perfect.  This film looks hilarious, and stars the indie star on the rise, Aubrey Plaza.  Plaza is great on Parks and Recreation, and i have no doubt after Safety not Guaranteed she can carry this film.

Blue Jasmine, is Woody Allen's latest flick, and after his disastrous adventure in Rome Jasmine shows the darker humor, and could hearken back to more old school Woody.  Blanchett, and Hawkins are two great actresses, and I am excited to see what they can do within this film.