Film Review: The Wolverine

It's been four years (if you ignore his cameo in First Class) since we last saw X-Men's most popular character on screen.   When I first heard that they were making another Wolverine film I thought that they had already given up after 2009's disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine .  When the trailer had arrived it did look like there was a chance of it being good, but I said that about Origins  as well.  So, is The Wolverine  the film we have been wanting from the comic-book mutant?  Well, it's a million times better than Origins .

Set after the events of The Last Stand,  Logan/Wolverine has left the X-Men team.  He now lives as a hermit in Yukon, where he meets a mutant called Yukio (Rila Fukushima).  Yukio works for a  now dying man named Yashida, who Logan saved during an atomic bombing in 1945.  Yashida wants to repay Logan for saving his life by giving him something that nobody else could give him.  But all is not what it seems...

What raised my eye brow was when the BBFC certificate was shown on the screen.  The film that I was about to watch was rated a 12A and not a 15, which I was hoping for.  For me, a character such as Wolverine when having a solo outing shouldn't belong in a 12A category.  It's like having Punisher or Sin City being adapted into a film that has a certificate lower than an 18.  It just wouldn't feel right.  

Though I was disappointed with the lack of gore the action is still well choreographed and very entertaining.  One standing out is a train sequence, which though short still had me at the edge of my seat.  

The film is filled with set pieces, however what it really lacks is character.  The start of the film begins well with Logan's development since X-Men:The Last Stand .  Refusing to ever kill again after the death of Jean Grey the film starts with a promising character study of Logan.  This once changes when the the film's plot begins, when Logan meets Yukio.  After their encounter the film moves from character focus to action.  The character Yukio only seems to be involved in the film when an action sequence is taken place.

The characters may not be well developed but the story does move smoothly.  This is shown during the beginning of the film, unfortunately this drops once the love section between Logan and Mariko (Tao Okamoto) .  This section for me seemed too long and unnecessary.  Logan also has hallucinations of Jean Grey, which I felt was over used and near to the end slightly corny.    

 The Wolverine  is a big improvement from Origins , however it isn't up there with First Class  or X-Men 2.   The action is good enough but half way through I felt as though we had seen everything and wished they story would move forward.  This definitely isn't the Wolverine film I wanted to see but after Last Stand and Origins  I can accept this as being a decent enough X-Men film.  Filled with flaws but still entertaining for most of the time.  

If you're going to see this make sure you stay behind for a mid-credits scene... 

Bring on Days of Future Past