The Wolverine -- OFFICIAL REVIEWS ( SPOILERS!)

[jo]

screencrush.com/the-wolverine-review/

The Wolverine’ Review

by Jordan HoffmanJuly 18, 2013 9:02 PM


‘The Wolverine‘ is unlike any other superhero ever made. It is, for the first three quarters of its running time anyway, just a “regular movie” that happens to star a guy with magical mutant powers. There have been films that tried to realistically portray what reality would be like if ordinary people put on a cape and mask (‘Super’ and ‘Kick-Ass,’ namely) but this reverses it. ‘The Wolverine’ doesn’t show our world with a comic book injection, it shows a comic book world with an injection from our world. And by our world I mean conventional, Hollywood thriller/noir/dramas.

It’s a neat trick. But don’t get too excited. There are two big issues. One, the “regular movie” at the heart of ‘The Wolverine’ isn’t that interesting – it’s a fairly by-the-book tale of corporate corruption, family drama and the mob. Two, there’s that final quarter of the film, where ‘The Wolverine’ craps the bed and slouches toward every comic book movie cliché, most of them done poorly.

You don’t need to know much about Hugh Jackman‘s mutant Logan going into this film, which is set after 2006′s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand.’ His powers and central drive are shown, not told, in a remarkable first scene set at the Nagasaki detonation during World War II. Logan’s a good guy, and saves the life of a Japanese soldier. (He does so in such a way that his skin peels off but grows back because of his healing factor and it is just gross enough for 13-year-olds to go “awesome!” but not too gross to freak them out for the rest of their lives.)

That soldier grows up to become the head of a powerful tech giant and now that he’s on his death bed he requests an audience with the man who was able to provide him with the time to lead a long, natural life. Logan, however, is hiding out in the woods, growing his hair and beard, and being miserable because he is immortal and he killed the love of his life, Jean Grey. (If you are fuzzy on how he actually did that, it isn’t important – you just need to know he is guilty and sad.)

A feisty Japanese gal named Yukio tracks him down, impresses him with her martial arts prowess, and convinces him to go to Japan. Here’s where ‘The Wolverine’ really starts to resemble one of the Sean Connery 007 films. Our hero – a handsome movie star in the classic mold – starts poking around a big, complex conspiracy involving money, power, weapons, beautiful damsels and tempting murderesses.

You’ve seen it before, but you’ve never seen it with a guy with adamantium bonded to his bones or with the ability to survive a katana direct through the belly. A superpowered fight atop a bullet train makes for an unusual addition to watching a couple flee yakuza baddies to hide in a “love hotel.” This agreeable uniqueness is, however, undercut by a rather choppy story. There’s a hundred different bad guys in ‘The Wolverine’ and none of them are interesting. There’s a corrupt politician, a meanie son/father, some dude who always shows up out of nowhere with a bow and arrow, and then there’s Viper.

Viper, played by Svetlana Khodchenkova, is dropped-in from a different movie. With luscious hair, voluptuous curves and the tendency to always find time for a costume change, she’s basically a Schumacher-era Batman villain. She isn’t bad (she’s actually rather amusing) but it is a clanging off-note in the film’s rather specific melody.

The big battle at the end, alas, decides to go all-in on Viper and what that type of movie represents. It’s not original, or even dazzling and – frankly – there’s a third act reveal that elicited some laughter in the screening I attended.

Do I think ‘The Wolverine’ is good? I must confess, I do not. But, I’m really impressed with what Mangold and company tried to do here, and I like that this is very much a “self-contained” movie. The superhero genre needs its cage rattled, and this tried to do that. Unfortunately, the mere act of rattling without an engaging story and then running to the tried-and-true for the conclusion isn’t enough.

(Also, it’s to note that, more so even that most movies, the post-conversion 3D on ‘The Wolverine’ is unnecessary. I did the “take off your glasses” check a handful of time and barely noticed a difference.)



6 0f 10 rating

[carouselkathy]

Don't trust the percentages on Rotten Tomatoes. They're mathematically inaccurate for the reviews posted so far. Also, they give rotten tomatoes to good reviews. Could they have an agenda?

[jo]

It's not just you and I...and maybe you can color me biased, but --

One message board (SHH) which has been faithfully monitoring the individual reviews are also wondering why the good and positive reviews are not being posted and all the "negative" reviews ( mostly from the UK papers, who has as someone knowledgeable on SHH say are too detached..or not knowledgeable enough about this aspect of American pop culture... to give a fair assessment) are all dutifully posted! To be honest - I cannot understand why FOX chose to hold the world premiere in LONDON ( when it is not the seat of this aspect of pop culture, a definitely American cultural phenomenon) This ain't LES MISERABLES!!

Filmsites like ComingSoon Net, HitFix, IGN and a few others have given their thumbs up -- it is expected that this is the kind of assessment that should prevail -- they represent, in a sense, real fanboy sentiment -- what is expected of comicbook and superhero tales that should show on screen but given the artistic sensibility of contemporary filmmakers. I also understand that Collider is giving a favorable review. Even Empire which is probably one of the fairer and more knowledgeable British outlets ( because it is more of a filmsite than the likes of Guardian or Telegraph) gave it a generally favorable if mixed review.

RT seems to be undeniably following an agenda ?? Sorry to say that, but that is how it seems to me! Especially so that RT ratings may influence the coming Release date in the USA (July 26). What they may be doing seems like mental dishonesty to me -- they put up all the negative ratings first....and let the positive ones trickle in little by little...by little ...Or the people there are just incompetent -- they can only see the negatives before they see anything positive!

It is comforting to know though that the combined rating of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association stands at 82 of 100 at the moment.

www.criticschoice.com/search?s=the+wolverine


EDIT: -- Look what I found out:

From Wikipedia :

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films, widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes or vegetables at a poor stage performance. The company has been owned by Flixster, a Warner Bros. company, since May 2011 and created by Senh Duong.

As of 2007, the website's editor-in-chief is Matt Atchity.[3]

LOL - maybe they could not stand that Man of Steel, a Warner Bros. production and distributed film, achieved only a " 56 %" FINAL rating on Rotten Tomatoes!

Sorry for that last witchy remark! But again, color me biased or peeved


Jo

[jo]

The first review blog from Australian media --

The Wolverine review: Redemption without revolution

Date July 19, 2013 - 5:30PM

Get Flick'd
Giles Hardie is a movie buff and produces the weekly Pick of the Flicks video




Redemption for Jackman's character Logan, who was responsible for Jean Grey's death at the end of X-Men 3.


When mutant powers are shown, the film seems slightly embarrassed as if it has fallen off the wagon.

And redemption for Jackman and the Wolverine franchise after their admitted misstep with X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

It is also an attempt at revolution. This is the first X-Men film to lose the X-Men title, and the first X-Men film to try and operate in a different genre. This is not a comic book movie as we've come to know them.


In both regards, redemption and revolution, within the film and as a film, The Wolverine succeeds, without excelling.

We find Logan living hermit-like in a cave, somewhere in the North American wilderness. Tortured over his past deeds, he vows never to kill again, be a hero again or be Wolverine again. Existence is a perpetual agony, a memory of physical and emotional pain.

Life has other plans however, and soon Logan is in Japan, faced with a ghost from his past with an offer to relieve him of the curse of immortality as shadowy unknown threats challenge and surround him.

Director James Mangold aimed to make a noir film in Japan, and he does, painting Wolverine as a Ronin: A Samurai without a master. Nor does he have an enemy. There is no world-threatening evil villain in this film, rather, separated from the X-Men both titularly and geographically, a damsel in distress is the catalyst for our hero - for whom life is meaningless - to be placed in the crucible of a country in which we are told “nothing is without meaning". Even the Nagasaki atomic bombing is used to highlight the ability for all things to heal.

If that sounds insanely ambitious, it's because it is.

This is a film that from its choice of camera lens and focus to its frequent use of subtitled Japanese dialogue wants to be different to - and more than - the X-Men movies we have seen. And it works, sporadically.

There are moments of sheer brilliance. A bullet-train based melee may prove the best fight sequence of the year and you'll wince when Wolverine's adamantium claws meet their match – have no fear there is plenty of action here, it's just not the focus.

In addition, new characters Yukio and Mariko are strong, complex women. And the pain-of-all-kinds experienced by Logan is visceral, drawn-out and convincingly transformative.

Yet from the almost incessant Jean Grey flashbacks to an admittedly potent end-of-credits scene, this is still an X-Men film and Logan's frustration brought about through self-denial mirrors our own.

The film has new strengths but is held back by refusing to use its old ones as well. When mutant powers are shown, the film seems slightly embarrassed as if it has fallen off the wagon.

On top of all this, the story deals with the issues created by events in X-Men 3, when even the filmmakers acknowledge it's best that we all try and forget that film entirely. (Just remember that Wolverine was forced to kill Jean Grey, who he loved, and you're fine.)

So The Wolverine is a good movie, without being great. A laudable piece of ambition but only an adequate execution. And a great Wolverine story but only a good X-Men movie.

Finally, it is the journey of Logan from martyr to soldier; one that is fascinating to see, but at the end, it's even better to think that the real Wolverine might be back.

3 1/2 stars of 5 - from video review

[jo]

From a popular fanboy site --

www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/notyetamovie/news/?a=83606#eTSo8wqxJ6iTQ4QU.99

Ror Reviews: THE WOLVERINE


Can Hugh Jackman and James Mangold get one of Marvel's most popular characters back on track after the disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Click for my take on this fairly loose adaptation of the "Japan Saga"..



By Mark "RorMachine" Cassidy - 7/19/2013

James Mangold has been promoting his take on The Wolverine as something very different from the usual CBM, comparing it to classic movies as diverse and interesting as The Outlaw Josey Wales and Black Narcissus. He's promised us a unique superhero experience, hinting at inner turmoil and conflict as opposed to the usual "big bad" formula -- and, for the most part, that's what he's delivered.

The Wolverine does have some obvious connections to past (and future) X-Men movies but basically this is a standalone story. Based (at times very loosely) on Chris Claremont's "Japan Saga", we find Logan living in the Canadian mountains; a tortured, violent man still haunted by the death of his beloved Jean Grey. When a group of hunters leave an animal to die in pain he ventures back into civilization to take revenge, only to encounter Yukio (Rila Fukushima) who convinces him to travel to Japan to say goodbye to a man who's life he saved many years before. From here Logan becomes embroiled in the saga of the Yashida family, and all of the corruption and political intrigue that comes along with it.

It's been said before and I'll have to reiterate: This does play out very like a Bond movie; only if 007 was re-imagined as a tortured mutant killing machine with razor sharp claws. There are other mutants in the story, but this is pretty much an "ordinary" drama with an extraordinary character at its center. If that sounds in any way boring, trust me it is not! The action is obviously not on the same scale as something like The Avengers or Man Of Steel (and that's a welcome change) but by narrowing the scope it arguably becomes more exciting and involving -- in this one, you feel there are really things at stake. The Bullet Train scrap has been the focus of the marketing and while it is an awesome set piece, there is some equally incredible sword play; a highlight being a brutal battle between Logan and Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada).

Mangold directs with an assured hand, and some of his influences are brilliantly apparent -- listen out for the harmonica creeping into the soundtrack; surely a nod to Once Upon A Time In The West. He also infuses the plot with quite a bit (but crucially, never too much!) of unexpected humor, much of it stemming from some excellent one-liners from Logan. You might say Hugh Lackman could play this role in his sleep at this stage, but believe me this is his best outing as Wolverine yet, and he's got some fine support too. The standout is definitely the adorable Rila Fukushima as Yukio -- the closest thing Logan has had to a big screen sidekick so far. Will Yun Lee (Harada), Tao Okamoto (Mariko) and Hiroyuki Sanada all do good work but their roles are a little underwritten. If there's a weak link it has to be Svetlana Khodchenkova ..or rather her character, Viper. This hissing creature serves the story but otherwise seems dropped in from a different movie, and unfortunately the final act follows suit.

After such a great build up, The Wolverine does descend into the usual high-tech super-heroics with Logan and "The Silver Samurai" falling all over the place while hacking lumps out of each other. There's nothing necessarily WRONG with how any of this is shot or performed etc, it's just so jarring given the thoughtful, quieter movie that preceded it. Things do get back on track somewhat though, with a nice final shot and a doozy of a mid-credits sequence which you will not want to spoil for yourself.

Full of heart, grit and fun; The Wolverine is sure to delight fans of the character (particularity Jackman's take obviously!) and there are moments that will have them almost standing up to cheer. It's let down a bit by a lazy finale, but what does work works so well it actually almost completely makes up for it. The Wolverine movie we've been waiting for? I'm not sure -- but it definitely takes a damn good stab at it.


4 Stars of 5

[jo]

Not really a review of the movie --

but more of an analysis of the pop culture phenomenon known simply as "Wolverine"!


www.heritage.com/articles/2013/07/19/heritagewest/news/doc51e6ea78c9949048621617.txt

MOVIE REVIEWS: 'RED 2,' 'The Wolverine' latest superhero summer blockbusters

Published: Friday, July 19, 2013


By Kurt Anthony Krug
Press & Guide Newspapers


Summer is synonymous with superheroes at the movies.

So far we’ve seen “Iron Man 3” and “Man of Steel” and there’s no signs of slowing down. On Friday, “RED 2” — based on the DC Comics series “RED” (which means “retired, extremely dangerous” spies) — blasts its way into theaters with Bruce Willis headlining the sequel to 2010’s action-comedy as he and fellow over-the-hill spies Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins show that old school still works.



But that’s the warm-up act compared to July 26’s “The Wolverine,” one of the summer’s most hotly anticipated movies based on the popular Marvel Comics character. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as the titular character for the sixth time (he played Wolverine in 2000’s “X-Men,” 2003’s “X2: X-Men United,” 2006’s “X-Men 3: The Last Stand,” 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” had a cameo in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class” and is slated to appear in 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past”).

Occurring after “X-Men 3,” Wolverine battles the Yakuza in Japan. Additionally, he’s struggling with his own inner demons, discovering that being immortal is a curse, given the life he’s led. With the exception of Famke Janssen reprising her role as Jean Grey, the cast is new: Japanese model/actress Rila Fukushima plays Yukio, Wolverine’s ally; Svetlana Khodchenkova plays Viper, Wolverine’s enemy; and “Die Another Day” actor Will Yun Lee plays Silver Samurai, a sword-wielding villain.

“(Wolverine) is, to me, the most bad-(expletive) comic book character out there,” Jackman said during a Twitter Q&A. “Way cooler than me, way tougher than me, so I kinda get to have great wish fulfillment playing him. You get a definitive look at this character and what makes him who he is. I’ve been playing him for 12 years now, so I was really looking forward to the Japanese saga.”

Wolverine is easily Marvel’s most popular character this side of Spider-Man. Wolverine debuted in 1974’s “The Incredible Hulk” No. 181. The creation of Len Wein, John Romita and Roy Thomas, Wolverine is a short, bad-tempered Canadian named only Logan with steel bones and claws, an indomitable will, animal-like senses and quick-healing powers. A man with a mysterious past, Wolverine wasn’t above using deadly force like many anti-authority characters prevalent in American pop culture during the Vietnam and Watergate eras.

Wolverine’s next appearance was in 1975’s “Giant-Size X-Men” No. 1, where he joined the X-Men. Wein passed the writing chores to Chris Claremont, whose 1975-91 stewardship on “X-Men” turned it into Marvel’s flagship franchise and the best-selling comic in the Western Hemisphere for 10 years. Under Claremont and artist John Byrne, Wolverine went from a background character to the forefront.

After Byrne’s departure, Wolverine’s popularity continued to soar. Claremont, along with artist Frank Miller, collaborated on Wolverine’s first eponymous mini-series in 1982 — the inspiration for “The Wolverine” — revealing that he was a fallen samurai who aspired to reclaim his lost honor. Claremont and Miller coined Wolverine’s mantra: “I’m the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice.”

“(That story line) is a favorite of mine,” said Dan Merritt, co-owner of Green Brain Comics in Dearborn. “It featured some groundbreaking art by Miller — which helped propel his career forward — and was an early success at giving Wolverine a more rounded backstory. At the time, mini-series were still being experimented with, as opposed to the ongoing soap opera-style story lines playing out in the long-running ‘Uncanny X-Men’ series.”

Wolverine graduated to his own eponymous series in 1988. Today, Wolverine appears in “Savage Wolverine,” “Wolverine and the X-Men” and “Uncanny Avengers,” to name but a few, as well as plays integral parts in many companywide crossovers, including the most recent “Age of Ultron” event.

“Wolverine was about the most violent character you could get away with in comic books back in the 1970s and 1980s,” Merritt said. “At the time, this was seen as very edgy stuff. In the 1990s, every company seemed to create a Wolverine-like character, but very few of them lasted long and even fewer could compare with the complexity and mystery that was built around Wolverine.”

Interestingly enough, Claremont wasn’t keen on Wolverine getting his own book.

“I thought it would be much more positive commercially to do it as an annual miniseries,” Claremont said “You publish it, then six months later, you (collect) it in trade paperback or hardcover. In that regard, you keep Wolverine’s solo stories unique and interesting (with) the audience — hopefully — begging for more.

“‘Well, wait a year! It’s coming! It’s coming!’ But you still keep everyone excited about the ‘X-Men’ because that’s where you see (Wolverine) every month. I’d rather have the audience frustrated for six months and coming in, roaring with enthusiasm, rather than have them getting bored or wearing out our welcome, or having a situation where Wolverine was in every title in the line and you can’t keep him straight.”

Many hints about Wolverine’s past were dropped over the years, but a full origin was never told. Claremont said part of the fun of Wolverine was that he was a man of mystery; to reveal everything about him would spoil that mystery.

However, in 2001, “Origin” was released, revealing Wolverine’s origin. He was a sickly, sensitive kid named James Howlett in early 20th century Canada.

“The Wolverine I’ve been reading in recent years feels significantly different from the Wolverine that I wrote,” Claremont said. “My vision of Wolverine is that he’s much more of a man of mystery. The whole evocation and structure of him with an origin, a past, a real name, a this and a that — to me, it took away from what made him unique. Wolverine should’ve been a perpetual mystery. You should have never known who he is.”

Added Brad Meltzer, New York Times best-selling novelist and University of Michigan graduate: “There’s no modern creation in comics that’s more popular than Wolverine. He wasn’t (created during) World War II like Superman and Batman. He’s a creation from the 1970s. He’s pure wish fulfillment: ferocious, invulnerable, unstoppable ... and — of course — with an old unsettled soul. That’s not a comic character — it’s a macho American dream.” .

Interesting fact -- this article appeared on an online site from Southeastern Michigan!

Some Wikipedia notes --

"Michigan is, by tradition, known as "The Wolverine State," and the University of Michigan takes the wolverine as its mascot. The association is well and long established: for example, many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War and George Armstrong Custer, who led the Michigan Brigade, called them the "Wolverines". The origins of this association are obscure; it may derive from a busy trade in wolverine furs in Sault Ste. Marie in the 18th century or may recall a disparagement intended to compare early settlers in Michigan with the vicious mammal. Wolverines are, however, extremely rare in Michigan."


It might not have been a bad idea to correlate promotion for the movie to a premiere event in Michigan!


Also, the comment that: “There’s no modern creation in comics that’s more popular than Wolverine. He wasn’t (created during) World War II like Superman and Batman. He’s a creation from the 1970s. He’s pure wish fulfillment: ferocious, invulnerable, unstoppable ... and — of course — with an old unsettled soul. That’s not a comic character — it’s a macho American dream.” .

makes it even more compelling that this movie (which is a dramatic insight into the character, albeit while in some foreign scene), be seen first in the land where the character was born and fully understood in its popular culture!


Jo

[jo]

From a film critic, Matt Pejkovic

www.mattsmoviereviews.net/movie-critic-reviews/wolverine.html

THE WOLVERINE (2013)


An antithesis to recent overblown blockbusters, The Wolverine contains a strong story that delves into the many complexities of the popular comic book character without sacrificing the action spectacle that these films are known for.

While blockbuster season has showcased one overwhelming action movie after another, solitude has been found in this most unlikely of places. Not to say that The Wolverine is as quiet as a church mouse, but it is a superhero movie that values the moments in between the action sequences & manages to keep our interest while doing so.

When looking at the people involved, perhaps it should not be a surprise. Director James Mangold has quietly created a filmography of varied, solid character rich works ranging from the urban western Copland to quintessential biopic Walk the Line. Action is also something that Mangold has done before, and he very well knows that to make a good superhero movie is to invest in the heroes themselves, which esteemed screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), Scott Frank (Out of Sight) and Mark Bomback (Unstoppable) do in their take on a popular story-arc from the 1982 Wolverine limited series comic book, where the popular mutant hero spends time in Japan.

That is where The Wolverine opens with a stunning sequence on Hiroshima, the capital of Japan’s largest island where the United States Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb and effectively ended World War II, chillingly re-enacted here to set the stage for an action drama about death and immortality as Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) saves a Japanese soldier from certain doom. 50 odd years later and that same soldier (Hal Yamanouchi) wants to repay his debt by offering an emotionally and spiritually wounded Logan the one thing he can’t have: to die an honourable death.

The use of Japan as a backdrop is a welcome change to the usual metropolis-to-be-destroyed setting which most of these films utilise, as to is the use of Japanese warrior culture which adds dimensions to a character that five film appearances in is still a mystery when compared to the open books of Spider-Man and Batman, with the labelling of Wolverine as a Ronin (that is a “samurai without a master”) the perfect description for a superhero whose honour bound commitment to do what is right is countered by his anti-authoritarian and anti-tradition stance.

Built like a brick shit house and snarling like a champ, Jackman once again delivers a committed performance in what has to be one of the more dedicated relationships between a major actor and character. The internal angst which Logan/Wolverine suffers is kicked up a notch here, and Jackman perfectly expresses those emotions with the same intensity in which he slices a baddy in two with those adamantium claws.

The Wolverine features its title character at his most vulnerable, most savage and –above all- most human. It is an existential superhero movie without the overbearing weight of Man of Steel or distracting smarminess of Iron Man 3. Many will pay top dollar for the action sequences, but will truly get their money’s worth from the moments in between.

Note: Stay during the credits for an extra scene that will set up the next chapter in the X-Men franchise.



***1/2 of 5

[jo]

Another 4 of 5 stars review --

betheredcarpet.co.uk/2013/07/18/the-wolverine-review/

The Wolverine – Review

Posted on July 18, 2013
by AmyLeave a comment


THE WOLVERINE - REVIEW

Rating: ★★★★/5

Starring: Famke Janssen, Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Will Yun Lee

Logan finds himself back in Japan after a friend from the past wishes to say his goodbyes to the man who once saved his life. Logan is still plagued by his love of Jean and how he killed her and as a result is left without his healing mutation after a night with the mysterious Doctor of Yashida, his old dying friend.

Not being a fan of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I was sceptical going in to another Wolverine movie but all doubt soon lifted. The Wolverine brings the X Men movies back to their best, Mangold’s directorial vision allows us to see what’s happening all around as Logan is at his weakest.

With there never being a dull moment when Logan’s in town, the movie’s filled with impressive, yet clichéd train top fighting sequences and violence that takes the story forward and not filling in blocks of time. Fun and humour is also scattered throughout and with Hugh’s seamless performance the film is great to watch.

The Wolverine contains action violence, implied injury, small amounts of blood, an F-bomb and partial nudity. (Full BBFC rating information.)

Stay for the scene at the credits, it’s pretty awesome!

The Wolverine is in UK Cinemas from 26th July.

[jo]

www.filmschoolrejects.com/opinions/the-wolverine-gives-comic-con-audiences-a-welcomed-apology.php

‘The Wolverine’ Gives Comic-Con Audiences A Welcomed Apology
Comic-Con By Jack Giroux on July 21, 2013 | Be the First To Comment



When director James Mangold and star Hugh Jackman took the stage for their Q&A with “a few clips” at Comic-Con, they had some baggage to confront. Jackman, especially, acknowledged the many, many, many shortcomings of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Mangold and Jackman discussed wanting to deliver the Wolverine, hence the title, The Wolverine. Fans have been waiting for the essential Wolverine tale and, for the most part, the two have succeed in giving it to them.

The film beings where X-Men: The Last Stand was too busy and bland to go: Logan struggling with the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Like most depressed people, Wolverine is buried under a deep bushy beard to show you his pain over his loss. He’s keeping to himself in the mountains, living as an animal. Then a mysterious (and incredibly badass) figure comes to town, Yukio (Rila Fukushima), to bring him back to the world. She tells Logan he has to come to Japan, to give his goodbyes to the life of a man he once saved, Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi).

Once there, Logan realizes there’s a hidden motive to his invitation. A dying Yashida offers Logan the life of a mortal, but after refusing, the clawed mutant is thrown into somewhat of conspiracy thriller blended with a samurai film, and the samurai side of The Wolverine is the superior film. Seeing Logan unravelling the mystery is fine, but nothing quite compares to him going berserk on a few gang members or partaking in a sword fight.

The Wolverine delivers on what was shown in X2: the mansion attack scene. We saw a man let loose, holding nothing back on his opponents. There’s a bar brawl in this film where the sheer sound of the Wolverine’s intense breathing is chilling. The physicality Jackman has in this film is an intimidating presence on its own right, but there’s a whole other layer there. It’s not the muscles that make him a threat, it’s the fact that this immortal anti-hero won’t stop at anything until he’s dead.

There’s a few novel action beats that truly express who Wolverine is as a character. Surprisingly, the action is somewhat sparse, at least until the bombastic third act. The pace doesn’t move at a breakneck speed, but more so as a character study, which will throw some viewers off. Mangold takes his time, never rushing to the next set piece. Seeing him drop his best f-bomb to date, being a fish out of water in Japan, and stomping towards an enemy is far more entertaining than seeing any capital building get blown to sky high. There’s often an effective simplicity to The Wolverine we don’t see often enough.

That’s why the more outlandish side of The Wolverine feel like a completely different, lesser movie. Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) — a mysterious mutant working for Yashida — isn’t a strong villain. Her motives aren’t entirely defined, she bares scarce connection to our hero, and again, tonally, doesn’t fit the rest of the movie. The character is entirely problematic, and not because Khodchenkova doesn’t give a fine performance, but because we spend a good deal of time with her away from the characters we do care for. She bogs the pace down, at least until The Wolverine or, especially, Yukio appear onscreen again.

In terms of strong female characters, this is a movie that has them. Yukio and Wolverine’s love interest, Mariko Yashida (Tao Okamoto), are hardly ever damsels in distress. Tao isn’t one to get dragged off from Wolverine without a fight, while Yukio is bound to give plenty of teenage girls (and maybe boys) a terrific costume for Halloween this year. It’s refreshing to see a female character actually defend the in peril male hero, not the other way around.

Scenes such as that one makes James Mangold’s approach stand apart. He doesn’t waste a shot with some of the the film’s wonderful landscapes and set design, both in terms of scope and character. There’s plenty of striking shots of Wolverine isolated from fellow characters or his environment. He gives us an already lonely figure in an unknown enviroment, rendering him even more cutoff from the world.

There’s a surprising amount of gracefulness to The Wolverine. Yes, the movie does end on Wolverine fighting a “robot,” but there’s enough weight to it. The time was put into making sure we care when Wolverine is dealing with mortality for the first time or, say, comically fighting some goons on top of the train. That potentially silly sequence is fun, as oppose to Wolverine attacking a helicopter, because there’s clearly defined stakes in place for the character and the film to make it have a pulse. Hopefully the character continues to receive this level of care, flaws and all.

[jo]

blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2013/07/film-review-the-wolverine-takes-a-razor-sharp-stab-at-3d-12a-126mins.html

Film Review: The Wolverine (3D, 12A, 126mins)

By David Bentley on July 21, 2013 11:30 PM| No Comments



Providing a blockbuster breath of fresh air, The Wolverine ditches the usual end-of-the-world perils in what is Hugh Jackman's sixth turn as the mutton-chopped mutant.

Instead the film chooses a more personal path, adds a distinctive flavour of the Far East and, in setting itself apart in such a way, deserves to claw itself a solid position at the box office.

So far this summer we've had a world-threatening, skyscraper-toppling onslaught of big action movies such as Star Trek Into Darkess, Man of Steel and Pacific Rim, so it's a relief to bring things down to earth a little in the sci-fi/superhero genre.

The Wolverine still has action, of course, but far more character-focused than yet another computer-generated city or two falling down in obvious echoes of 9/11.

Director James Mangold's movie is intense, impressive and involving, with a densely-plotted story of dynastic struggles offering intrigue and betrayal, plus franchise-bridging links to films of the past and future and the requisite comic-book touches via the camp-vamp villainy of the Viper and the armoured might of the Silver Samurai.

And, yes, there's humour. Plus some James Bond influences, including a balcony moment borrowed from Diamonds are Forever.

Seen at an advance screening in London, where director James Mangold and star Hugh Jackman were the surprise guests and drew cheers and screams from an excited crowd of bloggers and other film fans, this latest offering in the X-Men franchise definitely delivered the goods.




The story, based on a celebrated comic book arc by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, is not a sequel to 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine but is set sometime after the dramatic and tragic events of 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand. That film saw Logan forced to kill his beloved Jean Grey to stop her reign of death and destruction as she spiralled out of control into the Dark Phoenix.

Clearly those events took their toll and Wolverine, now dishevelled and living a solitary life as a tortured soul like some wild man of the woods, has abandoned all sense of purpose that life with the X-Men had given to him.

Then, out of the blue, he is called to Japan to say goodbye to a dying man whose life he saved decades earlier when the atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The invitation comes from Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a scarlet-haired warrior who proves very useful company for Wolverine in the events that unfold.

It transpires that the dying man is Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), now the most powerful tycoon in Asia, and he wants more than to say a fond and grateful farewell. He sees Wolverine as a ronin - a samurai without a master, adrift in the world - and offers to take away his mutant healing ability. By acquiring it for himself, Yashida would be able to live on and protect his increasingly threatened empire while Wolverine has the chance to settle down and grow old like any other normal human being.

But nothing is that simple and Wolverine finds himself caught up in a complex power battle involving Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), with whom he develops a romantic attachment after protecting her from hit-men and kidnappers. It's only then - as he fends off various assassins in tense battles including an amazing fight atop a 300mph bullet train - that he discovers his regenerative abilities seem to have somehow been removed against his will.

Slithering among the deadly nest of deceit is Yashida's resident scientist, the slinky snake-mutant Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), and as the stakes get higher, tensions lead to a thunderous life-or-death showdown featuring comic book archnemesis Silver Samurai and a very real sense that Wolverine might not survive this time after all.

It has to be said, though, that one particular revelation during this Silver Samurai sequence may at first strain the suspension of disbelief but what happens makes sense narratively and climactically.



Facing questions of mortality and the possibility of death during the film, Wolverine is haunted by visions of Famke Janssen's Jean Grey calling on him to give up his struggles and join her on the other side.

As fans of X-Men comics lore will spot - and mainstream critics would not know - these sequences are clearly inspired by the White Hot Room, the afterlife realm where Jean Grey becomes the White Phoenix as she awaits rebirth and resurrection to human form. Could this be a hint at Jean Grey's return in the franchise?

An additional scene midway through the credits offers two other familiar faces who are definitely returning in next year's X-Men: Days of Future Past. It's easily the best such teaser sequence in any Marvel-related film yet, drawing screams and applause from the audience, so be sure not to leave when the credits start to roll.

Jackman had promised big things from The Wolverine when he appeared on stage at the central London screening, saying: "We're re-correcting the character more than re-defining it."

And that is true to a great extent. The movie does bring a new sense of personal struggle and vulnerability to the metal-laced mutant that really does leave you wondering if he will be alive at the end of the movie. The fight scenes pitting claws against swords are vicious and visceral - skilfully shot to retain a 12A certificate - and the bigger action sequences have a powerful impact.

"Here, everything has meaning," Mariko tells Logan in one scene as he wrestles with the country's customs and traditions, and that applies largely to the film as a whole, which uses themes and symbolism far more than in the previous instalment.

The Japanese setting (made all the more authentic with location filming) and some stylish cinematography help bring something fresh to the superhero genre, although it has to be said that the eastern exoticism is sometimes sacrificed for the inevitable requirements of the Hollywood blockbuster formula (as also happened with Man of Steel and Pacific Rim).



Most noticeable among the more excessive elements is Viper, who seemed a little overused. While Russian actress Svetlana does look suitably slinky, lethal and treacherous, it feels like her poison powers are shown a few times too often, including a moment where she kills a complete stranger who propositions her in the street; it's a scene that makes no real contribution to the plot. Less is always more when it comes to depicting villains who are supposed to be slippery and traitorous.

A few other scenes, such as Wolverine's early encounter with a grizzly bear, also didn't feel to me like a necessary part of the more grounded atmosphere the film was trying to create.

But these are minor quibbles and at least this film isn't stuffed with distracting cameos like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so we get plenty of breathing space to explore the character and get a good grasp of the other leading players such as Yukio and Mariko.

It's a movie I certainly want to see again when it's released on July 25 and some reviewers' disapproving comments that The Wolverine is not like Avengers or the Dark Knight only serve to illustrate the erroneous approach of trying to pigeonhole this film rather than judge it for what it actually is.

The X-Men franchise is clearly its own beast - somewhere between those polar opposites, making its own mark on the big screen - and that beast has plenty of power in this particular adventure.

8/10

(Note that the 3D was reasonable, and very good in places where it did seem to add to audience immersion in the intensity and aesthetics of parts of the story. The film has a decent running time of 2 hours and 6 minutes, close to the length of the franchise's most highly-regarded instalments, X-Men: First Class and X2.)

Jo

[jo]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/wolverine/review/589329

The Wolverine: Film Review

12:00 PM PDT 7/21/2013 by Megan Lehmann


The Bottom Line

It’s a comic-book film but not as we know it.


Opens

July 26 (Twentieth Century Fox)

Cast

Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hal Yamanouchi

Director

James Mangold


Hugh Jackman takes his mutton-chopped mutant to Japan in James Mangold's standalone "X-Men" spinoff, co-starring Famke Janssen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto and newcomer Rila Fukushima.


Director James Mangold brings a furrowed-brow solemnity to the comic-book world of The Wolverine, the sixth big-screen outing for Marvel’s blade-fisted antihero and one that scratches and claws against the law of diminishing returns always destined to beset the splintering X-Men franchise. As a follow-up of sorts to an origin story spun off from a trilogy, Fox’s 3D summer tentpole is, despite its obvious ambition, hardly a game-changer. Coming on the heels of the woebegone shambles that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which still managed to earn more than $373 million worldwide), it is, however, a step forward for Hugh Jackman’s scowly, mutton-chopped mutant, who here finds himself wrestling with his inner demons and a cavalcade of ninjas and inked-up yakuza in modern-day Japan.



VIDEO: 'The Wolverine' Trailer: Badder, Grittier, Angrier

Dialing back the city-razing CG mayhem of recent superhero fare in favor of more grounded action, this noir-ish, unusually intimate take still has the requisite sockadelic set pieces to guarantee an adamantium-plated hit upon its global rollout beginning July 24. It opens in the U.S. July 26.

Mark Bomback and Scott Frank’s screenplay follows Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s popular Japan-set comic-book arc from 1982, but Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) seeks to distance his film from those pulpy beginnings by embedding his protagonist in a conventional, near bromidic drama of familial squabbling, corruption and corporate greed.

Until a third act that collapses in a harebrained heap, the director largely succeeds in keeping the more cartoonish aspects at bay, roughing up the surface with organically staged fight scenes and, crucially, raising the stakes by stripping his hitherto indestructible hero of his self-healing powers.

Figuratively declawed, the Wolverine stumbles and bleeds, that intricately sculpted (and frequently shirtless) body weakened and hurting in tune with his inner torment.

Eternity’s a curse for Logan/the Wolverine (Jackman) who, following the dissolution of the mutant ensemble in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, has let himself go, living "hirsutely" in the Canadian mountains with only a separated-at-birth grizzly bear for company. He is haunted by the memory of being forced to kill his Phoenix-possessed former lover, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who is clad in a diaphanous negligee as she appears to Logan in a series of unfortunately cheesy dream sequences. But an unexpected offer to relieve him of his immortality appears like a kindness.

Bringing this proposal from the former Japanese soldier whose life Logan saved at the end of World War II is a cool-kid emissary in the form of cherry-haired Yukio (Japanese fashion model Rila Fukushima).

PHOTOS: 10 Top Summer Superheroes Movies Of All Time: Battle of Box Office Brawn

Yukio, a katana-wielding assassin with her own intriguing backstory, accompanies Logan to Tokyo, where he meets his would-be benefactor, Lord Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), now an elderly mega-rich industrialist who doesn’t want to die.

Logan gets a makeover (he’s shaved, scoured and disinfected in one of the film’s random stabs of eccentric humor) and catches the eye of Yashida’s comely granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto). Soon they’re on the run from an assortment of villains with unclear motives as Mangold unfurls an elaborate plot involving Mariko’s crime-boss father (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his yakuza henchmen, a mysterious ninja army, and a slinky mutant named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova, from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), who kills with a poisoned kiss in a passe throwback to Batman’s nemesis Poison Ivy.

Shifting the action to Japan is an inspired move for a film that aims to be a standalone enterprise. Not only does it distance itself from the critically mauled X-Men Origins: Wolverine, dropping the "X-Men" from the title frees Mangold from many of the constraints of sequel-making and prevents the scattered focus that would accompany a multimutant world.

It’s chancy though, filling a summer blockbuster with predominantly non-American actors and even having some of them speak subtitled Japanese. But the Far East setting repays the production’s faith.

PHOTOS: The Scene at Comic-Con 2013

Mangold, with director of photography Ross Emery and production designer Francois Audouy, creates an atmosphere of rather lovely asceticism, rare for the genre. The cinematography is crisp and often beautiful, combining the latest digital technology with old-school lenses to achieve a classic look, as heavy-duty themes of vengeance and redemption, immortality and loss play out in rural ryokans and against neon-lit cityscapes. The postproduction conversion to 3D adds little.

As well as permitting a riff on the parallels between Jackman’s mutant warrior and a feudal-era ronin, a samurai without a master or a cause to fight for, the exotic locale lifts the Wolverine out of his comfort zone, forcing him to navigate a strange land with strict codes of honor and a strong sense of tradition and custom.

Best of all, Mangold uses the occasion to give a distinctly Japanese twist to the tried-and-true battle-atop-a-speeding-train -- in this case, a bullet train -- hurtling along at 300 miles per hour. It’s a bravura heart-in-mouth sequence, expertly staged, and there’s plenty more goring and slashing where that came from, as well as a spectacular Kurosawa-inspired scene in which Logan falls foul of several quivers full of arrows.

PHOTOS: Hugh Jackman: An Unconventional Superstar

Each fight propels the narrative along -- how’s that for novel? -- although the PG-13 rating renders them weirdly bloodless and the climactic battle with the Silver Samurai is a giant letdown, which may even provoke sniggers.

Thirteen years after his mutant debut in Bryan Singer’s terrific X-Men, Jackman, also a producer here, owns the Wolverine character. The charismatic Aussie has added some martial arts moves to his character’s slice-and-dice repertoire, is buffer than ever and shows no sign of flagging. A post-credits sequence teasing next year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, has Fox execs betting fans’ interest won’t diminish, either.

[jo]

Another review that is acknowledged " fresh " by Rotten Tomatoes -- from Australian media:

www.quickflix.com.au/news/reviews/TheWolverine

Suicide is painless - The Wolverine review



Hugh Jackman as Logan. Click on the 'Play' button above to watch the trailer for The Wolverine.


By Simon Miraudo

July 22, 2013


When director James Mangold Tweeted the ten films that inspired The Wolverine, he dropped titles that would undeniably send shivers of excitement down the spines of his cineaste followers. They included Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express, Roman Polanski's Chinatown, as well as westerns The Outlaw Josey Wales and Shane, among others. This, for his movie about an immortal mutant with a murderous appetite and killer sideburns. I don't recall seeing one of those in Powell and Pressburger's nunnery drama Black Narcissus (also namechecked). Even if his inspirations were authentic, would they really pierce the veneer of a studio-sanctioned, $125 million tentpole? At the time, I was dubious there'd be any evidence of those classic influences in the final product. Having now actually seen his Wolverine, I'm pleased to have been proven wrong.

The Wolverine sees Hugh Jackman return for the sixth time as the title character (informally referred to as 'Logan'), this time living off the land in the Alaskan wilderness. He's scouted by the beguiling Yukio (Rila Fukushima) and summoned to Japan, where her dying employer, Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), wishes to say farewell. Turns out Logan - back when he was a POW - saved him from the atom bomb. Almost sixty years later, Yashida wants to offer him something in return. Just as he was gifted with life during World War 2, he'd like to reward Wolverine with what he seeks most: death. The elderly Japanse mogul proposes Logan transfer his mutant powers over to him, so that he can live in perpetuity and continue to run his corporation, and Wolverine can finally pass away and be reunited with his late love, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). An honourable death. That's something Logan - and, until now, the X-Men franchise - could have only dreamed of.

Jackman wanders the streets of Tokyo dressed in a plain black shirt, black pants, and sensible shoes, as if he were the befuddled lead character in Oldboy rather than a legendary Marvel comic hero. From the opening moments to the last, he dreams of the sweet release of death. The possibility of suicide is floated by several of the protagonists. A contemplative trip to the site of the Nagasaki atomic bombing in 1945 is a reminder to Logan that, "Everything finds peace." This picture's predecessor - X-Men Origins: Wolverine ­- had an extended, wacky, interminable sequence in which he was forced to box The Blob for reasons I do not recall (nor do I care to Google). Things have certainly changed.


The Wolverine is by far the best of the series; a compliment that comes with a massive caveat: I'm not a fan of what's come before. Nonetheless, not only does this work as an X-Men movie, but it also works as a movie all on its lonesome. Assisted by an almost-entirely Japanese cast, and flanked by particularly strong performances from both Fukushima and Tao Okamoto (as Yashida's granddaughter Mariko), the talented Jackman finally has a legitimately compelling character arc to sink his claws into. It's telling that this is the first superhero flick to be penned by screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Mark Bomback, and Scott Frank, so willing are they to indulge and investigate the darkest, most self-destructive impulses of their fascinating subject. Even Mangold, a once-promising indie filmmaker turned studio ringer, seems revitalised by this project. Though not much of a personal stamp has been left here (certainly not as prominent as what Darren Aronofsky, who abandoned ship back in 2011, would have imprinted), it's an entertaining vehicle with plenty of deft, emotional beats.

Prepare for a quiet, contemplative affair. Sure, there's one very amusing stop-start fight scene set atop a bullet train, and a late, stunningly staged samurai sword fight, but this is primarily an internal struggle for Logan. The last act makes way for a predictable and unimaginative denouement, at the kind of generic laboratory where we've seen so many of these things wrap-up. Yet, it can't undo the good that comes before. Besides the inclusion of Svetlana Khodchenkova's Viper - a Poison Ivy-esque villainess who only comes into play in the unfortunate finale - The Wolverine makes few missteps.



3.5 stars of 5

[mamaleh]

Variety's review: mostly positive with good stuff about Hugh:

variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-the-wolverine-1200566296/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breakingnewsalert

The razor-clawed mutant makes an entertaining and surprisingly existential digression from his usual X-Men exploits
Peter Debruge
Senior Film Critic @askdebruge

"The Marvel team has recast the Incredible Hulk three times in recent years, but when it comes to their most popular hothead, Wolverine, there’s only one actor fit to wear the claws: Hugh Jackman returns for his sixth screen appearance as the adamantium-reinforced superhero in James Mangold’s smart, Japan-set “The Wolverine,” an entertaining and surprisingly existential digression from his usual X-Men exploits. Though Wolvie comes across a bit world-weary and battle-worn by now, Jackman is in top form, taking the opportunity to test the character’s physical and emotional extremes. Fans might’ve preferred bigger action or more effects, but Mangold does them one better, recovering the soul of a character whose immortality left something to be desired.

Though the majority of the Marvel portfolio belongs to Disney these days, Fox still controls the rights to Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Wolverine and his X-Men brethren. While hardly on par with Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” trilogy, this movie represents Fox’s attempt to repair damage done to the most iconic of those characters by Gavin Hood’s silly “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” solo outing (which didn’t hurt the box office, but weakened audiences’ faith in how he might subsequently be treated onscreen).

With Wolverine’s backstory clearly established, screenwriters Mark Bomback and Scott Frank are free to indulge an atmospheric one-off, returning to the character’s doomed romance with Mariko Yashida, daughter of a powerful Japanese clan — the fan-favorite story arc cooked up by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller back in 1982. Set sometime after “X-Men: The Last Stand” (in movie time), the film opens with Jackman’s Logan sulking somewhere in the Yukon wilds. Having sworn off his violent ways, he identifies more with a feral grizzly than any of the sport hunters he encounters in town, setting up concerns (whether he can overcome his animal nature) and symbols (including a poisoned-tipped arrow) that resurface later in significant ways.

When careless humans kill the bear, Wolverine flies off the handle, only to be rescued by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a triangle-faced pixie with red-velvet hair who whisks him away to Japan, where a character from Logan’s past wants to relieve him of his mutant healing ability. Saved from the atomic blast that destroyed Nagasaki, Kenuichio Harada (Will Yun Lee) craves the immortality that Wolverine considers his curse and suggests a trade that would allow him to reunite with Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who appears to him in visions and represents a poetic connection to past films.

It takes more than half an hour for “The Wolverine” to unleash its first action scene, but when it comes, the strike proves elegantly choreographed and worthy of the Hong Kong films that clearly inspired it, as a squad of yakuza descend on Harada’s funeral, attempting to assassinate his daughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto). The next scene rivals any confrontation in recent Asian cinema, as Wolverine combats a group of yakuza thugs atop a speeding bullet train, and it’s a thrill to see Jackman adding these new fighting styles to his character’s repertoire.

Wolverine emerges victorious, of course, but with a crucial difference: His self-suturing wounds no longer heal themselves. Harada’s nurse (Svetlana Khodchenkova, an award-winning Russian actress completely out of place here) has done something to impair Logan’s abilities. In the process, the razor-clawed character goes from being merely cool to actually being interesting, since there’s a genuine risk that he could die and/or be overpowered while trying to protect Mariko. Wolverine bleeds.

Even better than this newfound physical weakness is the emotional vulnerability “The Wolverine” allows Jackman to explore. Logan’s self-imposed isolation reveals unexpected new layers of his psychology and suggests that once these iconic characters have been established onscreen, they can be fleshed out in standalone films, just as seemingly non-plot-advancing episodes of “The Sopranos” or “Breaking Bad” deepen our understanding of those series’ complicated protagonists.

Now, take the next sentence with a grain of salt because you no doubt care more about comicbook movies than the person writing it: “The Wolverine” boasts one of the best pulp-inspired scripts yet. It’s still full of corny dialogue (you know, those punchy one-liners conceived to fit in tiny talk bubbles above the characters’ heads), but there’s a genuine elegance to the way it establishes Logan’s tortured condition and slowly brings the character around to recovering his heroic potential, methodically setting up and paying off ideas as it unfolds.

Of course, a script is just a blueprint, and it’s still up to Mangold and his team to pull it off. This is where “The Wolverine” falls shy of greatness, despite terrific production values, elegant storytelling and a sensational cross-culture score from Marco Beltrami. Compared with other directors — namely Nolan, Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn — who have elevated the genre by bringing aspects of their own style to the table, Mangold’s approach is clean and correct, but does nothing to advance the overall state of comicbook movies, owing largely to how heavily he borrows from other helmers.

Thankfully, his references are relatively upscale, ranging from an elegant “Yojimbo”-like scene in which lone-ronin Wolverine is outnumbered by ninjas to a “Diamonds Are Forever” nod involving an unforeseen swimming pool, and he even convinced Jackman to channel some classic Clint Eastwood attitude in his wonderfully surly performance. Mangold’s concept was clearly to make an Eastern Western, where the setting is Japan and the adversaries wield samurai swords, but the hero is fueled by true grit.

It’s a remarkably effective strategy, right up until the end, when the film’s finale suddenly feels indistinguishable from that of other superhero pics, as Wolverine takes on two villains — one CG Silver Samurai and the other a campily attired snake-like mutant named Viper who molts her skin mid-climax. Whereas the Japanese-ness of everything that came before brought a certain “Kill Bill”-like novelty to the genre, this metal-against-metal showdown seems disappointingly familiar and breaks the cardinal rule when dealing with this character: that nothing is stronger than Wolverine’s claws, except perhaps his spirit."

-Ellen

[jo]

Thanks, Ellen!

I actually read it twice because I liked what they said about Hugh and I could not quite believe that there are certain positive nods expressed in the review which I did not expect from a Variety type of film review ( such as the nod to the fight choreography and action scenes... and when they said that the strongest of Wolverine's traits was not his claws but his spirit, indicating that they fully understood what makes the character unassailably appealing!)


Jo

[jo]

An interesting blog review on HuffPost --

www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ryan/the-wolverine-review_b_3641174.html

'The Wolverine' Is Not A Superhero Movie

Posted: 07/23/2013 4:07 pm


I suspect that quite a few people won't like The Wolverine because it doesn't feel like a superhero movie. This is a completely reasonable reaction -- especially if you decided to skip all of the other superhero movies this summer and happen to be in the mood for a superhero movie. A friend of mine and I both agree on the sentiment that The Wolverine is just a normal movie, only Wolverine happens to be the main character. What's interesting is that this is his main complaint, while it's my greatest compliment.

I will also concede that the expectations game may have played a role here. I despised X-Men Origins: Wolverine because I'm pretty sure that it despised itself. Plus, its timeline is so out of whack, it's impossible to consider it canon. (I won't even start to get into the Deadpool problem.) Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that, to my surprise, I really enjoyed The Wolverine.

It came as a welcome surprise that The Wolverine takes place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. For whatever reason, I had assumed that this was going to be a direct sequel to the previous Wolverine movie. Instead, we finally find out what happened to Logan/Wolverine (again played by Hugh Jackman) after walking away from his life as a member of the X-Men. We now know that Logan lives in the woods and is sad. He gets even sadder after a bear is killed -- going as far as to confront the hunters at a local honky-tonk that plays songs from Cracker's Kerosene Hat album. It's all very depressing. Granted, I was in the mood for a depressing superhero movie.

The movie opens with a prologue of sorts in which a World War II-era Wolverine saves a Japanese soldier from nuclear doom. Now, in the present, this same dying soldier -- now a rich tycoon -- summons for sad Wolverine to say goodbye. Wolverine then travels to Japan, the two say a tearful goodbye and the credits roll after what turned out to be a 22-minute movie. Obviously that last sentence is a lie. The trip to visit Wolverine's former friend turns sinister and adventure ensues. But it is a controlled, intimate adventure. No buildings come toppling down when Wolverine fights a criminal. If you want to see buildings topple down, Man of Steel, Pacific Rim and R.I.P.D. will all satisfy that urge. (And I know that you haven't seen R.I.P.D.. And if you have, may the lord have mercy on your soul.)

I honestly can't decide if The Wolverine is that good or if I was just that desperate to see something different on the day that I saw it. (To be fair, the third act becomes more akin to what we usually see out of these movies -- a giant samurai robot and flaming swords are involved -- but that didn't take away my enjoyment of the rest of the movie.) I'm starting to suspect that other people might be feeling the same way. Audiences overwhelmingly rejected the stupid R.I.P.D. and instead gave their money to see The Conjuring, a movie that cost $110 million less to make.

Wolverine struggles with his immortality in this movie, which, yes, that's a concept that's a little played out at this point. Thankfully, at least in The Wolverine, taking away some of Logan's powers isn't something that Logan himself initiated (no matter what the trailers would lead you to believe). And, it's not all of his powers -- he's still very strong and is still made out of adamantium -- it's just that being shot by a bullet hurts his now. Not as much as it would hurt you or me, but, still, it's sometime nice for a superhero to not be invincible.

Regardless, I do know how bad a Wolverine movie can be without a clear vision. (Unless you count "let's dump as many mutants in this movie as possible even though it will fuck up any sense of continuity" a vision. Perhaps it is a vision and I'm the one who's wrong. I'm often wrong.) The Wolverine certainly has a vision. Perhaps I'm overvaluing The Wolverine simply because it's competent, but, for this type of a movie, "competent" is a fairly rare attribute.

The Wolverine isn't your typical superhero movie. It's gritty, but "Marvel" gritty, not The Dark Knight gritty. Yet even The Dark Knight is still a huge movie. The Wolverine doesn't aspire to be a huge movie. The Wolverine doesn't even aspire to be a superhero movie. The Wolverine seems to be content with just being a good movie -- and it succeeds.

Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. You can contact him directly on Twitter.

[jo]

Another TOP CRITIC review featured ( considered FRESH ) on Rotten Tomatoes --

www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/wolverine-review-hugh-jackmans-bad-news-mutant-returns-fighting-form-105391

'The Wolverine' Review: Hugh Jackman's Bad-News Mutant Returns to Fighting Form in Latest 'X-Men' (Video)

While not matching the “X-Men” series at its peak, this latest adventure is leaps and bounds better than “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”



Published: July 23, 2013 @ 5:49 pm
By Alonso Duralde


Even if "The Wolverine" doesn't entirely clear away the stench of its misbegotten predecessor, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," this latest adventure of grizzled mutant Logan (Hugh Jackman) feels like a return to form for the oft-erratic "X-Men" series.

Moments in "The Wolverine" rank among both the franchise's best and worst, but there's enough in the positive column to make the movie a must for fans and entertaining viewing for casual observers.

This time around, we find Logan hiding out in the Yukon wilderness, haunted by both the loss of his beloved Jean Grey (Famke Janssen, who turns up throughout as a ghostly presence) and his survival of the nuclear blast at Nagasaki, where Logan was being held captive at the bottom of a deep well in a Japanese POW camp.

On that fateful day, he saved the life of soldier Yashida (Ken Yamamura). Now, in the present day, a dying Yashida -- who has become a powerful electronics magnate in Japan -- has summoned Logan to his deathbed, ostensibly to say goodbye but actually to offer Logan the opportunity to pass his immortality along to Yashida, so that the tormented Logan can find the death he craves.

See video: Joss Whedon Spills 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Clues - 'Its Own Story'

Logan turns down the offer, but soon finds himself enmeshed in the Yashidas' family drama; granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) has been chosen to inherit the company, much to the fury of her father Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada). Meanwhile, the elder Yashida's physician (Svetlana Khodchenkova) lurks about with intent, and it becomes apparent that she intends to take away Logan/Wolverine's regenerative powers whether or not he wants to surrender them.

"The Wolverine" works best in the scenes between Logan and Mariko -- readers of the original Marvel Comics know the key role she plays in his life, although they may be surprised that the big-screen Logan speaks not one lick of Japanese -- and when the Wolverine fights side by side with psychic Yukio (Rila Fukushima), an impoverished orphan adopted, "Wuthering Heights"-style, as a young girl to be a companion for Mariko.

Also read: 7 Bright Spots to End a Crowded, Messy Summer at the Movies

Yukio's fighting style, to say nothing of her cherry-Kool-Aid bangs and striped ensembles, will no doubt make her a favorite of the cosplay set, and newcomer Fukushima makes an immediate impression, more than holding her own opposite veteran Jackman, who can do the Wolverine squint-and-grunt on auto-pilot by this point.

Alas, "The Wolverine" gets too distracted by corporate intrigue, Yashida's diabolical plans and the villainy of the doctor; none of that stuff is as compelling as the two female leads, particularly since Khodchenkova gives a singularly flat performance. I can't remember a less engaging villain in contemporary superhero cinema.

Screenwriters Scott Frank and Mark Bomback seem to be working off a checklist of Cool Japan Stuff: Before the movie is over, we get bullet trains, ninjas, pachinko parlors and love hotels. (Maybe the DVD extras will include deleted scenes featuring harajuku girls and panty-vending machines.)

See video: 'Wolverine' Vine Tweaser: 6 Short Seconds of Hugh Jackman, One Big Reveal

For every good idea they've got (that bullet train fight sequence is breathtakingly exciting), the writers too often falter, larding the script with too many characters and clumsily forcing people to define words like "ronin" and "yakuza" in conversation, even when the other person would clearly already know the meaning.

Still, in the final wash, "The Wolverine" provides a compelling look into a beloved screen character and offers up enough excitement to merit its existence. (Make sure to stick around after the credits for a glimpse at where the "X-Men" movies are going next.)

Also read: Hugh Jackman Bringing One-Man Show to L.A. for MPTF Benefit

It may not make the case that Logan merits his own solo projects, but it will scratch your X-itch until the next big-screen mutant adventure comes along.

[jo]

If you are interested to read fan reactions, you may want to check out the SUPERHEROHYPE BOARD since a few of them were at the Fan Event ( our friend Jen, who used to post on the old Ozalot board, got to be onstage with Hugh) on the movie itself - with some spoilers, but at this point, who cares

The message board membership also includes two who have submitted formal reviews of the movie and had been invited to the press advance screenings.

But their reactions to the movie are refreshing...and the waiting experience on Times Sq was shared with wit and humor!

Maybe I will initiate a thread on FAN REVIEWS/REACTIONS ( most especially including ours ) ?

Jo

[jo]

From USA Today --

www.stevenspointjournal.com/usatoday/article/2500637

'The Wolverine' stays sharp thanks to Jackman


Jul. 24, 2013 6:23 PM |
0Comments


by Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

Filed Under

USA Today movies


Wolverine returns, still vigorous and razor-clawed, but in the throes of an existential crisis.

The Wolverine (* * 1/2 our of four; rated PG-13; opens Thursday in some theaters and Friday nationwide) features some powerful action scenes juxtaposed with sequences in which Hugh Jackman's character re-lives his past and ponders his future. Initially, the century-old Logan/Wolverine is disaffected and reluctant to return to his life as a mutant hero. Created as a super weapon, he has come to fear that his powers make him a danger to society.

But in short order, he's fighting ninjas and using his famous adamantium claws against thugs atop a speeding bullet train. And that, after all, is what audiences come for.

Director James Mangold has fashioned a fairly engrossing, if occasionally convoluted, tale based on the Marvel Comics figure. But an extended battle meant as a climactic clash grows tedious. And cliches seep into what could have been a fascinating glimpse into a multifaceted character. Still, this X-Men spinoff is a marked improvement over 2009'sX Men Origins: Wolverine.

This version opens intriguingly with Logan living a hermit's existence in the woods, where he can apparently communicate with grizzlies. An altercation with some obnoxious bear-hunters propels him into the path of the mysterious crimson-haired Yukio (Rila Fukushima). She lures him to Japan, where the rest of the film takes place.

There is some intriguing insight into Wolverine's psyche, peppered with cliched lines that cry out to be catchphrases a la "Hasta la vista, baby." When he dispatches a key Japanese character, he says, predictably, "sayonara.''

Though Wolverine is well-crafted visually by director James Mangold, who evokes a moody atmosphere, there are few surprises, and the movie descends into formula.

Logan goes to Tokyo at the behest of Lord Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), a man whose life he saved in World War II. He's now a wealthy industrialist. Once there, Logan encounters a sinister atmosphere in which Lord Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) is imperiled. Along the way, Logan tangles with Mariko's ruthless father Shingen Yashida (Hiroyuki Sanada) and is visited by his former love and fellow mutant Jean (Famke Janssen) in interminable cheesy dream-like sequences.

Mangold seeks to get deeper into Logan's head and tap into the sources of his rage. The director is not always successful revealing Logan/Wolverine's complexities, but he does capture the character's feral warrior qualities deftly. He also effectively contrasts the ultra-modernity of Japan with its ancient codes of honor.

The Wolverine is an intermittently exciting action film anchored by a strong performance by Jackman, who embodies Wolverine like no one else could.

Be sure to stay all the way through the credits.



Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com

Another Top Critic (Claudia Puig - USA Today) lauding Hugh's strong performance as the anchor to this movie, while also noting Mangold's vision for a supehero movie.

Jo

[jo]

The ASSOCIATED PRESS review ( which is usually circularized across US/world media ) --

www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/Review_Only_Jackman_makes_Wolverine_interesting.html?page=all

Review: Only Jackman makes 'Wolverine' interesting

Wednesday July 24, 2013, 5:53 PM BY JOCELYN NOVECK Associated Press

Don't get us wrong. We don't mean to take anything away from the more substantial qualities of "The Wolverine," a fairly satisfying if not stellar installment in the saga of the famous mutant that Hugh Jackman's been playing since, wow, 2000. (For a little perspective, Bill Clinton was still president.)

But let's just point out that Jackman bares it all in a brief but memorable scene in a bathtub, and the studio would be wise to advertise this scene as much as possible. Because Wolverine is all about Jackman, and not only is the actor in amazing shape, but he's funny in the scene, too. So why not flaunt it?

Jackman's been in good movies and not-as-good movies, but one thing he's never lacked is charisma. Whether hoofing it in a Broadway musical or crooning as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," that charisma makes him always worth watching.

And so, whether you're an X-Men fan or not, it's Jackman that makes "The Wolverine" worth watching, too. Oh yes, the movie. Well, as we mentioned, it's fairly satisfying. On the plus side, we get to know the Wolverine, aka Logan, a little better. We also see him physically challenged, losing some of his mutant healing powers, which gives Jackman a nice chance to display weakness.

There are also some welcome funny moments in the script, many having to do with its Japan setting. When Logan and a young woman he's protecting want to hide, they enter a Japanese "love hotel" where, they're informed, their room options are: dungeon, nurse's office, or Mission to Mars. (They pick the latter). Also pay attention to Logan's great comeback after throwing a bad guy out a window into a swimming pool.

And director James Mangold sets one terrific action scene — the film's best — on a speeding bullet train, making great use of those claws. Turns out, bone bonded with adamantium makes for rather efficient train-roof gripping.

On the minus side are some lackluster performances and an ending that, sorry to say, is simply not that exciting, or maybe we've all just run out of steam by then.

The film, Jackman's sixth outing as Logan, finds him hiding out in the woods of the Yukon, his best friend a grizzly bear. He runs into Yukio (an appealing Rila Fukushima), who tells him he's needed in Japan.

There, Logan is brought to the dying tycoon Harada, who apparently wants to say goodbye. As we see in a flashback, Logan had saved Harada from the Nagasaki atomic bombing. Actually, Harada wants to transfer Logan's healing powers and immortality to himself. Logan doesn't like the plan.

Before escaping, though, he attends Harada's funeral, and finds himself fighting off mob thugs seeking to kidnap the man's granddaughter, Mariko. Wounded, he manages to escape with Mariko onto a bullet train, where that great fight scene unfolds up on the roof.

Some quiet scenes follow, giving Jackman a chance to display a winning vulnerability. He makes us worry about Logan in a way we never did before. If his character has some depth, the same can't be said for all the supporting players. Svetlana Khodchenkova, as Viper, is supposed to be villainous but comes across as only vampy; she recalls Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy in "Batman & Robin," only less interesting. Tao Yokamoto is attractive and sweet as Mariko. Famke Janssen appears as Logan's dead love, Jean Grey, in ghostly scenes that are a bit silly.

But really it's about Jackman. At this point he could play the role in his sleep — but he doesn't, and the nuances he and director Mangold bring to the character lift this enterprise up from the usual blockbuster-sequel fare.

Oh, and check out that bathtub scene.

"The Wolverine," a 20th Century Fox release in 3D, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language."

Running time: 126 minutes.

Two and a half stars out of four.

MPAA definition for PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

[jo]

What is it with film critics when they are reviewing superhero/comic book fare movies ( see also the AP review)

They seem not to be able to shed the condescending tone! They are forgetting that pop culture is as much a part of entertainment tastes as the more high-brow ( insert "eyebrow lift" here) fare that they prefer to watch and review

Here's TIME magazine's take on THE WOLVERINE --


entertainment.time.com/2013/07/24/the-wolverine-claws-and-fx/


Jo

[jo]

Here's another TOP CRITIC review -- from The Village Voice.

www.villagevoice.com/2013-07-24/film/the-wolverine-movie-review/

Too Bad The Wolverine Isn't as Interesting as Hugh Jackman


By Stephanie Zacharek Wednesday, Jul 24 2013


Wolverine gets to do some semi-poetic stuff, like open his own chest with his claws.


As summer comic-book blockbusters go, The Wolverine is not as elephantine as it could have been. It’s more, well, wolverine—bony, loping, a little shaggy—and, blessedly, director James Mangold doesn’t get bogged down in mythology. You don’t need to diagram the convoluted relationships between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s X-Men characters to figure out what’s going on. All you really need to know is that Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), a mutant whose knuckles sprout adamantium claws whenever he’s threatened, has a secret that haunts him: He killed the person he loved best, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and now she keeps appearing in his dreams, wearing a silk nightie and slinging accusatory barbs more piercing than any set of mutant talons.


The Wolverine
Directed by James Mangold.
20th Century Fox
Written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Famke Janssen, and Will Yun Lee.
Opens July 26



But like so many of this summer’s comic-book movies, particularly the hollow, forgettable behemoth Iron Man 3, The Wolverine represents a missed opportunity. Mangold tilts the movie heavily toward elaborate action sequences and skimps on the more romantic angles, which is especially frustrating since Jackman is the kind of actor who can deftly handle both. That’s clear from the stunning double opening, two scenes so striking that either could have been used to kick things off. In the first, Wolverine’s long-lived alter ego, Logan, finds himself hiding out in a deep hole on Nagasaki just as the bomb is about to hit. A young Japanese soldier threatens to root him out, but Logan ends up saving his life when that mushroom cloud of doom finally erupts: Just as the soldier is about to commit seppuku, as his fellow warriors have already done, Logan whisks him down into the hidey-hole. The act sets up an intriguing slant: Even though cultural mores dictate that this soldier should be happy to die, there’s something in him that desperately wants to live.

The movie’s “second” opening, set somewhere in present-day Ted Nugent territory, involves a lumbering grizzly bear—Wolverine’s spiritual counterpart is not a wolverine, it turns out—and a bunch of rednecks who defy the wilderness code. Wolverine, righteous dude that he is, shows up at their local dive to set them straight. Things begin to look even more promising when a svelte cutie in red Bettie Page bangs arrives during this barroom brawl. As it turns out, Yukio (Rila Fukushima) has a connection to that soldier Wolverine saved so many years ago; he’s an old man now, and it’s Yukio’s duty to bring Logan to Japan to fulfill his dying wish.

But not long after, The Wolverine’s energy begins to lag. Like so many of today’s action movies, The Wolverine consists mostly of one character or another going from here to there, doing this and that. Wolverine is off to Japan. Awesome! Now what? Yukio drops out of the movie for several long stretches, and Wolverine forms an alliance with her childhood friend, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who’s perhaps more beautiful but far less interesting. Meanwhile, enemies like Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) lurk, hoping to get Wolverine in their clutches. And somewhere in there, Wolverine gets to do some semi-poetic stuff, like open his own chest with his claws.

Jackman is terrific in those moments—he shifts between being affable and tortured as if it were no great shakes. Somehow, that makes Wolverine’s suffering believable. With all his brawn, he can’t escape sadness, and his nightmares form a connect-the-dots roadmap through the story: Time and again he wakes up, only to be looking right into Jean Grey’s living eyes. It’s too good to be true—because, of course, it isn’t—and Jackman packs an extraordinary amount of feeling into these moments. He even looks great in that flat-top hairdo with those little pointed ear-like tufts at the sides.

But not even all of Jackman’s mighty brawn is enough to hold The Wolverine aloft. Mangold and cinematographer Ross Emery try to keep the whole thing relatively sparkling-looking. And for the most part, the action sequences are shot with clarity, instead of just piling up in a noisy mishmash. Even so, The Wolverine—despite being an improvement on Gavin Hood’s muddled 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine—isn’t worthy of Jackman’s gifts. It’s a reasonably engaging summer diversion, a semi-rousing adventure that doesn’t make you feel robbed of two hours of your life. The tragedy, maybe, is that we’re happy to settle for that.

More of the same -- HJ too good for the material *eyeroll*


Jo

[jo]

An 8 of 10 stars review -- this time, from another fanboy favorite and popular filmsite, JoBlo.com --

www.joblo.com/movie-news/review-the-wolverine

Review: The Wolverine
Jul. 25, 2013by: Chris Bumbray
100%9 Comments

PLOT: Years after the events of X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, Logan (Hugh Jackman) lives as a vagrant in Alaska, haunted by visions of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). He's visited by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a clairvoyant warrior in the employ of Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), the dying head of a Japanese tech empire. Having been saved by Logan during the bombing of Nagasaki, Yashida wishes to repay the favour by giving Logan the gift of mortality. Before he knows it, Logan finds himself in the middle of a violent power struggle within his old friend's company, and must protect Yashida's grand-daughter and heir, Mariko (Tao Okamoto) from Yakuza assassins.
REVIEW: Good news everyone. THE WOLVERINE- for all of it's years of production and false starts- is not only finally here, but it's also pretty damn good! That's saying a lot, as the last time Wolverine got his own solo movie, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, it was a disaster. This time out, everyone involved has obviously put some real effort into making a solo Wolverine movie that stands apart from the rest of the franchise, and gives the character his due.


It's a nice departure from the recent slate of epic superhero movies, with each trying to outdo the other in terms of spectacle. A $200 million dollar plus budget may work for MAN OF STEEL (and will probably be needed for X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST), but THE WOLVERINE, under the direction of James Mangold, takes a different tact. The action has been scaled back this time, making this relatively grounded for the franchise (within reason, it's still a superhero movie after-all), and more than anything else a lean and mean action flick.
While there's no telling what kind of Wolverine movie we would have gotten from Darren Aronofsky, and whether any of the material from his incarnation of the project made it into this one (Christopher McQuarrie apparently wrote that version, this is credited to Mark Bomback and Scott Frank), Mangold's version is surprisingly bold. Working from the fan-favourite storyline from the Chris Claremont-Frank Miller limited series, Mangold seems more inspired by East meets West style action movies like BLACK RAIN, THE YAKUZA, and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE than any of the other X-MEN movies. While definitely not short of action, it's been scaled back in favour of four or five really good, surprisingly tough action sequences, with lots of sword vs adamantium claw fighting, and relatively little in the way of mutants. It's helped that a plot twist early in the film leaves Wolverine physically vulnerable, giving the action scenes an added jolt, especially when Logan finds himself fighting Yakuza assassins on to a 300 mile an hour bullet train.


Hugh Jackman is his usual iconic self as Logan/Wolverine, although this time out he looks even more shredded than usual, with his physique approaching eighties-era Stallone levels at times. Having a little more time dedicated to character building this time out, and allowing Wolverine time to brood over killing Jean Grey, Jackman arguably gives his best Wolverine performance to date. In particular, he seems to relish the tougher dialogue he's given here (with an epic f-bomb towards the end of the movie), and despite the PG-13 rating, this is definitely the darkest film of the franchise, and the closest to a full-on R-rated Wolverine movie that we're ever likely to get.

In a nice touch of authenticity, the supporting cast is mostly filled with Japanese actors, including Japanese star Hiroyuki Sanada (who once starred with Michelle Yeoh in a great HK action flick called ROYAL WARRIORS), and models Tao Okamoto and a scene-stealing Rila Fukushima getting the meatiest, most important parts. Former Bond villain, the Korean Will Yun Lee, is on board as one of the (many) antagonists, with Svetlana Khodchenkova rounding out the cast as the sexy, seductive Viper, a toxicologist in the employ of Yashida.


Here and there, Mangold throws in the occasional reference to classic Japanese cinema, with a few nods to Akira Kurosawa, in particular Logan's early, YOJIMBO-like, slovenly appearance (with him even being called a Ronin- just like Toshiro Mifune's character was in that classic). It's a nice touch, and gives the film an interesting, unique flavor, as does the score by Marco Beltrami. Mangold's definitely no hack, having directed COPLAND, WALK THE LINE and the underrated 3:10 TO YUMA remake, and he does a really good job with THE WOLVERINE, to the extent that if they do another solo adventure for the character, it would be nice to see him back in the director's chair.

However, before that happens we've got the epic DAYS OF FUTURE PAST on it's way, and if you want a taste of what's in store for next summer, you'd be well advised to stay through the credits. Even without that icing on the cake, THE WOLVERINE is a really solid addition to the franchise, and a nice solo action vehicle for Jackman. It's definitely NOT trying to be X-MEN 4 (despite following the chronology set by the third) and manages to be it's own thing. I liked it a lot, and I'm confident most of the fans will feel the same way.

8 of 10 stars


Source: JoBlo.com

[jo]

Finally ( and lately), I read something positive from A.O.Scott and the NYTimes when it comes to a Hugh Jackman movie!

movies.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/movies/in-the-wolverine-hugh-jackman-broods-again.html?_r=0

Movie Review


Claws and Heart Get a Workout in Japan

In ‘The Wolverine,’ Hugh Jackman Broods Again



By A. O. SCOTT

Published: July 25, 2013



Though I sometimes tire of the sufferings of superheroes, I have a permanent soft spot for the Wolverine, the Marvel mutant whose indestructibility causes him endless physical and existential pain. As played by Hugh Jackman through six “X-Men” features (including one about the Wolverine’s origins), he is a shaggy, soulful, perpetually roughed-up character, and a bit of a misfit even among his peers.


“The Wolverine,” directed by James Mangold (“Walk the Line,” “3:10 to Yuma”) and written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank, is also something of an anomaly in the current, unstoppable wave of comic-book-based movies. It has all the requisite special effects and big-ticket action sequences — including a fight on a moving train and a climactic punch-out between the hero and a villain in an oversize metal suit — but it also has an unusually intimate, small-scale feel. Inspired by a series published by Marvel in the 1980s, it has more old-style comic-book atmosphere than “Man of Steel” or “Iron Man 3.” Instead of expounding a tedious origin story or staging an epic battle for apocalyptic stakes, “The Wolverine” focuses on a specific and self-contained adventure in a richly imagined place.

That would be Japan, where Logan (as the bewhiskered berserker is also known) witnesses the bombing of Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The destruction of cities is of course a staple of action moviemaking, and it is usually saved for the end and shown in crashing, flaming detail. Mr. Mangold defies cliché by dramatizing the actual devastation of a city from a discreet distance early in the film. The atomic bomb casts its shadow over the rest of the movie — much as the Holocaust did in “X-Men: First Class” — in a sober, tactful way, a sign that the filmmaker is not simply stirring reality into fantasy but rather trying to think about the relationship between them.

After a detour into present-day Alaska, where he proves himself a friend to grizzly bears and an enemy of hunters and personal grooming, Logan is spirited back to Japan. There he finds himself embroiled in a complicated family crisis involving yakuza, samurai, corporate bosses and corrupt politicians. To ensure that no Japanese cultural archetype goes unexploited, Logan’s guide and self-appointed bodyguard is a J-Pop warrior pixie named Yukio (Rila Fukushima) who brings a bright splash of anime color and energy to the movie.

Yukio works for the dysfunctional and powerful Yashida clan, whose patriarch (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) Logan rescued from the radiation in Nagasaki. Yashida’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) serves as both damsel in distress — everyone in Japan wants to kidnap her, it seems — and Logan’s love interest. Because he is technically ageless, this is almost not creepy, but also not entirely convincing.

I will leave the plot to spoil itself, pausing to take note of Svetlana Khodchenkova’s slinky femme fatale turn as the Viper and Famke Janssen’s ghostly appearance as Jean Grey, the long-dead love of Logan’s very long life. She appears in his dreams to remind him and the audience that within that adamantium skeleton beats a soft and sensitive heart.

And Mr. Jackman, for all his growling, flexing and macho wisecracking, keeps our attention focused on Logan’s feelings. So does Mr. Mangold, even as he obeys the imperatives of the action-franchise machine. A modest superhero picture may sound like a contradiction in terms, but really it is a welcome respite. A short one, to be sure. An end-credits teaser — stay in your seat! — promises a planet-threatening spectacle to come, probably next summer. No wonder the Wolverine looks tired.

“The Wolverine” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). The hero’s claws do a lot of killing, but the gore is edited away.

The Wolverine

[jo]

Positive word from respected film critic Richard Roeper, too!


southtownstar.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/21506945-421/roeper-hugh-jackman-keeps-action-intense-in-the-wolverine.html

Roeper: Hugh Jackman keeps action intense in ‘The Wolverine’

By Richard Roeper Sun-Times Columnist/[e-mail] Twitter: @richardroeper July 25, 2013 4:30PM



‘THE WOLVERINE’
★★★

Logan/Wolverine | Hugh Jackman

Shingen | Hiroyuki Sanada

Jean Grey | Famke Janssen

Harada | Will Yun Lee

Yukio | Rila Fukushima



20th Century Fox presents a film directed by James Mangold.
Written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank. Running time: 2 hours and
6 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language. Opens July 26 at theaters.


What happens when the Wolverine is rendered nearly human and declawed?

He becomes much more interesting.


Dramatically ambitious and deliberately paced, set mostly in Japan and featuring a lead mutant who finds himself vulnerable to knives and bullets just like regular humans, “The Wolverine” is one of the better comic-book movies of 2013 thanks in large part to an electric performance by Hugh Jackman.

The often shirtless, 44-year-old Jackman is so ripped he’d blend in among NFL prospects half his age at a scouting combine, and he kills it in the action scenes — but this Wolverine is more than just gruff growling and big brawls. He has a heart.

About that heart. At one point Logan literally performs open-heart surgery on himself, and I’ll just leave it at that and let you enjoy the PG-13 gruesomeness of that particular scene.

There comes a time in the life of nearly every superhero, human hero, mutant hero and/or antihero when he goes off the grid. This usually means growing a scraggly playoff beard and living like a vagabond in some anonymous and often cold corner of the world. (I guess they never go tropical because they’re punishing themselves.)

In summer 2013, only varying time lines and parallel universes have kept Clark Kent; Tony Stark; Raleigh Becket, the rogue pilot from “Pacific Rim” and Logan aka Wolverine from bumping into each other in some seedy bar or a under a tree in a rainstorm.

It’s getting crowded out there on the fringes.

Working from the blueprint of a popular Wolverine comic-book story arc from the early 1980s, “The Wolverine” finds Logan out of the soldiering game, still reeling from having to kill the love of his life, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), after she was possessed by the Phoenix and did some really bad stuff.

Logan is living more like a wolf than a man in the Yukon — but he’s persuaded to return to civilization by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a fetching, sword-wielding young woman who comes to his aid during a nasty bar brawl.

Turns out Yukio has been tracking Logan so she can ask him to come with her to Japan and say his goodbyes to Lord Yashida, whom Logan saved when Nagasaki was hit with an atomic bomb in World War II.

Yashida is now the head of a giant tech company and he’s the most powerful man in Japan, but his empire and his family are under siege, and his own time is running out. He claims he has found a means to transfer Logan’s immortality to his own system, giving Logan his wish to no longer be cursed with an endless life of soldiering and bloodshed.

And then things get really complicated.

After an impressively photographed and terrifically choreographed battle sequence at the old man’s funeral, Logan takes it upon himself to protect Yashida’s granddaughter Mariko (the beautiful Tao Okamato) from the seemingly endless wave of Yakuza gangsters trying to take her out. Problem is, Logan now bleeds real blood, and his wounds no longer magically heal.

There’s also the matter of the nightly dream visits Logan receives from Jean Grey, who keeps trying to convince Logan to join her in the afterlife. (It seems to be kind of creepy there, Jean’s rotating wardrobe of negligees and the soft-focus lighting notwithstanding.)

Director James Mangold nimbly walks the tightrope between authentic, sometimes dense exposition and first-rate action. Mangold delivers a number of relatively quiet, dialogue-driven scenes in which Logan learns more about the family of the man he once saved, talks about being a Ronin (a masterless samurai) and explores a new romance.

But we also get some outrageously entertaining action sequences including a battle atop a bullet train that will have you squirming if the sounds of nails on a chalkboard get to you. It’s only in the final 15 minutes or so when “The Wolverine” gets kinda ridiculous.

As to whether you should stick around after the initial round of credits for a bonus scene with some applause-inducing cameos: of course you should.

And you won’t be disappointed.

[jo]

From Canadian media --

www.vancouversun.com/Movie+review+Hugh+Jackman+acting+chops+mutton+chops+Wolverine+apart/8709058/story.html

Movie review: Hugh Jackman’s acting chops — and mutton chops — set The Wolverine apart

By Katherine Monk, Postmedia News July 25, 2013 3:54 PM


The Wolverine

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Famke Janssen

Directed by: James Mangold

Running time: 126 minutes

Parental guidance: 14A, violence

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Combining romance and machismo can be a risky prospect in a major motion picture. Lean too far to one side and everything can look like a cologne commercial. Lean too far to the other and you end up with gay porn.

Yet for James Mangold, the writer-director who gave us Sylvester Stallone’s 1997 movie Cop Land, fusing brute strength with tender feeling seems to be second nature.

Mangold clearly understands the larger chunks of the masculine identity and its foundation in physical strength and size. He also recognizes the emotional need for a caring, safe, nurturing partner who, like Mom, can kiss the boo-boos better.

These two forces are engaged in a constant tussle within the male mind, but most action movies suppress the emotional side in favour of visual physicality because that’s the hero formula we’re used to: A gleaming parade of flexed muscle, skin-tight latex and pin-up females offering 3D cleavage.

Like any action movie worth its multimillion dollar budget, The Wolverine certainly provides all of the above, but thanks to Mangold’s direction and Christopher McQuarrie’s (The Usual Suspects) script, this latest take on the X-Men’s man of adamantium steel lands in the premium pile of summer shlock — providing you don’t mind a love story mingling with sweaty muscles.

Circling back through Wolverine’s past, this chapter begins in Nagasaki, back when our hero — played with vein-popping prowess by handsome Hugh Jackman — was a prisoner of war. It’s moments before the atomic bomb is dropped, and Logan (Jackman) sees the Japanese officers prepare for hara-kiri.

Yet, one officer can’t go through with the suicide. He decides to let the prisoners go and run, but just as he’s about to be vaporized by the blast wave, Logan yanks him to safety.

Years later, that same officer beckons him to return to Japan in order to bid adieu and thank him one more time for saving his life, but Wolverine doesn’t like planes — and he certainly doesn’t like goodbyes.

In fact, poor Logan is haunted by the memory of his dead lover Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who died by Wolverine’s own claws after she went on a homicidal tear as the Phoenix in X-Men Last Stand.

Logan sees her ghost every night. He wants to be reunited with Jean in the afterlife, but as Wolverine, Logan cannot die. His gift for immediate physical regeneration makes a mortal ending impossible — or so he thought.

Thanks to his old Japanese buddy, who’s become the most powerful magnate in Japan, we soon learn Wolverine’s mutation can be passed on or removed entirely. If Logan wanted, he could die a mortal and find peace with Jean.

But surrendering to death isn’t in Wolverine’s M.O. As a distant cousin to the storied honey badger, Wolverine is famous for doing his own thing regardless of the superhero code.


offer of a warrior’s noble death.

“You don’t want what I’ve got,” he says, clenching that taut jaw of his as he storms out of Yashida’s high-tech hospital room.

Yet, a breath later, he sees Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the stunning granddaughter of the cryptic billionaire and feels compelled to protect her from the looming threat of Yakuza corruption.

Suddenly, Logan isn’t the nihilist he used to be. He’s starting to care, and once love gets into your system, it’s like a piece of malevolent nanotechnology wrapped around your cardiac muscle.

In these comic book movies, all the symbolism is bold face but Mangold is clearly having a pretty good time finding the extra dimensions in the flattened genre landscape.

Moreover, Jackman has the acting chops to bring human depth to an immortal comic book hero by making sure every flex of his gigantic biceps comes with a head of emotional steam.

Most actors with pectorals this large have very limited body language skills. Hampered by their own muscle mass, their bodies stand mute in the frame, as verbal as a load of bricks. But Jackman moves like a ballet dancer as he bulldozes manoeuvres his way through Mangold’s moody scenes.

It’s Jackman’s grace and talent that really sets The Wolverine apart. He not only walks the tightrope between feeling and physical rage with ease, he turns a boyish and clumsy genre into a metaphysical dance without effort — or multi-syllabic words.


CAPSULE REVIEW: The Wolverine – Director James Mangold (Cop Land, Girl, Interrupted) takes on the challenge of fusing comic book action with a metaphysical romance in this X-Men spinoff. Picking up the story of Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) after he’s killed his true love, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), this 3D action spectacle takes us to Japan, where an eccentric billionaire offers Logan the gift of mortality. The frames are moody, Jackman is muscular and Mangold’s direction makes it meaty. Rating: Three and a half stars out of five. – Katherine Monk

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