The Wolverine is the fifth (5th!) outing for Hugh Jackman as the indestructible mutant Wolverine, but a bit of a reboot considering the less than spectacular X3: X-Men United and X-Men: Origins: Wolverine. But building on the success of X-Men:First Class and attempting to bridge the gap to next year’s hotly-anticipated Days of Future Past, The Wolverine has both a high and a low bar to meet: be better than the last two movies, and bridge the series into a cohesive whole the way the folks at Marvel have done.
Did they do it?
We have assembled some of our top robots to discuss, first in a spoiler-free section and then we will transition into massive spoiler territory.
Citizen-Bot: I loved this. Wolverine was my comic of choice since I first started reading comics. I love the character, and I especially love the conceit of Wolverine as the lone wolf, the lone warrior, the ronin — something that is explicitly touched on in this film.
With the backdrop of Japan, they are able to go into that piece of his history and nature that had heretofore been unexplored in the movies. I also like how they are able to present a loving homage to the (Frank Miller) Wolverine comics and storyline, but one which isn’t too slavish and which tries to tell its own story. The best comparison I can make is how Batman Begins is to Miller’s Batman Year One as The Wolverine is to Frank Miller’s classic story arc.
The first two acts play out less like a superhero movie and more like a crime thriller, with just a hint of Kurosawa in there. And it is gorgeous. Jackman is amazing here, not just as a guy with claws and a healing factor, but a troubled soul badly in need of redemption.
But in the final set-piece, the film takes a weird tonal shift, both visually and in storytelling, and I think it fails to satisfyingly tie all the loose threads together. (More on this in the major spoilers section)
Swank-mo-tron: I thought this movie played out as though they got a time machine to transport a stack of Marvel Comics (starting with the Claremont/Miller Wolverine mini-series) to Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane and asked them to write a noir based on it. Then, Mangold came in and directed it with the sensibilities of Kurosawa’s noir films, only with more explosions, mutants, and giant Silver Samurai.
Seriously, imagine taking a 1940s Humphrey Bogart movie, dropping the Wolverine in like Frank Miller’s Marv, and then adding in the conceits of superhero films and that’s what you get from this movie. I thought it was so incredibly fun, even though it deviated in many ways from the comics. This movie was, above-all, satisfying.
And the third act to me felt like the final act of a Bond movie… Much more satisfying and logical than, say, You Only Live Twice. And fitting for the characters.
Citizen-Bot: Oh, come on– you know this movie would’ve been better if that last fight took place inside a volcano. But I think you hit on the pedigree and feel of The Wolverine exactly. I was a fan of Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma remake, and this has a lot of that same heart and smart, deliberate pacing.
Sith-Bot: Let me preface by saying I really enjoyed this movie, or at least most of it. The first 3/4 is a lot of fun and gives us exactly what we’re looking for in a (albeit PG-13) wolverine movie. It’s fun, action packed, gritty, funny, incredibly stabby and had me giggling like a school girl at what was unfolding on screen. Then we hit the final 30 minutes, and everything falls apart. It felt like the writers got themselves into a corner with figuring out how to tie up loose ends, explain what was really going on, and give us the Silver Samurai money shot (which was totally wasted) we were promised in the movie posters. There are a few moments in the finale that are guaranteed to make fanboys heads explode, and while I’m not one, I’m steeped enough in Marvel lore for what transpired to really rip me out of the movie going experience and wonder how they hell they justified what was going on. I got over it because it wasn’t really that huge of a deal, but it was still telling that it was enough to remove the suspension of disbelief.
In closing, I don’t want people to think I hated or even disliked this movie; I didn’t. In fact, I loved a majority of it, but the final bit left a bad taste in my mouth that was only remedied by the mid credits scene (which is worth seeing on its own). Is this the perfect Wolverine movie? No, but it is enjoyable and a whole hell of a lot better than Origins and X3, which is a huge step in the right direction. Go see it, just save your money and go to a 2D matinee showing.
Citizen-Bot: I can agree with the 2D. Other than an epic fight between Logan and some Yakuza on a train, I don’t think 3D added much to this movie. What I would recommend is you make a Japanese-inspired film double-feature, and go see The Wolverine in 2D and then Pacific Rim in 3D
One thng you do have to see to believe in this movie is how ripped Hugh Jackman is. I took my wife to the screening with me and there were several squees of joy. Attracted to Hugh Jackman? Just wait until a wood-chopping scene a little more than halfway through the movie.
***SPOILER SECTION: DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT MAJOR PLOT POINTS REVEALED***
Swank-mo-tron: To be honest, I think what they changed for this film worked. I wasn’t too attached to Viper or Madame Hydra or whatever she was called, and Silver Samurai worked for me to a tee. I think people might be upset by the idea that Wolverine’s bones didn’t grow back quickly enough, but I could forgive that because regrowing stuff always takes him awhile and he hasn’t hurt or broken or lost a bone in a long time.
Citizen-Bot: Ok, here’s my beef. I wasn’t too attached to “Viper or Madame Hydra or whatever she was called” either. I didn’t care about her at all. What was her purpose? Her motivation? I didn’t get a clear one. Except to vamp and “be evil” and “sexy.” But every time her face was on screen I felt like Dr. Evil in Goldfinger with Fred Savage. . . and I just wanted Wolverine to f@#$ing cut that “beauty mark” off her face!!! AGH! It was distracting, for me anyway. And then I realized how irrelevant she was to everything, and I made peace with it.
And in a film so full of betrayal and plot twists and shifting loyalties, suddenly in the last half hour, everyone says, “Oh, whatever, f@#$ it, I’m a gonna do whatever I’m a gonna do because it will look cool in a movie.” The character motivations made sense up until then, and then suddenly. . . it’s a free-for-all. It felt like a Kevin Smith comic book: GREAT first 5 issues, unfulfilling 6th issue that leaves me shaking my head. At least Wolverine had a satisfying and organic character arc, because none of his foils/villains did. I guess if all that ridiculousness was done in service of him, it’s forgivable. It’s certainly not near as bad as the ending of Origins: Wolverine, which was completely ridiculous.
Also, I feel like I was robbed of an opportunity to see Wolverine fight 100 ninjas. “Is that all you brought?” was a great setup line, but then rather than going berserker rage, he just starts running away and gets shot by 30 arrows? I understand they had to move the movie along, but I wish that scene existed.
As for the re-writing of the whole Silver Samurai thing, I don’t have any nerd complaints except for one: I would’ve preferred the Samurai be more, say, Iron Man sized and less Iron Monger sized. Also, I kinda predicted the ending. So did my non-comics-reading wife, by the way, so I guess that’s good? Or bad. I always wonder how things are telegraphed to a non-geek audience, if they pick up on them or not. The fact that she also suspected Yashida wasn’t dead is probably a good sign.
Sith-Bot: See, I liked the ninja scene; his trying to get to the woman he was beginning to love only to be literally held back by 100 arrows was just beautifully shot and done. While it would have been fun to see him slice and dice a million ninjas, the scene worked much better the way it was done. My one fanboy moment when I had to check myself was when Silver Samurai shatters his claws; you can’t break adamantium. I got over myself pretty quickly (it’s only a movie and Wolverine isn’t real), but it did quite the effective job of pulling me out of what was happening, and I’m not even a huge Wolverine fan, so I can’t imagine how pissed real fanboys are going to be.
Swank-mo-tron: First: you CAN cut adamantium with super-heated, melted adamantium swords, which is what happened. Secondly, I think all the character motivations worked. Viper was a mercenary, paid to do this by Yashida. Cut and dry. Hanada was there to protect the family and its honor and once he realized Yashida was acting dishonorably and Mariko was a more honorable heir to the family, he switched to his more natural allegiance. All of that tracked for me.
Sith-Bot: See, everything I’ve read and looked up on adamantium (and I did some research about it last night after the movie), said that true adamantium, what is in wolverine (aside from the slight alteration/mutation that allows bone growth … Yes, that is an exact explanation from Marvel) is completely indestructible and unbreakable. But then I remembered Magneto ripping it out of his body like quicksilver, so I stopped worrying about it. Like I said, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest anymore and was simply a stupid fanboy moment. The scene itself was actually cool.
***Discussion of the post-credits scene***
Swank-mo-tron: I think the post-credits was incredibly ballsy and nothing I expected. I thought, at best, if there was a post-credits sequence, it would be a quick joke or a gag, a’la The Avengers, but Fox put their money where their mouth was and gave us a fantastic glimpse into the beginnings of Days of Future of Past. I loved how it echoed some of my favorite scenes throughout the X-Men franchise. First, it echoed the first meeting of the Professor and Magneto from the very first X-Men film, but then it also brought them together for the same task of recruiting Wolverine. And we saw how well that worked out in First Class.
On top of that, they teased Trask Industries, and we all know where that’s heading: Sentinels.
Citizen-Bot: Whatever failings the last 20 minutes or so may have had for me, they MORE than made up for it with that post credits scene. I almost pooped my pants when everything started shaking, including Wolverine, and I was like, “NO. WAY. Magneto? No way Ian McKellen’s gonna show up. . . DAYUM. And Patrick Stewart. . . .awesome.” And the Trask easter egg is my favorite in any superhero movie since. . . .well, since Bryan Singer’s X-2.
Sith-Bot: Like I said, no matter your thoughts about the end of the movie, that mid credit scene was pure gold. Seriously, go see the movie if only for that.