I’m not a big fan of the X-Men
films. The only one that I thought was
remotely good was X2: X-Men United (2003)
which I thought was the only film that truly captured the ensemble spirit
giving each of the characters in the film an actual story and through
line. This being said, I do think that
what the films in the franchise did get right is the casting for most all the
characters both good and bad and it is to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine who truly
grounds the films (as evidenced in the fact that he is the only actor who has
appeared in all the films), so it is no surprise that the latest film in the
franchise The Wolverine (2013)
focuses on Jackman’s character after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Logan (Jackman) is haunted by Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), the
woman he loved and whom he killed, so he has disappeared into the wilderness
away from society. During an altercation
at a bar, he encounters Yukio (Rilia Fukushima) who tells him Yashida (Haruhiko
Yamanouchi), a man he saved during WWII in Japan, wants to see him before he
dies. Logan decides to go to Japan to
honor the request of the Yashida. Upon
reaching Japan, Logan soon discovers that Yashida (who also has become one of
the wealthiest men in Japan) may hold the secret of taking his immortality from
him and allowing him to live a normal lifespan and maybe be reunited with Jean
in the afterlife. Before Logan can truly
make a decision that will disrupt the rest of his life war breaks out between
the Yakuza who decide to kidnap Yashida’s daughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who
holds the secret to controlling the future of Japan. Now Logan finds himself protecting Mariko at
all cost.
This film is a far improvement over the previous solo
Wolverine film X-Men Origins: Wolverine
(2009) as it goes back to the basics of the character. It delves into Logan’s grief of not being
able to save Jean Grey while paralleling that with his trying to protect and
save Mariko, whom he also falls in love with.
The film explores the nature of honor as filtered through Logan’s eyes
and through the Japanese culture. When
Logan loses his invulnerability by Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), another mutant
like himself, he must contend with his newfound humanity but there is an even
deeper conspiracy at hand for Logan that even he may not be prepared for.
As directed by James Mangold this film is smaller in scope
that the previous films which works in this film’s favor as it becomes more of
a character film as Logan grapples with vulnerability, guilt, redemption, honor
and indeed love. If there is one thing
that the X-Men films have gotten
right it is that of Logan’s hidden love and inner demons as it pertains to Jean
Grey. In this film she is a
personification of his guilt not just emotional but physical as it reminds him
that he is practically immortal and may never be reunited with her in the
afterlife. Yashida’s deal to strip Logan
of his immortality is profound in that it forces him to see life in a finite
way which can be enticing for an immortal that has nothing to live for. When Logan falls in love with Mariko it
allows him to come to terms with his grief of Jean’s death while also allowing
him to find a reason to go on living and allow him to find his purpose in an
immortal life.
This is not to say that the film is without its faults. There are some amazing action sequences
especially the one of the bullet train and the invasion of Yakuza gangsters at
Yashida’s funeral but the third act seems overly big with the Silver Samurai
only showing up in this sequence and whereas most of the film’s action was very
Japanese in look and nature this final sequence is very modern and metallic
which takes away from the grandeur of the Japanese local and culture of
everything that came before it. This is
a small gripe as this film improves upon the previous films in the franchise by
returning to focusing on character which is why I liked X2: X-Men United.
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