BDirected by James Mangold Starring Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, and Hiroyuki Sanada Review by Jon Kissel |  |
The follow-up to the Wolverine solo series did not have to try too hard to surpass Wolverine: Origins. Burdened with ineffective CGI and crowded with characters that were bungled or unnecessary or both, Origins remains the worst film in the entire X-Men franchise despite some serious competition. In James Mangold's The Wolverine, the series washes its hands of its predecessor and moves Hugh Jackman's feral, adamantium-infused super-healer from North America, with its large and distracting cast of intertwining characters, to Japan and its low mutant population. This first step avoids one of the many traps that Origins fell into, namely a temptation to stuff too many characters, with their respective mutant powers, into a rickety narrative. The setting also affords Jackman's Logan the chance to work in a culture that has long mirrored and inspired Western films. Cowboys and ronin have a lot in common, and lone heroes sauntering into unjust situations fit just as well in Japan as they do in the American frontier. In adapting comics that correctly saw Logan as a claw-fisted Man With No Name, and in having the good sense to not have Logan screaming 'NO!' to the heavens, Mangold helps Jackman expunge the memory of Origins.
The Wolverine begins at the end of WWII in Imperial Japan. Logan is being held prisoner in Nagasaki as Fat Man is about to be dropped. Young officer Ichiro Yashida (Ken Yamamura), sensing the pointlessness of keeping prisoners at this point, offers to release Logan but Logan instead drags Yashida into his underground cell. As the bomb explodes, Logan shields Yashida from the blast and instantly heals in front of Yashida's eyes. Many decades later, Logan is in Canada, separated from the other X-Men after mercy-killing Jean Grey (Famke Jannsen) in X-Men: The Last Stand. Tortured by nightmares that relive that moment, he's now living like a transient in the forest, struggling daily to keep his personal demons and his rage at bay. As he's about to fail at the latter and slaughter a poacher, enigmatic Yukio (Rila Fukushima) intervenes, defusing the situation and summoning him back to Japan. She works for Yashida, who turned himself into a phenomenally successful businessman and would like to offer something to Logan before he dies.
Once back in Japan, The Wolverine firmly plants its feet in the old world and the new world. Mangold and writers Mark Bomback and Scott Frank effectively merge the fantastical, the futuristic, and the old-fashioned. Upon arriving at Yashida's (now played by Haruhiko Yamanouchi) compound, Yukio shepherds Logan into Yashida's high-tech medical room while wearing a traditional kimono. Japan is perfect for this kind of juxtaposition, and the setting does much of the work of framing this superhero story as something almost reminiscent of Kurosawa. There's a bit of Toshiro Mfune's Yojimbo/Sanjuro character in Logan, and the mystery Logan's tasked with unfolding in The Wolverine isn't so dissimilar from Mfune's medieval exploits. Yashida is at the top of an empire with an uncertain succession plan, with potential successors in his son Shingen (the always formidable Hiroyuki Sanada) and his granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okaoto). He would like to make succession a moot point by transferring Logan's healing ability to himself, thus freeing Logan from his very long life filled with pain and regret. Before Logan can make a decision, Yashida dies, and the long knives come out in the form of Yakuza assassins and the nefarious deeds of Yashida's doctor Dr. Green (Svetlana Khodchenkova). Logan places his bet on Mariko and moves to protect her, though his healing powers are suddenly not what they used to be.
Mangold populates his films with even doses of character and action and a little humor sprinkled in. The Japanese characters effectively share the screen with Jackman, who has long since figured out Logan. This is his film, but he doesn't monopolize it. Yukio is an excellent sidekick. Mangold includes uncommented shots of her filthy and cluttered car, a nice moment of wordless characterization. Sanada cannot help but pull focus from Jackman, who, despite his gifts, is always going to lose in a stoic-off against the seasoned Japanese actor. On the action front, setpieces are doled out at a judicious rate, allowing for plenty of time to recover before the next one. These include some never-before-seen moments, like an anti-gravity battle atop a bullet train and a grisly face-off in Yashida's medical room. Mangold leavens jaw-droppers like these with occasional visual gags that place Fox's X-Men films squarely between the joviality of the Marvel Universe and the dour DC Universe.
The Wolverine is far from a perfect superhero film, despite its many assets. As a villain, Dr. Green is wholly unmotivated beyond generic evil, and once the film shifts its focus from dynastic concerns to her machinations, things fall apart. She is deeply unmemorable and unaided by Khodchenkova, who might be great in her native Russian but is poor in English. Mangold would need one more superhero film with Jackman to perfect his formula, but The Wolverine is unquestionably several steps up from Origins. B
Once back in Japan, The Wolverine firmly plants its feet in the old world and the new world. Mangold and writers Mark Bomback and Scott Frank effectively merge the fantastical, the futuristic, and the old-fashioned. Upon arriving at Yashida's (now played by Haruhiko Yamanouchi) compound, Yukio shepherds Logan into Yashida's high-tech medical room while wearing a traditional kimono. Japan is perfect for this kind of juxtaposition, and the setting does much of the work of framing this superhero story as something almost reminiscent of Kurosawa. There's a bit of Toshiro Mfune's Yojimbo/Sanjuro character in Logan, and the mystery Logan's tasked with unfolding in The Wolverine isn't so dissimilar from Mfune's medieval exploits. Yashida is at the top of an empire with an uncertain succession plan, with potential successors in his son Shingen (the always formidable Hiroyuki Sanada) and his granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okaoto). He would like to make succession a moot point by transferring Logan's healing ability to himself, thus freeing Logan from his very long life filled with pain and regret. Before Logan can make a decision, Yashida dies, and the long knives come out in the form of Yakuza assassins and the nefarious deeds of Yashida's doctor Dr. Green (Svetlana Khodchenkova). Logan places his bet on Mariko and moves to protect her, though his healing powers are suddenly not what they used to be.
Mangold populates his films with even doses of character and action and a little humor sprinkled in. The Japanese characters effectively share the screen with Jackman, who has long since figured out Logan. This is his film, but he doesn't monopolize it. Yukio is an excellent sidekick. Mangold includes uncommented shots of her filthy and cluttered car, a nice moment of wordless characterization. Sanada cannot help but pull focus from Jackman, who, despite his gifts, is always going to lose in a stoic-off against the seasoned Japanese actor. On the action front, setpieces are doled out at a judicious rate, allowing for plenty of time to recover before the next one. These include some never-before-seen moments, like an anti-gravity battle atop a bullet train and a grisly face-off in Yashida's medical room. Mangold leavens jaw-droppers like these with occasional visual gags that place Fox's X-Men films squarely between the joviality of the Marvel Universe and the dour DC Universe.
The Wolverine is far from a perfect superhero film, despite its many assets. As a villain, Dr. Green is wholly unmotivated beyond generic evil, and once the film shifts its focus from dynastic concerns to her machinations, things fall apart. She is deeply unmemorable and unaided by Khodchenkova, who might be great in her native Russian but is poor in English. Mangold would need one more superhero film with Jackman to perfect his formula, but The Wolverine is unquestionably several steps up from Origins. B
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