There are a pair of scenes early in The Wolverine that perfectly explain the titular character. One of them sees Logan (Hugh Jackman) rescuing a Japanese officer from the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima in 1945. It is ridiculously over-the-top and exactly what one expects out of a summer blockbuster comic book movie. The other sees our hero once again kill the woman he loves. It is a brief glimpse inside the psyche of a tortured soul haunted by his power and past decisions.
The marriage of these two scenes, and, more importantly, their underlying themes, is the core of who and what The Wolverine is. And for most filmgoers used to the popcorn extravaganzas that permeate the comic book/superhero film landscape, The Wolverine might surprise them, at least initially.
Wolverine is without a doubt one of the most popular of Marvel’s stable of superhero characters and Jackman’s portrayal of the character has been the focal point for the entire FOX-produced X-Men franchise. With a new X-Men film coming next year, FOX could have taken the easy route, but instead of making the prototypical summer blockbuster film, director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Knight & Day) uses The Wolverine to explore the iconic character.
Logan is a troubled man. His powers have made him effectively immortal and as with any immortal creature, Logan sees all that he loves wither and die before his eyes, sometimes even at his own hands. His last action as part of the X-Men saw him sacrifice his true love, Jean Grey, to save humanity. In an effort to detach himself from the world, Logan returned to the wild, living as a hermit with minimal interaction with society.
Logan’s past though forces him to return to reality as the Yashida, a Japanese officer he saved, wishes to see his “friend” one last time before he dies. This frail old man is now one of the most powerful in all of Japan, running a Sony-like empire, and his reasons for wanting Logan to visit him aren’t exactly sentimental. An offer is made to Logan that would enable him to be rid of his immortal curse, passing it instead on to Yashida. The science of it all is sketchy at best but it lays out a path for Logan to convince himself that he does belong in this world and that his special abilities offer him an opportunity to do great things.
While Logan is obviously the main focus of the film, there is a secondary storyline dealing with the Yashida family politics. This keeps the film flowing at a generally swift pace despite the lack of action set pieces throughout the first two acts of the film. These first two acts are quite enjoyable and allow The Wolverine to stand toe to toe with both Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel. But then the third act happens and nearly all the good will bought is flushed away.
If you can think of something that has happened in a comic book movie over the last decade, it probably has a place in the finale of The Wolverine because the final act of the film is a minefield of comic book stereotypes. Worse than its general lack of originality though is that it lacks any sort of tension or excitement. The ending is honestly kind of dull.
While the ending is generic and dull, it is also exactly what has become the expectation for comic book based summer blockbusters. That is a shame because a handful of films have risen above that generalized expectation and delivered something special. The Wolverine had the goods to join that exclusive group but failed to take the necessary next step to actually do it. The Wolverine is not a bad film, it is just not a particularly memorable one and considering the character and his importance to the X-Men universe, that might be the biggest waste of all.
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