THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Before shocking the world in 2017 with Logan, James Mangold directed another film for the X-Men franchise in 2013, The Wolverine.
PLOT
The film focuses on the titular lead who has been grieving over the death of Jean Grey. He then meets Yukio, who can foresee the fate of others. On behalf of her employer Ichiro Yashida, dying of cancer, she asks Logan to come to say goodbye to him and allow him to thank him for saving his life in 1945 Nagasaki. In Tokyo, Japan, he meets Ichiro's son Shingen and granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto). He then offers the mutant the chance to transfer his healing to him, but he refuses. He is then poisoned by the physician Dr. Green, believing it to be another dream. However when waking up, Ichiro is presumed dead. At the funeral, Yakuza capture Mariko and wound Logan as he has lost his healing. From a distance, he is aided by an archer named Kenuichio Harada (Will Yun Lee), Mariko's ex-boyfriend. When hiding with Mariko after getting rid of the Yakuza, he eventually gets stitches for the first time due to his injuries. When Harada confronts Dr. Green aka Viper, she demonstrates her powers on him, admits what she did to Logan and demands the archer to find the mutant and Mariko. She is eventually abducted by Yakuza but this time, they were sent by her fiancé, Minister of Justice Noburo Mori (Brian Tee). Before confronting him, Logan regroups with Yukio and she tells him she saw his death. When confronting Mori, he reveals that not only will Mariko have now have control of Ichiro's company but her grandfather was also highly obsessed with his immortality/healing. Mariko is taken to the family estate encountering her father, but she is saved by Harada, who's still align with Viper. When Logan and Yukio arrive, they are mostly gone but the former X-Man discovers a robotic parasite which was in his body the whole time. He literally cuts himself open to remove it, while Yukio fights Shingen. After recovering, he fights him and kills him. Going to the last hideout, he is taken down by Harada's ninjas. Held captive, Viper reveals to extract his healing factor through an electromagnetic suit of Japanese armor, known as the Silver Samurai. Mariko breaks him from captivity, but as he fought the machine, he would lose his claws. The samurai kills Harada, who realized before this that his ways had errors and Yukio kills Viper. Ichiro reveals to be in the adamantium suit, admitting his plan to extract his powers. Mariko intervenes for the last time and Wolverine grows back his bone claws to kill Ichiro. At that moment, the mutant had decided to let Jean go after another hallucination. Mariko takes command of Yashida Industries and it originally ends Logan and Yukio beginning to travel together. The film ends with a mid credits scene showing the titular protagonist reuniting with Magneto and a resurrected Charles Xavier, warning him of a new threat to the mutant race.
THOUGHTS
When watching this back in 2013, I admit that I recall having a ball as I do years later. This is the kind of film where you can enjoy for having a fairly isolated story that is just as investing as whatever the bigger picture is. With action scenes like the bullet train sequence and much improved visuals like the grizzly bear for example, it's unlikely that you'll be looking away. Mangold really respected the source material as he based the film off of the 'Wolverine' comic by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, while also keeping this film in continuity to 20th Century's X-Men franchise. For example, bringing back the bony claws, the coolest thing from the 2009 flop X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was a bold move that highly pays off. However, it was a massive tease when seeing an alternate scene of the costume Logan never gets to wear onscreen. Because of it being isolated, Hugh Jackman becomes the one man show as he shows the titular character to be vulnerable for the first time in his life. He also does a great job expressing the character's emotional grief over Jean's death. It's hard to believe in it considering that he looked fine by the end of The Last Stand. But with the return of Famke Janssen as the iconic telekinetic makes viewers forget about that flaw and accept that she is vital to him and this story. I personally don’t think the bear was his motivation to kill again. He chose to attack the hunters because he saw them as cowards for choosing to make the animal suffer. Considering that he suffered a whole lot, he seemed to relate to it at the moment. Mariko was indeed one of the many love interests for Wolverine as the comics presented but in the end, nothing beats Jean Grey. Looking at all Logan's arc here overall taught me that can own up to your mistakes, but never be hard on yourself because mistakes do not define you. We all knew Logan didn't want to Jean, but had to. Seeing him come to terms with it was a relief because he didn't deserve to deal with such pain. Although his journey wasn't over with, it was good to see him overcome such a personal demon. Of all the Japanese characters in this movie, Yukio was the most interesting, mainly due to her powers. She definitely holds her own when joining the fight and she definitely seemed to have an interesting bond with Logan. The best thing about her is how Rila Kukishima embraces the character’s loyal and honorable motive. The craziest thing however is that many viewers would not see coming is that she predicted the ending to 2017's Logan. She claimed to see him on his back, blood everywhere, as he holds his heart. In the 2017 follow-up, we do get that as the titular character does hold on to something that is metaphorically his heart. The Viper may have been an underling but she was definitely intimidating and ultimately seductive when entering the room and Svetlana Khodchtenkova succeeds in expressing just that for this character. Because the character is connected to HYDRA in the comics, I would not mind if this character had returned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It would also be a big win win if the actress were to return as well. I did like Hiroyuki Sanada because he succeeds in depicting Shingen as one who’s so conflicted that he makes poor choices. He thinks he’s doing the right thing, but he is so wrong. I didn't mind with the twist of Ichiro being the Silver Samurai, but it felt over the top that the suit is as big as Veronica aka Hulkbuster from 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Lastly, the mid credits really caught me off guard. When Days of Future Past was near, it made sense that this spinoff had to build it up in some capacity. So this mid credits was very clever compared to other MCU movies that do this because we got the unexpected. The return of Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart is an off guard moment that is joyful to witness. When you feel that joy, it reminds you how much you enjoy these characters and how far we've been with the franchise. Even though this film continued the right path for the franchise, there were still stuff that bothered me. First off, I did say I respect its attempt to remain in the same continuity but if Wolverine was a prisoner at some point of WWII in Hiroshima, when exactly did he and Sabretooth get separated? It’s an intense opening that sets up the plot but I really want to know the specifics that led to the protagonist’s predicament. Also, I would thank anyone in a heartbeat after saving my life but I feel like Ichiro should’ve offered the sword after getting out of the well. Maybe Wolverine would’ve not taken it but by then, it felt logical to do. I know the train fight is awesome but when did the Yakuza show up to the train? I mean they were pretty far when losing sight of Logan. And you can’t say they’re different guys because if you pay attention, they’re the same guys. I did say Yukio telling Logan she foresaw his death is surprising because it does become a reality. But why didn’t she tell him when driving? I thought it was weird she could’ve. I get she wants his attention but I personally think he’d still listen if she told him on the road. While I’m impressed that all of the ninjas were able to take down Logan, how come no one spotted Yukio? I mean it’s hard to believe not one was patrolling the gate Yukio came from. Ignore all of this and you’ll the movie for what it is. To wrap up, The Wolverine helped keep the X-Men franchise on the right track and stands out for being its own thing. If you love good action, you'll enjoy what this one provides.
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