If Only The Story Were As Sharp As His Claws....

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2019)

After the lackluster feelings people had to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," you'd think it wouldn't be tough to outdo it in being an entertaining effort. And this film does manage to do that, but not enough to be considered a great film experience.
Picking up where "X-Men: The Last Stand" left off, Wolverine is now living like a mountain man and battling his own guilt. But he is soon drawn into a web of conflict and honor in Japan, due to an old acquaintance, which has him facing not only his guilt and past, but his own sense of mortality.
Much of this story's main thrust and inspiration is taken from the early 80's mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. Director James Mangold does a decent enough job of implementing the facets of that story, while updating it for more modern sensibilities. He also does some wonderful work with some of the major action sequences, as well. But many of the performances just feel subdued, save for Jackman's as Wolverine. The emotional context of the scenes and motivations don't quite ring true. The love affair with Wolverine and Mariko (played by Tao Okamoto) Feels extremely rushed and forced. And the inclusion of Viper (played by Svetlana Khodchenkova) feels completely miscast and unnecessary. However, the last bit at the end during the credits, was a great bit of tease, which was a lot of fun and one of the best moments of the film.
Hugh Jackman does his best to give you what you expect from the character he's spent over a decade bringing to life on the big screen. He perfectly provides you with a very realistic feeling for the inner turmoil within Wolverine's soul. But there are many lost opportunities to dig deeper into it, which are sidetracked for the action sequences and other characters machinations that aren't vital to the story and don't really advance the overall plot very much. There was so much more that could have been expanded upon with Wolverine and Mariko, if the time used on these superfluous character plots had not been in the way. Worst of all is that Yukio's character (played by Rila Fukushima) was totally wasted as little more than a plot exposition guru, there to fill in the blanks that the script and story didn't bear out as they should. Although, her battle in the medical lab with Shingen (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) was one of the better action scenes of the film, which I enjoyed very much.
In the final analysis, "The Wolverine" ends up as just a typical comic book movie. Not horrible, but not particularly great, either. I liked it, but then I'm also a big comic fan, too. As I said before, it is a better effort than the last Wolverine related film, but that falls under the heading of "damning with faint praise." Those who are fans of the character and his comic adventures will likely get some decent enjoyment from this, as will those looking for a semi-interesting action film. But those unfamiliar with the character and the comics this film uses for its basis, aren't likely to become new fans through this effort. Much like how comics are written today, if you haven't been a fan for a long time, there's going to be little done here to make you one now. This film feels much the same way!