Great: 8.0

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2019)

The X-Men series has had more than its fair share of ups and downs, with quality ranging from near-embarassing to a shining example of the genre. With Hugh Jackman's Wolverine being the most well-known character from the franchise, this is the second film focusing exclusively on him. The first of these, Origins, gave little to no insight into Wolverine's character, instead opting to stand back and observe the man going through the motions that many superhero origin stories require. The Wolverine, directed by 3:10 to Yuma's James Mangold, is in many ways at the opposite end of the spectrum. Taking place after the events of 2006's The Last Stand, Logan is haunted by the memory of Jean Grey, the love he was forced to kill at the end of that film. The fact that Wolverine does not age is fairly common knowledge, and here it is explored more as a curse than a blessing. This is all well and good, but The Wolverine takes something of a nosedive in the last half-hour, which sees the plot almost spiral out of control with a final revelation that left a bitter taste. The rest of the film, however, remains a satisfyingly introspective take on one of cinema's most well-known superheroes.