Wolverine represents, the film doesn't

Rating: 5/10 (1 August 2013)

I went into The Wolverine screening with low expectations. The trailers released two months before the film, did nothing for me. And now that I've seen The Wolverine, it still hasn't done anything for me. The film has a load of problems in regards to its pacing, performances and story. A lot happens in this film, but it's not a lot I'd care to mention. What does stand out is Jackman's performance as Wolverine. He's fantastic in this film.
This is Jackman's sixth outing as the X-Man and without a doubt his best. This time we see a more vulnerable Wolverine (without healing factor), battling to come to terms with Jean Grey's death. Jean (Famke Janssen) enters his dreams haunting Wolverine over her death in the last X-Men movie (X-Men The Last Stand that is, not X-Men First Class). These scenes above everything else in the film show a lot more depth to the Wolverine character and making him more human. Jackman, who looks an absolute beast (excuse the pun) , has said that he feels this is the best he's ever played the character and it's clearly evident with his acting and the presence he exudes in this film.
Supporting cast, do well to aid Jackman. The often brilliant Hiroyuki Sanada adds weight to the film as one of Wolverine's adversaries. Tao Okamoto does well as Mariko, playing the damsel in distress role as well as Wolverine's main love interest, without the chemistry I might add. Will Yun Lee is OK, no seriously he was just that. To be honest I found his character's inclusion quite unnecessary, because he did little else apart from throw arrows around the place. Rila Fukushima is excellent as Yukio and is second to Jackman's performance. Not only was she adept at the fight scenes, she conveyed the right emotion when needed and had better chemistry with Jackman.
The main villain is absolutely tragic in this. Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) a character from comics, from Wolverine's days as his alias 'Patch' in Madripoor. Pops up as an evil geneticist or a physiologist (one of the two) and does absolutely nothing in this, but model a green bondage suit and hiss and sneer a lot. I couldn't believe she was the main antagonist in this film. She was terrible! And this only adds to the few problems with The Wolverine.
Let's start with story, because The Wolverine doesn't really have one. Our hero ends up in Japan, to help an old man, he knew from his days as a prisoner in World War 2.Then, all hell breaks loose. Yakuza gangs are thrown into the mix, there's an impressive high speed train fight, with Wolverine fighting some Yakuza thug on top of a bullet train going 300 mph. There are ninjas flying around left, right and centre. An effects laden bore fest of a fight between Wolverine and The Silver Samurai. And last, but not least, a poor pathetic small twist thrown in at the end, for the cinema's audience to gasp at. And to be totally honest, I saw it coming a mile away. The action set pieces are solid and well filmed. The bits between are boring and drag this film almost off a cliff.
James Mangold is a solid director. 3:10 To Yuma, Walk the Line, Cop Land, all great films, showing what a talent he is as a director. Mangold does a great job letting you know we are in Japan. And he expands on that by showing the culture and history of the Japanese people. From the bombing of Nagasaki to the Japan we know of today. Unfortunately, The Wolverine's pacing and narrative runs out of steam, especially right at the end, when the film needed a dazzling finale to finish on. Overall, it felt as if Wolverine landed in Japan and found he was in a world of trouble. And in order to get out of the mess he's in, he picks a fight with the robotic version of the Silver Samurai. The Wolverine is an improvement on its predecessor. But it's equal in its disappointment at not providing very much of a story to keep me interested.
The film has already made $121 mil at the US box office, surpassing its $100 mil budget. Will it equal or surpass the dreadful juggernaut that is Iron Man 3 in worldwide takings? I doubt it. But it could mean that another Wolverine movie is on the way. Is this worth a watch in the cinema? It is, but avoid the 3D viewings. The glasses did absolutely nothing to enhance my enjoyment of this poor sequel. Oh, and stay at the end for another Marvel end scene before the main credits. You'll love it! You'll probably love it more than this entire film.