A well-deserved Japanese vacation for the Wolverine!

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2013)

'X-men Origins Wolverine' was an entertaining film, admittedly, but it was a deeply flawed movie that ultimately didn't do the character or his origin story enough justice. 'The Wolverine', Fox's (and Hugh Jackman's) second attempt to give the character a solo adventure, does rectify a lot of those flaws, and ends up as a good film (maybe even a very good one)...but it just falls short of 'great'.
The movie undoubtedly has its strengths. It treats the character and the source material seriously, adopting a dark noir-ish tone befitting Wolverine and more specifically the 'Japanese saga' it is based on. Logan's inner struggle with his immortality, and his lack of purpose, are perfectly illustrated, and resolved. The supporting cast, including the members of the Yashida clan (Master Yashida, Shingen and Mariko), Harada, and of course, Yukio, are near-perfect. Viper proves to be a chilling antagonist (though nowhere near the level of Brian Cox's William Stryker, Ian McKellan's Magneto, or even Liev Schreiber's Victor Creed!) The cinematography is breath-taking-from the opening scenes in the Canadian wilderness to the alleyways of Tokyo.
But where the movie disappoints, to a large extent, is in its plot structure. What could have been an pure atmospheric Japanese noir drama/action flick, ends up getting 'polluted' with clichÃ©d superhero and thriller tropes such as lost superpowers, 'secret identities' and 'surprise' twists. Instead of being the definitive Wolverine story, this movie ends up being a darn good superhero story...but certainly nothing close to the likes of The Dark Knight or The Avengers.