Turning Japanese. 72.5+%

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2013)

I have to confess that I haven't been following this series (of franchises) religiously but returned to it for this instalment (this might be my first movie in the Wolverine's franchise). Generally I might watch the first in a franchise but stop after that one or the sequel (because they're "meh"). Fortunately this movie doesn't have anything as silly as a mutant with a gene which affects the weather (!!).
Anyway, in this movie you get to see the title character's back story, as far as his pre-present-day existence...i.e. his time fighting in World War II (at least in the Wolverine's flashbacks or nightmares). An important relationship in this movie is shown in that back story which will lead the Wolverine to return to Japan (where he fought in World War 2) in order to meet the Japanese soldier he was imprisoned by back then.
An interesting element of the plot concerns the offer to Wolverine to give up his invincibility in exchange for a mortal life.
There are some good visuals in this movie (although the 3D option wasn't much of a positive...but I saw the movie on a smallish screen...but I doubt that by itself diminished the effect much) and the fight scene on the bullet train is one of the all time great action sequences, equivalent to the vehicle chases in "Mad Max 2" or the car chase in "For your eyes only" as far as exhilaration goes. The fight scene is visceral despite obviously being a computer generated effect.
As for the cast, Tao Okamoto as the WWII Japanese soldier's granddaughter Mariko is elegant and beautiful in a Grace Kelly kind of way. Mariko's childhood friend Yukio (Rila Fukushima) puts a praying mantis to mind. Since the film is set in Japan, there are obviously a lot of Japanese names. Following or remembering who was who became an issue for me as a result (i.e. when names were dropped in conversation and that person wasn't there at the time).
There are slow parts to the movie and I liked the incidental Japanese music which I sometimes noticed during these passages. There are also some good incidental jokes in this movie which I liked...e.g. the scene where the Wolverine is required to clean up for a meeting. Also liked the joke about the pool...although I'm sure I've heard the same joke in another movie...I just can't remember which!). Other times there are lots of fights between Wolverine and ninjas or Yakuza.
I get the impression that I missed some back story provided in an earlier movie but it didn't detract too much...i.e. the topic which gives the Wolverine nightmares.
Miscellaneous:

The end credits have plenty of crew using Japanese script for their names.

I get the impression that the entire film was shot in Australia, in which case...I didn't notice that it wasn't in Japan!

As per usual(?) there are sequences from a forthcoming movie featuring at least Wolverine...another X-Men outing it looks like...and I haven't been following that franchise since very early on.