Clawed In From Beginning Until, Almost End

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2013)

Many had presumed that Marvel's mutated franchise and even their indestructible adamantium machine could not heal after the disappointing releases of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and then X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009. Nonetheless, the 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class and this 126 minute journey half way across the world to Japan have managed to mend these wounds. The Wolverine unleashes a fresh, X-citing and much anticipated focus on the character that is not impenetrable from criticism but is pretty much what any Wolverine fan and cinemagoer could have hoped for.
The Wolverine opens with the titular character inexplicably placed in Nagasaki, where he rescues a military officer from the tragic atomic blast during The Second World War. In the present day, following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Logan, no longer considering himself the Wolverine, wanders the wilderness in anguish over the deaths of those close to him, which he must deal with eternally due to his curse of immortality.
What sets this film apart from other comic-book adventures corresponds to what makes Wolverine a unique character. The Wolverine sees its anti- hero on a quest for death more so than anything else. He does not seek heroics, recognition, justice or anything good, only the privilege of an end to his everlasting misery by death, which is brought to life tremendously by the film's screenplay and of course the Wolverine himself: Hugh Jackman.
The Wolverine calmly claws you in almost throughout its run in a beastly variety of ways. The Japanese landscapes provides a fresh setting, and makes the film visually interesting even when we are away from the action. Cinematographer Ross Emery captures the really X-traodinarily beautiful Japanese backdrops that are a refreshing change from New York skyscrapers.
While The Wolverine is great to look at when the beast's claws are retracted, the film is equally appealing when a regrettable soul gives Wolverine a reason to unleash the beast within. Notably, a scene involving a moving train is Class 5, stands out most memorably as the strongest amongst the film's action sequences. The final battle, while albeit a little uninteresting due to its loudness and surrender to clichés, can be forgiven due to its eventual satisfactory outcome.
One unfortunate element to the film that is less forgiving however, probably primarily from my own and comic-book fans' perspective, is the disappointing, unintimidating and lacklustre villain in Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova). The actress is just a little difficult to understand at times, through both voice, and the fact her and the character seem to hold no real motivation or clear threat.
Unlike X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this significantly improved 2013 attempt is considerably well, more considerate to the character, with attention to plot, pacing and overall a more focused and consistent tone. The Wolverine dives claws first into the darkness of its protagonist, exploring how Logan's emotional scars cannot heal and are ever present, becoming increasingly burdening over time as he attempts to fix these unfixable wounds that torture him eternally.
It is almost redundant at this stage, 13 years after the first X-Men film was released, to praise Hugh Jackman for his consistently tremendous and irreplaceable portrayal of Logan/Wolverine. Almost, but not quite. Redundancy can be sliced and forgotten because Jackman simply owns the role of the X-Men's most beloved mutant. I have my suspicions that he actually might be the Wolverine, because the actor does not appear to age and is getting increasingly powerful with each performance. Hugh Jackman simply dominates his character, and hopefully will continue to do so for as long as mutantly possible, which in Wolverine's case, should mean forever.
The Wolverine is one best of the X-Men film franchise, with its cool story, fresh setting, great and appropriately slow pace for a broken character, X-citing action scenes and a mostly perfect cast. The Wolverine may be picked last in class when many retrospectively consider 2013's best comic book adaptations. However, the James Mangold film is so far the surprise pick of the pack as it has exceeded expectations and filled any dubious doubts with cinematic satisfaction. While not quite a match for Superman's Steel, Wolverine's adamantium has far surpassed Iron (Man 3) and now has cinema-goers, comic book fans and I, anticipating next year's addition to the mutated series, X-Men: Days of Future Past.