"The Wolverine" is a top 5 superhero flick

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2013)

I found "The Wolverine" to be a refreshingly different superhero movie. Most of the time, superheros greatly lack any kind of theme other than the typical guy-saves-world plot, and they use huge budgets to create spectacles that, when held to higher movie standards, simply aren't spectacular. This movie keeps the budget, but focuses much more on the eponymous "Wolverine" as a human being dealing with the consequences of "X-Men: The Last Stand" and on the consequences of his abilities: he can experience all the pain in the world but, unlike the rest of us, death is not a way out for him.
This movie is a character study on "The Wolverine," and the plot, the villain, and the characters all exist to frame Logan's unique circumstance, his history, and his state-of-mind. The very fact that this movie has an overarching theme, in this movie about living life and the meaning of having or lacking immortality, immediately put this movie head-and-shoulders above almost every superhero movie I have ever seen.
Which isn't to say it doesn't have flaws. The "villain" of the movie, if you can call him/her that, is a non-character whose role or motivation is never established. Many seemingly important characters are incredibly one-dimensional and their decisions can seem arbitrary and lacking in depth. The story takes place in Japan, and some of the "culture-shock" parts of the story are stereotypical. Japanese culture is sometimes used to describe away legitimate plot-holes. The romantic interest is forced and didn't seem to be in keeping with Logan's character or the story itself.
But I excuse all of these issues simply because the premise of story is interesting, the plot maintains the theme, and the conclusion is satisfying (if a little predictable). The action sequences are more sparse in this action film, but they are less about spectacle and more about combat-- expect to see acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat rather than big guns and huge explosions. It also has significantly fewer places where deus ex machina save the day; something movies like Thor 2 and Man of Steel had all over the place.
So if you have an attention span and you appreciate a little complexity to the theme of a movie, you will enjoy this film as I did, and forgive its imperfections. If not, move along-- there's no lack of action- packed-but-lacking-any-point movies from which to choose from.