The Wolverine has Wolverine doing what he does best, slashing

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2013)

I enjoyed this film, but then I enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well. Though for different reasons obviously. That one was fun and I enjoyed seeing the different mutants they incorporated into the story, but at the end of the day it was a bit cheesy. This one is of a more serious tone, but this one seems more like a gateway film that was made to lead up to the super big X-men film coming out in 2014. Basically, putting the films on their course as it reestablishes the films are indeed all tied together with the exception of the origins one. So the first three films then First Class are connected. Though I do feel this film was made in part to set up next year's film, the darker tone and the setting made it a good film to me and better than Wolverine's last solo outing.
The story has Logan still struggling with the fact he ended Jean Grey's life in The Last Stand. He is living an isolated existence in the wilderness of Canada; however, a young girl named Yukio finds him and asks that he comes to Japan as the person she works for is dying and one of his wishes is to see the man that rescued him during World War II. Logan reluctantly agrees and soon learns that the man did not wish to merely say his goodbyes to Logan, but to offer Logan the chance to live a normal life then die as he wants Logan's mutant ability to heal for himself. Well Logan refuses, but there are more things going on as the old man's granddaughter is targeted by the Japanese mafia, a strange mutant named Viper seems to have her own agenda and Logan's healing abilities disappear. Logan must protect the granddaughter and learn to once again become The Wolverine in order to survive the many perils that await him.
The film is rated PG-13, but it probably only needs a couple of more things added to be an R. I find it strange that The Conjuring did get an R, but was not have as bad as this film as far as violence and language. The film has good action as I enjoy watching Hugh Jackman portray Wolverine; however, the story at times gets a bit to convoluted as this person is really working for that person or this man is the one that is trying to kill the other person. Thankfully, though the story is passable enough to lead to some great shots and scenes. The Silver Samurai was pretty cool at the end and also make sure to wait for an nice ending scene after a few of the credits pass. This scene does so much more than the one seen at the end of Iron Man 3 as it actually establishes something.
So I enjoyed Wolverine's second solo outing, though at some point I wish they would spend a bit more time with some of the other X-Men (granted, they did that a bit with First Class). I enjoyed the setting of this one more as I enjoyed the overall feel of this film to Origins. I also liked that this film establishes that The Last Stand happened and this was not yet another quick reboot. I am very much looking forward to the next X-Men film, but it was nice to see everybody's favorite mutant slash and stab his way back into theaters.