The Wolverine
demonstrates just how correctly it understands its titular character in its opening
moments. We don’t get a title, just a
date and a location: Japan, August 9, 1945.
We don’t even need a title, we know what film we sat down for and what
we are getting into. That’s the power of
the name The Wolverine and what it
means to the characters and creators of this film that they earn it.
Wolverine was the original cinematic, existential, comic book hero, a
man lost in memories, time, and his worst natures. When we first met him in X-Men he was trapped like an animal in a cage and the same is true
here. It’s a wise callback to a time
before Wolverine (aka Logan) felt like he had a family and embraced his role as a
leader of his peers. This film places
the character squarely back in the middle of an existential crisis, as he
weighs the merits of his immortality and faces the actions he’s had to take.
This intense psychological approach to a comic book hero is
a true first for the X-Men franchise,
but isn’t new to summer blockbusters, we even got an existential examination of
Superman. This territory feels
immediately comfortable for a character like Logan and it seems amazing that this
wasn’t the approach taken for the miserable X-Men
Origins: Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman has never been more powerful as the rugged, and
often bearded, Logan. At 44 years of age
he has fully grown into the character and delivers a physically frightening and
multidimensional performance. This is a
smaller scale superhero movie that chooses to focus on who Wolverine is and
what he does. The film spends time
analyzing the two parts of Logan that are constantly at war with each
other. One is a man who claims to not
care about anything; he’s an animal. The
other half is cool, calculated, and precise: a modern samurai or ronin.
The film makes an incredibly well calculated gamble by
sending Logan to Japan (based on the Frank Miller and Chris Claremont comics)
and by removing his trademark healing powers.
Both of these choices add a freshness and danger to the proceedings and
the character that we have never seen before.
Couple this with some truly breathtaking action sequences, first-rate
production, and costume design and it creates a truly intoxicating mix.
Wolverine rockets through the streets on the back of a
bullet train and every blow that he takes counts. Jackman winces and limps through scenes,
fully carrying the weight of his character’s actions. His colorful costars, Rila Fukushima (as
Yukio) and Tao Okamoto (as Mariko), more than hold their own against Jackman in
both dramatics and action chops. As a
film outside of the X-Men franchise, The Wolverine is wholly unique and not
just a puzzle piece.
The plot moves quickly and is helped by a fierce visual
style that takes full advantage of the Japanese backdrop. It is a quieter, more calculated film that
uses quick cuts and shallow focus to punctuate the scene, often as a way to
highlight the incredible duress and pain that Logan is experiencing. It is hypnotic and dreamlike in portions, as
we weave in and out of his fractured memories and nightmares.
Only in the end does The
Wolverine falter. After presenting
such a grounded film and universe, The
Wolverine’s tone drastically slides back towards the comic book goofiness
of the previous film. This could have
worked better but it feels just like every single tired superhero trope appears
out of nowhere. The action in The Wolverine is fun, but its not the
draw to the character or this film.
Logan is never forced to make a decisive emotional decision involving Mariko
or Yukio that would have helped to redefine his newfound feelings about his life. Instead the film focuses on questions about mutants
and extracting metal from Wolverine’s bones, two fundamentally less interesting
concepts than love and loss.
Despite a lacking third act, the final moment of the film is
one full of wonder and potential. It’s a
small moment but one that is wholly in keeping with the character of Wolverine and I couldn’t help but wonder
what was next for this newly resurrected character.
 |
| 3 / 4 Reels |
No comments:
Post a Comment