The Wolverine (2013)

 

Before X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), completed production, that film's director Gavin Hood was thinking of a sequel featuring Wolverine in Japan. This film would be inspired by a 1982 limited comic book series starring the character by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman loved the idea as he had read that comic book series and was a fan of it. After opening weekend of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this sequel was confirmed. However, Gavin Hood would no longer be in the director's chair. The job was offered to Bryan Singer (who directed X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003)) but he turned it down. For a while Darren Aronofsky (who previously directed such artistically inclined films as Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Black Swan (2010)) was set to direct. That such a director was even considered to direct a superhero movie, shows the direction it was planned for this film to take from even its early stages. This was not planned to be your average lightheartedly fun superhero film and would go even further away from this direction than the previous X-Men films had. However, Aronofsky would back out of the project after realizing that it would keep him out of the country and away from his family for more than a year. Eventually James Mangold would be put in the director's chair. Mangold had already proven himself to be a very versatile and talented director by this time with a filmography that included Cop Land (1997), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Kate & Leopold (2001), Walk the Line (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and Knight and Day (2010). Mangold would go on to direct the next film in the Wolverine trilogy, Logan (2017), which many consider to be one of the best superhero movies ever made. 

Taking place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), in this film Wolverine comes to Japan to visit an old friend, whose life he saved a long time ago. However, once he gets there, he finds himself in for more than he bargained for, especially when his mutant powers get stripped away from him. 

This second entry in the Wolverine trilogy is a marked improvement over the first. That is because unlike the first film, this movie actually does a great job delving into who Logan really is. We get to see a really vulnerable and troubled side to the character here. We get a look into what it truly means to be immortal and the internal pain it has caused Logan. There are times when the story slows down to truly meditate on death and the fear of death as well as the emptiness of a life where you outlive everything you ever loved and cared passes away long before you. These moments are truly intelligent and thought-provoking. Also incredibly effective is exploring the guilt that Logan feels over having had to kill Jean Grey. These scenes are very emotionally resonant and draw you into the psyche of the main character. Hugh Jackman continues to be a great Wolverine with this being one of his finest performances as the haunted and often reluctant superhero.  Adding to this is that many of the supporting characters are quite likable and the performances from Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima really help sell their characters. This movie also features some pretty good action scenes, and the Japanese setting gives it a great atmosphere. 

This movie does have one major problem though and that is the villain.  Svetlana Khodchenkova does her best in this role, but the character is incredibly underwritten. The Viper turns out to be one of the most boring and bland villains in any of the X-Men movies. This may be one flaw (it is not the only flaw but the only truly major one for me), but it is such a major one that it really hurts this otherwise excellent movie. 


The writers of this film were Mark Bomback and Scott Frank. This is the only X-Men film Mark Bomback worked on, though Scott Frank would later be a writer on Logan. Other movies Mark Bomback wrote for include Live Free and Die Hard (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Unstoppable (2010), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War of the Planet of the Apes (2017). Scott Frank's other credits include Get Shorty (1995), Minority Report (2002), The Lookout (2007) and Marley & Me (2008). 


While the movie outgrossed X-Men Origins: Wolverine at the total box office and failed to do as well in the U.S. Critical reviews were decidedly mixed with many praising it for its darker and more complex story, while also feeling that its action packed third act felt out of place after the more serious and slower paced first two acts.