The Wolverine (2013): Another View by
Rob Milarvie
Director:
James Mangold
It’s safe to
say that when I found out that James Mangold was directing this upcoming
comic-book affair, it caught me by surprise. He isn’t seen as a conventional
action based director, with him at the helm for a brilliant film like Walk the
Line deposited himself in another category altogether. However, directing the
beautifully constructed western 3:10 to Yuma and the unfortunate Cameron Diaz
plagued Knight and Day proved the capacity of his vision for action and
suspense. But the comic-book fan-base is an entirely different kettle of fish
compared to the gormless audiences who believer Diaz can act.
Plus, with
this specific hero being the most recognisable character of the X-Men showed a
true test for Mangold. Safe to say with such a poor previous film in the
configuration of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, expectations for this were set to
low. Fortunately the film was set apart from its predecessor and focusing
completely on the evolution of our immortal adamantium clawed hero. With a
little delve into the new Bryan Singer X-Men: Days of Future Past, containing a
post-credit scene that is definitely worth waiting for!
Gladly to
inform this film delivers an emotional and broken version of Wolverine
following the final events of the X-Men Last Stand. Through this, Wolverine
played by the handsome and perfectly chosen Hugh Jackman, has fled across the
globe to the reclusive and gorgeous Japan. This particular narrative was derived
from the comic saga of Wolverine’s everlasting timeline where he was situated
in Japanese territory.
Furthermore,
this chosen sector gave the fan-base something of a relation and of course a
beautiful city that the majority can enjoy too. Anyway, with Wolverine changing
settings, he encounters an old friend named Yashida, who he had saved in the
Nagasaki bombs in WW2, becomes a technological superpower subsequently. This
leads to him contacting Wolverine to make an exchange, whereby he explains he
has the means to eradicate his immortality and end his haunting past as he can
live a normal life and Yashida can possess his healing powers so he can live
for many more years.
In addition
to this interesting premise, there is indeed action packed fight sequences.
Whereby, this is supplied by the deadly Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), a
poison-veined mutant and her samurai comrades who prove the enemy for our
clawing friend. Incidentally enough of the fighting spectacles were very impressive;
with the most eye-popping was the Mission: Impossible-esc train sequence. We
see a few snippets in the trailer but it’s quite brilliantly executed, with
even the fastest train in the world, capturing the backdrop of Japan through
the slow and the unhealthier faster moments.
On the other
hand, this film in a generalised sense was not as solid and captivating as
X-Men 1 & 2 but it so much more disciplined and controlled than Origins,
with a familiar feel to First Class as it went to a more emotional defining
moment for our particular hero while simultaneously gearing us up for the new
X-Men film next year.
I have to
hand it to Mangold as he directed a well-made action movie of a powerful
superhero with haunting memories lingering on from previous narratives but also
implementing a nice balance of emotion and metal-clawing fighting that appeals
to anyone. I mean come on, who doesn’t want to see Hugh Jackman proving his
athletic qualities with that quirky haircut.
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