First of all, let me say that I absolutely hated X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and I hated X-Men Origins: Wolverine even more. Those are two movies that deserved every bit of negativity they received. The second solo Wolverine movie, however, aims to right the wrongs created by the two aforementioned X-Men films.
For the most part, it succeeds in being the Wolverine movie I've always wanted. There is one minor flaw that took me away from the experience, but I'll get to that later. There are several things I loved about this movie, one of them being the actress who played Yukio, his "bodyguard". She was definitely one of the best parts in this film. She kicked major ass, as well as delivering a great performance in one scene in particular. This scene was when she was pleading with Logan not to dig into himself to remove the bug that had stolen his healing powers. Almost directly after that, there came a tense fight scene between Yukio and Mariko's father, which, I might add, was incredibly well crafted.
This brings me to the fight scenes in The Wolverine. In my opinion, all of them are superb, and so much better than the dull fights in the previous Wolverine movie. The bullet train sequence is one of the best action scenes in recent memory.
It also has a plot that actually seems like it has meaning, unlike the two atrocities I previously mentioned. Logan is trying to move on from his guilt, in terms of killing Jean Grey in X-Men 3, and in the beginning of the film, he is living in the Canadian wilderness, still grieving over the death of his love. Soon, he is called to Japan to meet someone whose life he saved during the Nagasaki bombing, so many years ago. But all is not as it seems. He offers Logan a chance to grow old and die, as a way to repay him for saving his life. What comes after is a somber Wolverine movie that delves deep into the psyche of the famous comic book superhero and delivers on almost every note.
The only thing that I didn't like is the Viper. She was easily the weakest part of the entire thing. In the final act, when she was talking to Logan, I was extremely disappointed by her cheesy dialogue. Actually, any time she spoke, I was waiting for her screen time to be over. She really reminded me of Poison Ivy from Batman and Robin.
But in terms of the script, I loved it. One thing I tend to look for in a movie is good dialogue, and that's exactly what I got.
Many people have been complaining about the final act, in that it strays from the serious tone of the movie. I don't agree with that at all. I felt that The Wolverine's tone stayed consistent until the very end. Without giving anything away, I understand why some people might have been disappointed by the "big reveal" towards the end of the movie, (Who the Silver Samurai really is) but his motivation for doing what he did made sense to me, and I wasn't let down by it.
Overall, I thought this was a solid Wolverine solo film, and I eagerly anticipate the next one. Oh, and you'll want to stay after the credits for an extra scene. It perfectly sets up the next X-Men movie, Days of Future Past.
What did you guys think of it, though? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know in the comments below. :)
