When “Origins: Wolverine” came out in 2009, many fans assumed it would be the start of a series of “Origins” films focusing on individual “X-Men” characters. That hasn’t materialized yet, but Wolverine himself is so popular that the second solo “X-Men” outing also focuses on him: 2013’s “The Wolverine.” While I’m an “Origins” apologist, I have to admit this is a much better film.
THE STORY
Wolverine – depressed over having to kill Jean Grey to save the world in “The Last Stand” – mopes around Canada putting grizzly bears out of their misery and harassing hunters who use poison arrows. Yukio, a quirky Japanese girl with red hair and awesome sword skills, invites Logan to Tokyo to say farewell to the dying Yashida, whose life Logan saved during World War II.
It turns out Yashida wants to offer him an exchange: Yashida would take Logan’s healing factor while Logan would get to live out his life span in normal non-mutant fashion. Here’s the rub: Yashida doesn’t really intend to give Wolverine a choice in the matter.
“The Wolverine” (2013)
Director: James Mangold
Writers: Mark Bomback, Scott Frank
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto
BEST GOOD GUY MUTANT
Wolverine. “The Wolverine” gives Hugh Jackman more room to breathe as an actor than any previous “X-Men” film. Even though Wolverine is largely an interloper in a Japanese family feud (except that Yashida wants to steal Logan’s healing factor), this feels like the first film where we get to spend quality time with the guy without other crap getting in the way.
BEST BAD GUY MUTANT
Viper, by default. It seems like the actress’ voice was dubbed over and she doesn’t offer much of a threat in the fight scenes. With all the talented martial arts stunts and adamantium vs. adamantium battles going on around her in the final act, she seems comparatively tame. But Viper is the only evil mutant in the film (even Magneto in the bonus scene is a good guy), so she can’t help but win this category.
WORST MUTANT
Viper, for the reasons mentioned above. However, I give the award for “worst mutant power” to Yukio, a character I otherwise like due to her upbeat personality and swordsmanship. She can foresee people’s deaths, which is a curse more so than a superpower. Even Rogue’s tragic essence-sucking power had practical uses in battle, like when she stops Pyro’s fire spree in “X2.” Also, Yukio’s predictive power proves to be inaccurate in the case of Wolverine.
BEST NON-MUTANT
Mariko. Tao Okamoto’s sad and initially detached vibe complements Wolverine’s depressive mood perfectly, and as such, she’s the personification of why Wolverine – despite spending most of his first century and a half in Canada and the U.S. — fits so well in the culture of Japan. Mariko is a more compelling pairing for Logan than Jean or Kayla, although that might be just because “The Wolverine” truly aims to be a character piece while “Origins” and the “X-Men” trilogy had other concerns.
MOST UNDERUSED MUTANT
Professor Xavier. Sure, fan speculation about how he resurrected himself is fun (my favorite theory is that he took over the body of his twin brother). But I would have preferred a detailed, on-screen explanation, even if it was merely Patrick Stewart telling us what happened in his stentorian tones. The resurrection of a main character is too big of a plot point to leave unexplained over the course of three movies (“The Last Stand,” “The Wolverine” and “Days of Future Past”). Speaking of underplayed plot points …
CONTINUITY NOTES AND ODDITIES
I think the impermanence of “The Last Stand’s” cure should’ve been tied into “The Wolverine.” Sure, we saw Magneto budge the chess piece at the end of “The Last Stand,” but that was all we knew until the post-credits scene in “The Wolverine” shows us Magneto is at full strength.
But if Logan thinks the cure works, he should mention that when Yashida offers him a cure that he has worked up in his labs. Maybe Logan could say “Worthington Labs already created a cure seven years ago.” Then Yashida could laugh and say “But mine works.”
Wolverine loses his adamantium claws in the fight at the end of “The Wolverine” and he has them again a decade later in the 2023 scenes of “Days of Future Past.” No explanation is given, and as such, this is another element that is open to fan speculation.
It could be something as simple as: Wolverine decided to get his bone claws coated with adamantium again for the purposes of fighting the good fight. With friends like Xavier and Hank McCoy (and even Magneto, at this point in time), Logan probably had the connections to get the procedure done.
WHERE IT RANKS
“The Wolverine” is different from all the other “X-Men” films due to its focus on performances and mood — a viewer really gets to soak up the Japanese vibe, and indeed, the film was shot there. While the title character is the draw, Yukio is a great sidekick and Mariko a worthy love interest.
At the same time, “The Wolverine” is by no means removed from the saga at large as we see Logan continuing to dream about Jean, and that end-credits scene – where Professor Xavier is alive and Magneto has his powers back – brings him back to his old family. Plus, the movie has its fair share of action, including an awesome fight atop a bullet train.
I rank “The Wolverine” just behind “First Class” and “X-Men,” and well ahead of “Origins,” “X2” and “The Last Stand.” I hope Marvel and Fox plan to do more single-character-focused “X-Men” films in the future, using this as a template for how to do it right.