It’s not the definitive story of the merry mutant, but the movie gives it a damn good shot.
Cast your mind back to the opening moments of Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie. It wasn’t a flashy blockbuster starter, but a desperate young boy being torn from his mother in a Nazi concentration camp. Powerful. Emotional. It meant serious business. And the first scene of James Mangold’s standalone tale, The Wolverine, pulls at similar heartstrings, opening with the 1945 bombing of Nagasaki. It’s an incredible recreation where Logan (Hugh Jackman) saves the life of a Japanese soldier, Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi).
But interestingly, after such a large-scale beginning, the story scales down a little from there. The rest of the movie is set after the events of The Last Stand, where Logan is tracked down and travels to Tokyo to say his goodbyes to the dying Yashida. He offers him a gift that creates some great character moments - relieving his immortality. Loosely based on the fan favourite story by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, the setting allows for a completely different feel to any other superhero movie before it. The movie’s unique style is thanks to some wonderful direction and cinematography.
Jackman gives his most riveting performance in the role to date, with growling wit and senses of a vulnerable, tortured soul, but the triumph of the film is Wolverine's ferocity, which Mangold captures brilliantly. Swords collide with adamantium in intense and brutal action sequences, heavily inspired by Japanese cinema. For the fans who’ve been longing to see full-on berserker Logan, the movie delivers. As it goes along, however, The Wolverine scales back up towards a convoluted, OTT ending that doesn't quite match the tone of what came before it, but still satisfies. Another solid entry into the X-Men franchise, one that - via mid-credits scene - teases an exciting future...
