The Wolverine

                The year 1998 started up the golden age of Marvel’s Comic book films, as the Wesley Snipes film, “Blade,” brought in much of the possibilities come to life. Since then, we’ve seen many studios make adaptations of famous Marvel comic book films. Following in “Blade’s” success was the 2000 flick, “X-Men,” the first superhero team-up film that instantly sparked into a franchise. And today, we’re given the newest to the franchise, “The Wolverine.”

                Years after the events of “X-Men 3: The Last Stand,” Logan has gone into hiding, trying to deal with the pain of killing Jean Grey. He is then taken to Japan to meet Ichiro Yashida, a man who Logan had saved during World War II, who wants to repay him for what he’s done for him and wants Logan to give him his powers so Logan can have a normal life and die like a normal person. After declining, Logan is soon found protecting Yashida’s granddaughter, who is next in line to take her place as head of the family, but also has the problem of not healing right after an encounter with the Viper. Out of all the “X-Men” films that have been released in the past, this one stands as not only the best, but the most enjoyable out of any of them. It really sets itself as more of an American Samurai flick, but also being true to heart on what it is. To a lot of people, this is the TRUE Wolverine movie we have all been waiting for.

                Hugh Jackman does it again, showing off his amazing portrayal of the character, but does it so much better this time around. He still stands high as my favorite actor, and this film doesn’t disappoint on that. Tao Okamato as Mariko, Yashida’s granddaughter, gave off a good performance as well, but her character did seem a bit off to me. She has some scenes where it looks like she can hold her own, but that’s often disregarded when she’s being taken hostage. Aside from that, she did exceptionally well in the film. Rika Fukushima as Yukio, the one who brings Logan to Japan, was all kinds of badass samurai. Her interactions with Logan really do stand out among the rest of the film, and her actions scenes really do make her look like she sprung out of an anime. Famke Jansen also appears in the film, and surprisingly more than I expected. I thought that her scene in the trailers would have been it, but they managed to use more of her and in an effective way, as she portrays Logan’s side of wanting to die, so he could be with her. Haruhiko Yamanouchi as Yashida proved to be a great character as well, but there are things about him that do lead into spoilers, but he really has such a deep presence to him that just feels so enhancing and connecting.

                The action scenes and effects are incredible to watch, and you can just feel the intensity of it in each heavy hit. If there is any action scene that really hits it strong, it’s the train scene. At first, it could have been cheesy, but this film (along with a good amount of other films) manages to make it a fantastic action scene, that you feel the speed and wind in your hair as you’re watching it. The only action scene that was my least favorite, which is my only problem with the movie, was the last one. Not that it was bad, but that it felt rushed and a little confusing. I don’t want to spoil it, but when you see it you’ll get what I mean.

                Overall, “The Wolverine” stands as my favorite X-Men movie, and I’m going to be looking forward to the upcoming “Days of Future Past” next year.

Rating: 8/10