The Wolverine

Another comic book protagonist had to go through the inner darkness of his soul, tormented by the demons of missing memories of his own past. It starts off great. Wolverine against the devious yakuza doesn't take the traditional comic book route but rather weaves a complex mafia-political web that would put any CIA field agent-analyst to shame. And he also lacks the essential skills. The problem arises when the adamantium claws pierce the skin to slice up the evil minions by the dozens. Hugh Jackman can look all sorts of cool (and we can be assured that absolutely no one has ever fit any other comic book role better), but when you send him into serious action, it feels somehow out of place. This is somewhat because it’s an extra aspect compared to the rest of the film, just to meet the demands of it being a blockbuster. And the mental autopsy itself? Barking about how great B.S. was at it is boring, but Matthew Vaughn actually did it better. It's not a bad movie, it's just that routine comic book characters should be left to routine directors. (07/25/2013)

Compared to a more recent origin story, Logan's purification has the exact opposite effect, but when it comes to a rating, I see it as virtually identical. This time, I understand the criticisms and objections, but I balanced on the edge of my seat for two hours in the cinema and devoured every minute. And yet, our wild Kuzuri doesn't have to just fly on the roof of a train or slice enemies. It's enough for him to wander around, frown, protect Mariko, and search for himself. Because that animal inside him audibly purrs, even when he's asleep. (08/11/2013)

A completely different take on the character of Wolverine than last time. At first it seems that the psychological approach might work, but appearances are deceiving. Jackman just goes to Japan for a bit of meditation, which goes a bit awry, only to have everything go back to the way it was. The action, however, is at best amateurish this time, and its intertwining with the drawn-out plot can't work without a quality villain. When it finally comes to a proper clash between Wolverine and the entire clan of ninjas (ala Neo versus the mobs of Agents Smith in Matrix: Reloaded), he takes out about two of them and then they ridiculously run on motorcycles. If I gave credit for the excellent Hugh Jackman in the previous episode, I won't do it this time after two hours of boredom. (11/10/2013)

Wolverine doesn't fit well in Japan, and it was beautifully evident throughout the whole 130 minutes. It started with a fantastic retreat in Nagasaki, continued with a solid romance in the style of The Last Samurai, and ended with dull action scenes and a "surprising" outcome reminiscent of B-movies from the 1990s demons. Logan is a likable character with a suitably dark past, but so far no one has been able to exploit it properly. Either it's an action flick or an attempt at a mysterious adult blockbuster that is awkward to the point of being unappealing, and appropriately disparate. (11/23/2013)

Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman is, as always, amazing. I have already said it in my reviews of previous X-Men movies and I say it again. He was born for this role. This movie definitely looked great on paper and the result is not bad either. I don’t have any major complaints concerning The Wolverine. Still, I can't help feeling (and, reading others’ reviews, I'm probably not the only one) that this installment of the X-Men saga was essentially pointless. (01/10/2014)