The Wolverine (2013)
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Critics Consensus: Although its final act succumbs to the usual cartoonish antics, The Wolverine is one superhero movie that manages to stay true to the comics while keeping casual viewers entertained.
Critics Consensus: Although its final act succumbs to the usual cartoonish antics, The Wolverine is one superhero movie that manages to stay true to the comics while keeping casual viewers entertained.
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Movie Info
Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine in this sequel to the member of the X-Men's first solo outing. Mark Bomback and The Usual Suspects' Christopher McQuarrie penned the script, which takes its inspiration from the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Marvel miniseries from the 1980s dealing with the character's adventures in Japan as he fights ninjas in the ceremonial garb of the samurai. Knight and Day's James Mangold directs. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi- Rating:
- PG-13 (for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language)
- Genre:
- Action & Adventure
- Directed By:
- James Mangold
- In Theaters:
- Jul 25, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Dec 3, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $132.6M
Cast
-
Tao Okamoto
as Mariko -
Hugh Jackman
as Logan -
Rila Fukushima
as Yukio -
Hiroyuki Sanada
as Shingen -
Svetlana Khodchenkov...
as Viper -
Brian Tee
as Noburo
Related News & Features
-
The Wolverine 2 Could Film After X-Men: Apocalypse
– Collider.com
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Critic Reviews for The Wolverine
All Critics (215) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (148) | Rotten (67)
It's a relief to come across a blockbuster that finds a location and stays there, rather than hopping desperately from one place to the next ...
Getting [Wolverine] to the movie's above-average finale required three writers - Christopher McQuarrie, Mark Bomback, and Scott Frank - to pad the plot.
It restores the tarnished lustre to this most fan-beloved of Marvel characters by doing precisely what Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's near-sacred 1982 run did: It pumps some feeling into the guy along with his muscles and steel talons.
Director James Mangold's film features some breathtakingly suspenseful action sequences, exquisite production and costume design and colorful characters, some of whom register more powerfully than others.
Too quickly the random fights pile up -- so many yakuza thugs who forgot to wear chain mail that morning -- and you yearn for the film that might have been.
Mangold front-loads the action, but near the end there's a first-rate fight atop a bullet train between Wolverine/Logan and some especially pesky ninjas. It puts the train fights in the recent The Lone Ranger to shame.
The film is at its best when it is most reflective of the source material that inspired it, and it disappoints where it most fails to live up to that source material. ...I regret it didn't achieve more.
The standard action sequences pile up, interspersed with Wolverine's mooning about in a funk because he's lost the will to live.
Not a classic, but The Wolverine proves solid
The directorial skills Mangold applied to "Heavy," "3:10 to Yuma" and "Walk The Line" are in evidence, especially in an understanding of the Western's dynamics of quietude, then release.
Despite the faults, it's invigorating to see a franchise take its most popular character into uncharted emotional territory
It's basically a high-budget take on an old-school samurai flick, with Wolverine as the ronin. And it's as awesome as it sounds.
Jackman shuffles along with zombie obligation, as though he can't believe how much money he's been paid to go through these motions.
Preferring to stay broody and small-time, this minimalist noir, with little dialogue and no world-threatening schemes, intriguingly sustains its culture clash and blurring lines between man, beast and monster.
After this Origins film, the Wolverine character had the potentially of crashing and burning. Thankfully, it did not.
Looks like someone decided to take the Wolverine spin-off series seriously.
Man, Wolverine is a boring character. Never has that been made more apparent than in "The Wolverine."
Ultimately, this is Jackman's film, and he plays the reluctant but fearsome hero perfectly.
Moderadamente eficaz, mas não deixa de ser sintomático que sua melhor cena seja aquela que surge apenas durante os créditos finais.
...the movie simply doesn't have anything interesting or relevant to say about the iconic Marvel character.
Slick, entertaining, super-hero thrill ride, the only quibbles are its length - every big film these days seems to be 20 minutes too long - and its 3D conversion. Really, it's another example of the marginal difference that process often makes.
A superior, even adult Marvel Comics adaptation that plays almost like a straight gangster/yakuza thriller for much of its length, until the obligatory climactic superhero/supervillain dust-up.
For all the up and down The Wolverine is definitely more up than down more of the time... It still doesn't feel like the definitive adventure for the character, but there's potential for the character still.
The Wolverine can proudly take its place with most of the rest of its comic book brethren this summer - high atop the mountain of the Massively OK.
The movie contemplates Logan's existential dilemma for all of two seconds before getting to the slashing and bashing.
Clawing Thriller
Audience Reviews for The Wolverine
It may be a little more generic at times than you may want, but "The Wolverine" has many special moments that will genuinely leave you in awe. This time around, Logan is recovering from the events in the third X-Men film and trying to cope and get over Jean's death. His anxiety has him making decisions without even thinking twice, and he ends up in places that he never should have been in the first place. Meeting new people, getting in fights, losing powers, and overcoming obstacles are all things that Logan must face throughout this film, and most of them are very interesting, but the ending of the film is just handed to the audience and feels very tacked in. Besides a few poor actors, and a slightly messy screenplay, "The Wolverine" is one of my favourite films in the X-Men universe.
MoreSuper Reviewer
The Wolverine shows potential early on, but a ridiculous action sequence on board a train undermines the dark tone and the film quickly plummets below mediocrity. Relocating the character to Japan is a welcome change and aside from a stupid last minute twist, the plot is intriguing albeit predictable. Unfortunately, all the characters lack personality and the pacing is far too slow. You soon realize the film would have been better without its title character, who grunts and stumbles through the story as a plot device. Yawn.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Logan has renounced violence after the death of Jean Grey but becomes embroiled in the affairs of the Yakuza whilst protecting a dying friend's grand-daughter in Japan. The original Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller has always been ripe for a big screen interpretation and although The Wolverine is hardly a faithful adaptation, it does contain enough of its elements to do it some small justice. It's essentially just another "damsel in distress" story, but the Wolverine character is finally done with a grittier, harder edge, despite the still frankly implausible lack of blood involved. The backdrop of Japanese culture makes for an interesting "stranger in a strange land" flavour and it's nice to see an episode from Logan's past play out. Although James Mangold is hardly a top-tier talent, he handles the action well enough and it's a very nice looking film that entertains through to the end. The only spectre that lurks over the proceedings is the McQuarrie/Aronofsky film that could have been, but as a whole it's a good, solid action thriller and a big improvement over Wolverine: Origins.
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Super Reviewer
The Wolverine is clever in that it continues on from where X-Men: The Last Stand left off and although it doesn't ever say X-Men origins: Wolverine didn't happen, it chooses to forget about it. A reboot without actually having to reboot if you like, an opportunity so that they could forget about the less than adequate first solo-outing and make a really good film worthy of the character. Unfortunately this isn't the case. It's painfully predictable and makes the first film look like a masterpiece. It's woefully dull, charmless and forgettable. The big Robot Samurai ending is a particular kick in the teeth for Wolverine fans, Marvel is doing well with its other films, why can't it get it's most popular character right?
MoreSuper Reviewer
The Wolverine Quotes
- Yukio:
- And then where?
- Logan:
- We'll see.
- Yukio:
- Interesting.
- Logan:
- What are you doing here?
- Yukio:
- I'm your body guard remember. They said the can take us anywhere. Where would you like to go?
- Logan:
- Let's start with up.
- Mariko:
- Please stay.
- Logan:
- I'm sorry, I'm a soldier and I've been hiding for too long.
- Yukio:
- Logan I saw you dying!
- Logan:
- I don't have time for this shit!
- Logan:
- Pretending that shit isn't happening around you when it is a good way to get yourself killed princess believe I've done it before.
- Logan:
- Go fuck yourself, pretty boy.
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