Movie Review: “The Wolverine”

POINTS: It’s Wolverine in Japan, kicking butt, taking names, and meeting another great love of his life, Mariko. Note that Mariko is more than a damsel in distress and takes over a huge corporation.

PITFALLS: Well, how do I put this. I just didn’t feel the love.

See in “The Avengers” you feel the love the director, Joss Whedon, has for the characters. I mean these Marvel comic characters are the stuff of legend in our minds and they mean so much to us. My first comic book series was the X-Men so I call them my “home” comic. I read the X-Men when Chris Claremont took the series over and rebooted it and made it the greatness that it is today. IMHO. Part of what he did was give us Wolverine. And hey, that’s when I started to love the character. He was rough, gruff, occasionally obnoxious, BUT when the chips were down he was loyal and had your back. So. When I see a Wolverine movie I want to feel the same kind of “love” that I felt during “The Avengers” and I felt when watching the first X-Men movie. And I didn’t. I know Jackman loves Wolvie, but well, I think there needs to be a new director. Whedon anyone?

Plus the movie covered Wolvie in Japan. This is BIG for Wolverine. This is what makes so much of him, him. So while I was glad to see him in Japan and hook up with Mariko, again I didn’t feel that character love and love of watching him change.

FEMALE CHARACTER(S): Oh but Yukio (Rila Fukushima) was fun!! Sassy, smart, and could totally kick butt just as well as anyone else.

CULTURAL PITFALL(S): Huh. Well, I do get tired of heroines looking forlorn and weak. This seemed to be true of one of the “love” heroine Mariko (Tao Okamoto). Ok, yes, the character is grieving but still. She says she won an award for knife fighting and yet doesn’t really ever show that. She seems to be there for Wolverine to save. Ok, fair enough. However could we not have a heroine trying to chew through her bonds or pick the lock on her door while the hero comes to save her? That would make her look less, well, wimpy.

HIGH POINT(S): Just watching Hugh Jackman embody Wolverine. Plus the kick ass Yukio was always fun to watch.

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