The Wolverine

Release Date: July 26, 2013

Watch Date: August 7, 2025

“The Wolverine returns and faces his ultimate nemesis in an action packed life-or-death battle that takes him to modern day Japan. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, Logan confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality; an epic fight that will leave him forever changed.”

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I don’t like this movie.

I do not know why, because it feels exactly like a comic book should. Wouldn’t it be fun if Wolverine went to Japan and fought the Yakuza? That sounds like the premise of a comic book, and I generally like it when my comic book movies feel like comic books. But I don’t like this one.

Firstly, there’s too many villains. Everyone in Japan basically wants to kill, or bang, the love interest, so that’s not a lot of fun. There’s only three mutants in this entire film, however, one of them being our titular Wolverine. Easy to keep track of compared to other X-Men films, I’ll give it that but the powers range from poison creepy snake lady, to able to see only other’s people death.

I will say that it wasn’t until the viewing of this movie that I realized that Yukio is the same character seen in the Deadpool movies, though according to a lot of fans she’s not the same Yukio. Whatever, the screen writer says she’s supposed to be and I know nothing about X-Men, so same name and general looks, same character. I can’t even tell you what the comic Yukio does anyways, so maybe she just is good at fighting and can predict peoples deaths? Does she have other powers in Deadpool?

I’ve been sick for a week, so cut me some slack. My mental capacity isn’t all there to maintain these multiple movie characters and their made up adventures all in one consistent thought.

Anyways, the whole film Wolverine is upset cause Jean died. But he moves on pretty quick. I asked Bob when he thought Wolverine and the love interest were gonna hook up, and he said, oh I don’t think he will. I think he’s upset about Jean. I think this is a more redemptive movie than a typical love interest kind of thing.

And then they made out and the movie faded to black and I was triumphant and he was wrong.

It also makes the Jean constantly reappearing in this film seem super out of place. When he’s not sure if he ever wants to be, or even can be a hero again when everyone he seems to love dies, it makes sense for Jean’s ghost, memory?, to be tormenting him. That’s a lot of trauma to deal with. Even if she never really loved him back in the films, and was with another man. But he was clearly obsessed with and cared for her deeply. But the moment he’s making out with some other woman, okay…he got over all his trauma of whether or not he could be a hero within one night of meeting this girl. Suddenly she must be protected at all costs. Seems like a quick turn around for a guy who was ready to catch the first flight out literally fifteen minutes ago in the film.

But maybe Wolverine just is a kind hearted soul. He can’t help himself. He sees a wounded animal, someone scared and hurting and he has to help. Maybe that’s why he’s such a fan favourite.

Or he’s played by Hugh Jackman.

It could be either possibility.

Either way, not a huge of this film. It feels too dark, it feels overly complex. And it just doesn’t feel…X-Men-y enough. Wolverine gets three shots of films without a co-starring role, his origin, this one, and his death, and he just doesn’t do the first two that well.

Oh and let’s not forget this film has an after credits scene that sets us up for…something. Bob seemed excited. I was not.

Avenger’s August will keep on trucking, as soon as I can get up the energy to stay awake for another movie.