DraKe's LoT

MAN OF

STEEL...

This summer, we seem to have been gifted with a real truckload of big Hollywood Blockbusters, and with the release of The Wolverine, we have yet another multi-million dollar blockbuster slapping us in the face with all the glitters and glam that Hollywood has at it's disposal.

So, Wolverine! He's back, and can we say we're surprised? No. He is by far the most popular and more importantly the most intriguing character in the X-Men universe, so it is only expected that out of all the characters from this series, Logan gets another film instead of another character getting a solo movie debut as was planned with the original X-MEN ORIGINS series, which never really became a series did it? I think we all need to just accept that Wolverine sells, and so does Hugh Jackman, whereas I don't really believe any of the other characters/cast have as much to entice a mass audience? Do they? No, not really.

I personally believe it is all down to casting, and although Wolverine is by far a fan favourite from the comics, graphic novels and animated series, the fact that Hugh Jackman now owns this role is just as much of a reason why audiences have and will continue to flock to their local big screens to check out these movies. It is no coincidence that Wolverine is by far a leading character in both the original X-Men series and the up and coming (wetting my pants for) X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Anyway, onto the actual film The Wolverine. In this latest installment, we join Logan at a significant and delicate moment in his story. The events of the movie take place not long after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand  and so Logan is a bit of a broken man. He's still haunted by the memories of Jeanne Grey. For those that don't know. She Dead... and Logan did it, but in aid of saving the world of course!

Anyway, this movie is all about Logan's journey to redemption, (although he didn't really do anything wrong) and where better to go? JAPAN! Yes Logan gonna tear s*** up in Asia! This my friends is all but guaranteed. Ok, so the idea is that Logan being the old but youthful looking fart that he is, has a little bit of history in Japan, more specifically he was there when America dropped the Atomic Bomb at Hiroshima... or was it Nagasaki? I forget. The phrase "I've seen things man" comes to mind, but Logan isn't the bragging sort. So, Logan was there as a Japanese prisoner, yet he only goes and saves the life of one of dem  Japs from an Atomic bomb! Yes, don't think you could ask for a better prisoner.

Cut to many years later, how many? I honestly can't remember, however Logan is approached by an annoying little creep named Yukio (Rila Fukushima), and guess what? She can predict the future, oh and she's Asian so she ain't half bad in a fight.  Right, so Yukio turns up to tell Logan that the soldier... Yashida that's his name! ... whom he selflessly helped out back in 1945 is now the owner of billion dollar corporation. Yashida is on his deathbed and apparently just wants to thank Logan for being awesome... except that's not all he wants is it? The cheeky old prune.

  I hope that creates enough intrigue for you.

So, is this the stand-alone Wolverine film we all wanted? Well, Yes... and no. Overall I liked this film. It really got me all giddy in a public cinema, just like Fast and Furious 6 I found myself jumping in my seat and shouting things along the lines of "LOGAN GONNA GO TOKYO SWIFT ON THIS S***!" and various other awful puns that involved the word s*** and LOGAN GONNA...

I think it was up until about two thirds of the way through that I was suddenly disappointed by this movie. Suddenly the film becomes less about Logan and his journey and more about a story that just becomes far too pathetic and weak. I love it when a superhero movie places itself within my reality and never strays too far from that line. I was with this film all the way, and then suddenly... and I'm not quite sure when, it all gets a bit stupid and you find yourself being pulled out of the action and thinking, oh man why?

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of good stuff in this film, some genuinely awesome action scenes, and the backdrop of Japan just adds something special to this. I think if you ever need to redeem yourself, then Japan ain't a bad place to do it. They have Samurais and Ninjas! And trust me, there are plenty of Samurais and Ninjas in this film. Although maybe too much of said Samurais and Ninjas is why it all gets a bit silly.

So many Ninjas.

Final verdict, this would be a brilliant film if you could watch an hour and a half, walk away and everything still managed to make narrative sense. Sadly I think you'll find the choice of Villains a bit lackluster in their execution and casting, but you will see a mighty HENCH Hugh Jackman going nuts and bolts all over a seemingly never ending army of thugs and ninjas. I think the Japanese population must have significantly diminished after Logan left.

I do hope we see a lot more of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, because there is a lot more good to say about the character and this movie than there is bad, but it just didn't manage to put the adamantium icing on the cake in the end.