Review: The Wolverine

Rating: Wait for PPV (i.e. Amazon, iTunes, on-demand)
Summary: This entry into the franchise was like selecting the last options in a Japanese love house. Had you wanted “the dungeon”, “the doctor’s office” or “Mission to Mars,” great, but fresh non-stop action, look elsewhere. Of the X-Men branded films, this had been the least enjoyable due to an inability to deliver on elevated imagery of mutant conflict. There had been a lot of elements that should work like ninjas, sexy mutants, swords, Japanese architecture, and Logan cursing (i.e. shit, mutant bitch, and dick). In this installment, the body count had also increased considerably with deaths by impalement, nuclear denotation, kisses and arrows. A possible great theme, the duality of women in misogynistic tradition, had been introduced; however, once it had been capitalized, how under empowering. For a story exploring emotions, it had lacked a certain attraction and charm. If you had been going for an edge, let the blood fly. Periodically, superheroes (i.e. Thor – 2011, Superman II – 1980) have confronted loss of their powers. From a point of drama, that contrast has been a great tool. The hero in the these movies had struggled to overcome normalcy but, somehow find justice by leveraging courage, intelligence or both. The Wolverine had made a lot half-hearted attempts to be edgy, emotional and dramatic. The most powerful scenes were the opening bar showdown, the train-top sequence, and the airport metal detector. Those three moments of focus had accounted for about 30 minutes of over 2 hour running time. After that, I had started contemplating Hugh Jackman’s workout regime to transform into a monster.