Review: The Wolverine
Our beloved clawed mutant is back on the big screen. Directed by James Mangold with Hugh Jackman once again repising the title character. Its predecessor Xmen Origins: Wolverine received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Maybe that is what informed the decision to make a much darker movie this time. Also, Ironman seemed to have stolen Wolverine thunder. Before the Robert Downey's debut as shell head, almost everyone's favorite Marvel character was Wolverine.But with the huge success of the Avengers and the Ironman movies, attention seemed to have shifted from the clawed mutant. Fickle fans, you'd say?
The Wolverine movie starts off with a reclusive Logan being haunted by the death of Jean Grey. He is unkept and shaggy. He comes out hiding when a poisoned bear goes on a rampage tgat ends up with the death of several people. He traces the perpetrators to a local pub where confrontation ensues that ultimately end up with him leaving with a new partner female, Youkio. Youkio convinces him to visit her benefactor ,Yashida, a weathly industrialist and a man who Wolverine had rescued from the atom bomb in World war II.
After arriving Japan, Logan finds Yashida on his death bed. Logan tried to say his good byes but the old man makes Logan an offer to take his healing powers so that he can live a normal life. An offer Logan refuses and prepares to leave the following day.
(Spoiler Alert)
Yashida dies the next day. A kidnap attempt by Yakuza assassins is made on Mariko who is now the heir apparent of Yashida's vast estate during the funeral. This leads to the most fascinating action sequences in the movie. Here we see a different Wolverine , one without his regenerative powers. Which had been previously taken away, dead in the night in an encounter with Viper - a villain that would be introduced later in the movie.
Logan recuses Mariko and escorts her to a bullet train to where she will find refuge from the assassins.The physics defying fight on the bullet train was breath-taking.Sometimes it looks like things are too easy for even an injured Logan. The getaway eventually leads Mariko and her bodyguard to her home where they share some romantic moments.
Mariko is finally kidnapped and brought before the mastermind,Yashida's son, Shingen . Who is later betrayed by the Ninja clan dedicated to serving the household. Logan shows up with Youkio and uses Yashida's medical technology to locate the parasite that has affected his healing factor. He dies after reaching into his body to retrieve the parasite but resurrects just in time to save Youkio from Shingen's death blow. Logan makes mince meat of Shingen, whose uncanny dexterity with the katana is nullified by Wolverine's now restored healing factor.
This then leads us the much maligned third arc of the movie.A lot has been said about it. I want to resist from jumping into that band wagon. Maybe the Silver Samurai face off could have been done in the same style as the rest of the movie. Having said that, Viper's inclusion in the movie almost ruined the movie. But it is a super hero movie and such cartoonish tendencies comes with the territory.
This movie might not elevate the franchise to the level of the Avengers or Ironman. But has helped Wolverine to rediscover his mojo.
P.S Stay for the post-credits scene.
8/10
Thor: The Dark World will be the second film (after Iron Man 3) to follow on from Marvel's The Avengers.
The film sees Chris Hemsworth return as the God of Thunder and he'll be
reunited with Natalie Portman who plays love interest Jane Foster. This
time Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor is in charge
and the storyline follows Thor's battle against the Dark Elves who
intend to plunge the universe into darkness. Tom Hiddleston and Anthony
Hopkins return as Loki and Odin.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
will be the first Marvel movie to open in 2014. Chris Evans is back as
Steve Rogers/Captain America and the film will see his struggle to
accept his new life in the modern day. The plot involves James 'Bucky'
Barnes (played by Sebastian Stan) return as a Soviet assassin called the
Winter Soldier. S.H.I.E.L.D agents Black Widow/Falcon/Nick Fury also
feature in the film and they will join Captain America in his fight to
take down his former friend.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
will continue the rebooted saga with Andrew Garfield returning as Peter
Parker/Spider-Man and Emma Stone back as Gwen Stacy. There will be many
new faces (both friend and foe) in the form of Electro (Jamie Foxx)
Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). Shailene Woodley
filmed scenes as Mary Jane Watson but it was ultimately decided to
introduce the character in later films.
X-Men: Days of Future Past is my most anticipated out of all the upcoming superhero movies. Director of X1 and X2
Bryan Singer has returned and he's found a storyline which unites the
old gang from his original trilogy (Hugh Jackman/Halle Berry/Ian
McKellen/Patrick Stewart) with the fresh faces of X-Men: First Class
(James McAvoy/Jennifer Lawrence/Michael Fassbender/Nicholas Hoult). The
story is based on the comic storyline by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
and will see Wolverine's mind transported back in time to prevent giant
robots known as Sentinels hunting mutants in the future.
I think we can count Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
among the list upcoming superhero movies as they are a group of good
guys fighting bad guys. Michael Bay is producing the reboot and Wrath of the Titans
director Jonathan Liebesman is in charge of directing. The film will
tell the (new) big screen origins of the turtles who are spawned by
aliens who invade Earth. The turtles must defend the world against said
aliens with the help of Megan Fox as April O'Neil.
Guardians of the Galaxy
is the second movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to open in 2014
and it is probably the riskiest movie to date. The build-in fan-base is
smaller than other adaptations and there are some crazy elements (a
talking raccoon for example) but this could all help Guardians of the Galaxy
stand out from the rest. The film takes place mostly in space and
follows an American pilot (Chris Pratt) and a group of futuristic
ex-cons who go on the run with a highly coveted object.
The Fantastic Four will return in rebooted form thanks to Chronicle director
Josh Trank. Very little is known about the story or plot but 20th
Century Fox will apparently create a shared universe with their X-Men
franchise. This may lead to a crossover movie further down the line but
the studio will need to successfully launch The Fantastic Four first.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be the sequel to Marvel's The Avengers
and reunites all the characters from the first film. Director Joss
Whedon has confirmed Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch will join the
team to keep things fresh. Ultron will be the villain (as the title
suggests) and Whedon has said he will be doing his own origin story of
Ultron.
The big news at Comic-Con 2013 was that Batman and Superman will be appearing in the same film. It will be a sequel to Man of Steel
so Henry Cavill and other actors featured in the film will be
returning. Batman (who is unlikely to be played by Christian Bale) will
probably be his foe but I imagine things will be resolved by the end for
a Justice League movie afterwards. Zack Snyder is
directing and he said it will take some elements from Frank Miller’s The
Dark Knight Returns comic.
Edgar Wright has been attached to direct Ant-Man for years and with The World's End complete he can now focus on getting it made. The script is finished and casting will apparently get under-way later in 2013. Ant-Man follows a brilliant scientist who invents a substance that allowed him to change his size.
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