It\u2019s a weird time we live in when I can describe a film as \u201ccheap\u201d because it \u201conly\u201d cost around $100 million to produce. But such is the case with this smaller-scale X-Men spin-off. As such, while there is little chance that the film will open to the heights of the $85 million of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it doesn\u2019t have to. The first (and much-loathed) Wolverine spin-off film had quick-kill 2.11x weekend-to-final multiplier (the X-Men franchise has famously short legs), ending its domestic run with $180 million and earning a solid $393 million worldwide on a $150 million budget.<\/p>\n
That 2009 release was the summer kick-off film, which is a huge advantage that this late-summer entry won\u2019t have. But again, when you\u2019re around $50 million cheaper to produce than your last entry, you don\u2019t have to make nearly as much money to be every bit as profitable. And of course four years is along time in terms of overseas expansion. Toss in a 3D conversion and you have a recipe for something akin to Star Trek Into Darkness or G.I. Joe: Retaliation.<\/p>\n
In other words, expect a smaller opening weekend and a smaller domestic total, with a somewhat larger overseas take that will more than make up the difference. Not that much of this matters really. 20th Century Fox already has a seventh X-Men picture coming next summer (note \u2013 stay for the first part of the credits) and Hugh Jackman will play Logan in one form or another until they drag him away. And since the rest of the cast is filled with unknowns or Japanese actors who aren\u2019t terribly well-known outside of Japan, no one really has anything to gain from this film\u2019s success other than Jackman and perhaps director James Mangold, who gets his pick of projects if this takes off.<\/p>\n
So much of James Mangold\u2019s The Wolverine is explicitly rooted in character and small-scale action that its almost disheartening when the picture goes somewhat absurdly larger-than-life in the final two reels. For most of its two-hour running time, it\u2019s trying its hardest not to be the biggest, baddest blockbuster on the block. It\u2019s an impressively scaled-to-life melodrama that just happens to star an iconic comic book character. It\u2019s less concerned with being a major comic book superhero franchise entry than with just being a good movie.<\/p>\n
The majority of the picture feels cheap, in a good way, as it contains actual story, somewhat developed characters, and extended moments where those people actually converse with each other in order to reveal plot and character. Yes, there are moments of action, but the majority of the action is real-world plausible and it\u2019s shot and edited for geographical and chronological clarity. More the majority of its running time, The Wolverine feels like an old-school 1990\u2032s action drama, with a dash of family melodrama and a mix of iconic samurai\/cowboy imagery tossed in for good measure.<\/p>\n
If anything, the film gets the two best action sequences out of the way in the first act, with a big-scale fight sequence and a thrilling (but brief) interlude atop a speeding bullet train. The climax is unfortunately mired in somewhat silly and convoluted plot mechanics, with action for the sake of action and the kind of overtly goofy CGI-infused spectacle that both betrays what came before and doesn\u2019t really deliver what it\u2019s teasing. It\u2019s unfortunate that the filmmakers lack the courage of their convictions, but it\u2019s not a fatal blow.<\/p>\n
The plot, involving Logan getting involved with the family politics of a dying industrialist, is loosely based on the classic Frank Miller\/Chris Claremont story arc from 1982. The film actually takes place long after X-Men: The Last Stand, with Logan literally haunted by Jean Grey in somewhat comical dream sequences (Famke Janssen spends the entire movie in bed). The first act is downright superb, with the distinctly real-world sensibility reminding us of the first (and best) part of Bryan Singer\u2019s original X-Men thirteen years ago.<\/p>\n
Hugh Jackman can of course play this role in his sleep, and it\u2019s to his credit that he does not. Although if I may nitpick, the overall arc of the film, Logan realizing that he can still be a killing machine and a good person as long as his claws are pointed in the right direction, doesn\u2019t quite work. In short, this Rambo III riff doesn\u2019t quite make sense in an X-Men film series where we\u2019ve never really seen Logan go \u201cberserker\u201d at the wrong targets.<\/p>\n
The film looks terrific, although there are clear signs here and there that they didn\u2019t really shoot in Japan. Mangold and cinematographer Ross Emery create a visually pleasing and authentically real-world milieu that again adds to the \u201cthis is a real movie\u201d feeling that grounds the first 3\/4 of the film. The 3D is absolutely pointless, but the print I saw was bright enough so that the 3D didn\u2019t actually harm the experience. Also adding to the authenticity is the casting of actual Japanese actors and large portions of dialogue that are actually in Japanese, sometimes without subtitles.<\/p>\n
I could have done without a shoe-horned romantic subplot, especially as Jackman has far more chemistry with platonic companion Rila Fukushima (as the enjoyably bad-ass Yuka) than with Tao Okamoto (the granddaughter of the would-be dying industrialist). The film won\u2019t win any feminism awards, but the picture does pass the Bechdel test, complete with a major female villain to boot (Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper). Okamoto is fine and she gets an arc of her own, but she is somewhat hampered by a plot that can\u2019t decide if she is actually in distress for much of the running time (she is constantly being captured by forces that may or may not be malicious).<\/p>\n
The first 80-90 minutes of The Wolverine are pretty terrific, but even the eye-rolling finale can\u2019t completely mar the low-key quality of what came before. Jackman is committed per usual, there are some terrific action beats, and the whole enterprise feels like the best kind of comic book movie, in that it\u2019s merely a character-driven action drama that happens to have a superhero in it. If only they had saved money on the special effects-filled finale and then used that savings as ammunition to allow the film to go out with the R-rating that it badly needs. The first big action sequence especially cries out for actual blood and slightly more coherent cutting that an R-rating would allow.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, The Wolverine is a big improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I\u2019d say it\u2019s about as good as X-Men: The Last Stand but bear in mind I don\u2019t dislike that somewhat unfairly maligned third entry (it\u2019s a rushed B-level threequel following an A-level sequel). The Wolverine\u2018s best attribute is that it isn\u2019t trying to be the biggest film of the summer, nor is it trying to be the biggest X-Men adventure yet made. It is often quiet, usually rooted in character, and plays like an old-school action picture. It\u2019s the comic book superhero equivalent of a rock-solid B-movie, and I mean that as a compliment.