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The Wolverine (2013)
The Wolverine (2013)
Recently I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) for the first time and this made me more enthusiastic about seeing The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has won my vote for best X-Men character.
In The Wolverine, Wolverine (Jackman) is summoned to Japan by an aging, old friend whom he saved during the war. The old man has become very rich and powerful and he wants to repay Wolverine for saving his life so long ago. However, he may have ulterior motives. When he reaches Japan, Wolverine becomes caught up in a war between his old friend’s empire and the Yakuza. Wolverine becomes weakened and for the first time faces mortality.
The film was directed by James Mangold and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Hal Yamanouchi, Ken Yamamura, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tee, Will Yun Lee, and Famke Janssen.
Some of what I especially liked about X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also what I liked about The Wolverine. The film was concentrated mostly on the life of just one X-Men character and therefore it was more enjoyable. You are able to feel more for Wolverine because you get to see his whole story. There is much more character development than the first 4 X-Men films and this allows the viewer to become more attached to the characters and the problems that they face. Also, not every single character in the movie was a mutant and that made the ones that were mutants more unique and therefore more likable.
In comparison to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I felt that The Wolverine was a slight step down. It was a little bit longer than it needed to be and it lacked the star power. The supporting cast does do a quality job, but there is not another actor in the film that can compete with Jackman. X-Men Origins: Wolverine had Liev Schreiber and Danny Huston. The bad guys in The Wolverine were not bad enough. They did not have as much of a screen presence. Jackman dealing with his own mortality was almost more intense than the enemies that he faced. Don’t get me wrong. The film was still very fun to watch, but bigger stars could have helped make it more powerful like X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman kept reminding me of a young Clint Eastwood at times throughout the film. He was a fierce cold-blooded loaner ready to do whatever he felt was right and not caring who got in his way. Jackman is 2 inches shorter than Eastwood, who is 6’4’’, but maybe it was Jackman’s haircut, facial hair, and attitude that was reminiscent of a middle-aged Eastwood. The slight resemblance contributed in making Wolverine a helluva bad-ass to be reckoned with.
In my opinion, The Wolverine is the second best X-Men movie to date. X-Men and action movie fans alike should approve of the quality of the film. The special effects are sharp, the action is extreme, the characters are entertaining, and the movie as a whole is a blast.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Click on the link below to see a picture and read about the time when my wife and I and some friends got into a fight with Wolverine and Iron Man.
We Got Into a Fight with Wolverine and Iron Man
If you liked The Wolverine, then you should certainly enjoy X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
With the release of The Wolverine (2013) this weekend, I thought that it was about time that I watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I have seen all of the other X-Men movies and I used to watch the cartoon as a kid, so I’m not sure why I waited so long to watch this movie.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) as a child and his earlier life prior to the other X-Men films. Wolverine and his brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber), both mutants, are forced to leave home together at a young age. They fight through a number of wars together until they are recruited by Colonel Stryker (Danny Huston) to become part of an elite unit made up of all mutants. Eventually Wolverine disagrees with what the unit stands for and decides to leave. He moves away, falls in love with a woman, and leads a simple life. Time passes and Wolverine’s life gets turned upside down when his old unit wants him back.
The film was directed by Gavin Hood and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Durand, Will.i.am, Taylor Kitsch, Daniel Henney, and Dominic Monaghan.
After watching this film, I am sort of kicking myself for not watching it sooner. It does an excellent job of showing where Wolverine came from and why he is the way that he is in the other films. After the movie, I gained a greater respect for Jackman and his Wolverine character.
This is my favorite X-Men movie so far. What I especially liked about the film is that it concentrated on the life of one of the X-Men instead of overflowing the movie with tons of mutant characters with too many stories to go around. This made it possible for greater character development and helped to create a more meaningful story. Of course, there are a number of X-Men characters in the film, but they didn’t try to tell the story of each one of them.
Gambit/Remy LeBeau was one of my favorite X-Men characters when I was a kid, and it was fun to finally see his character in a live action film.
Jackman and Schreiber both brought a level of fierce intensity to their characters that were very exciting to watch. This, in conjunction with the solid supporting performance by Huston and the film’s awesome special effects helped to make X-Men Origins: Wolverine the sharpest X-Men movie in the box.
I rate this movie an 8.5 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Click on the link below to see a picture and read about the time when my wife and I and some friends got into a fight with Wolverine and Iron Man.
We Got Into a Fight with Wolverine and Iron Man
Note: Jackman and Schreiber were both in Kate & Leopold (2001) together.
If you enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine, then you will probably like The Wolverine (2013).
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