"The Wolverine"

One of Marvel's most well known superheroes returns to theaters this weekend in "The Wolverine." This is the sixth time Jackman has spiked up his hair, and traded his Broadway vocals for Canadian growl. (That is, if you count X-Men: First Class. and I do.) It's also the second of the series to showcase Wolverine, but unlike "Origins," this film is placed squarely after the event of X3.

At the start, we see that Logan is slightly more devastated about the events of the last film than the X-Fans who had to watch it. After spending some time living like a caveman, he's lured into traveling to Japan to visit a dying man who he saved from a nuclear blast back in WW2. Soon he's caught up in a convoluted plot of conflicting loyalties, debts of honor, damsels in distress, and unneeded 3D effects.

Based VERY loosely on the famous Chris Claremont, Frank Miller limited series from the early 80's, almost all of the action is set in Japan, with Wolverine fighting everything from Yakuza to Ninjas in a world where every single thug has at least a few karate moves. And just in case you were worried you might actually get the same story from that famous series, don't worry, all of the characters are altered just enough that even devoted nerds will be left saying things like, "Wait, she doesn't have any powers." Of course, your average movie fan isn't some nerd who knows more about the Age of Apocalypse than the Industrial Revolution. They'll have no idea why some of us are upset with these changes. Instead, they'll mostly be wondering why these additional, superfluous side characters were thrown into the plot in the first place.

Anyway, all that aside, "The Wolverine" isn't actually that bad a film. It's a little slow to start, but once it does there's a good deal of action and drama. Jackman does a great job with the character who finds himself becoming a hero again, despite all his better judgement. There are a few lighter moments in the film, and I really enjoyed some of the action sequences. Throw in a bit of an impractical romance* and you have all you need for a passable action film. Sure, the plot is confusing, and the end of the movie comes off the tracks, but it's still better than "Origins" or "The Last Stand."

 Like I said above, the 3D in the film is really unneeded. Sure, there are few cool effects, but for everyone of those, there's a badly done 3D effect that really pulled me out of the film. There was one bit my girlfriend and I both noticed. The stunt wasn't complex, and I'm sure they did it in live, but the 3D effect was done so poorly in post that it looked fake. 

Parents, once again, Wolverine's most improbable power isn't his metal claws, or his healing factor, it's the fact that he guts his way though half of japan, and only manages to get a few spots of blood on him. I mean, really. He has these claws, and he is slicing dudes like a teppanyaki chef on speed, and I see more blood when I cut my nails too close. So, yeah, there are claws, and death, but at least you don't have to see yucky blood. 

So, if you're looking for a brief escape from the heat, and you're into some bloodless mutant rages, you could do a lot worse than "The Wolverine," bub.

*still better romance than "Twilight"