Distributor / studio: 20th Century Fox / Marvel
Rated: P13
Genre: Action, superhero, sci-fi
Running Time: 126 minutes
Director: James Mangold
Writers: Mark Bomback & Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay), based on comics by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Brian Tee, Will Yun Lee
Synopsis: Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he will face a host of unexpected and deadly opponents in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
Verdict: The worst instalment of the X-men film franchise thus far in terms of action, acting and line up of characters. The ingredients of the plot, too, all seem rather too familiar - superhero wants to a normal life, becomes emotionally & physically vulnerable, goes to an unfamiliar country, fights for a chick, finds new meaning to his existence... yaaawn. Although it's not an unwatchable film, the lack of mutants and big fight scenes make The Wolverine a less action-packed movie than the universally panned X-men Origins: Wolverine (2009). On top of all that, the fans of the original comics may also feel a bit disappointed to find that they once again wouldn't get to see the wild, berserk combat mode of Wolverine on big screen. Fans of Hugh Jackman, however, should at least be pleased with the main man's performance.
Second opinion: "I haven't seen the first 4 X-men films but I thought this was okay" (girlfriend).
Post-credit scene? There is a mid-credit scene that might excite the fans of the franchise (read spoiler section below) but there's nothing after the entire credits though so don't bother waiting.
To watch in 3D? The depth is pretty decent for a film that's converted to 3D in post-production but it's not planned in any way to make an impact with third dimensional effects so I wouldn't recommend it.
Malaysian censorship: Foul languages were muted (not chopped, thankfully) and both sex and presumably nudity were cut completely. It's P13 so as expected, it ain't very violent.
Rating: 2 / 5
[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mid-credit scene: While getting through the metal detector/body search at the airport of presumably United States, Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is greeted by Magneto (Ian McKellen), who tells him that there are people who wants to eliminate their kind. Logan tries to attack him but is stopped by Magneto's metal-control ability while everyone else in the background freezes in a time stop. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) then wheelchairs into the scene to calm Logan down (LOL, why couldn't he just come greet Logan first instead of Magneto?). When the surprised Logan asks, "How is this possible (for Professor Xavier to be still be alive, and for Magneto to still have his powers after what happened in X-men: The Last Stand)?", Professor Xavier hints to him that there are still others that have unique abilities like them. The logo of Trask Industries can be seen in this scene. The sequel entitled X-men: Days of Future Past is scheduled to be released in May 2014.
Introduction to Japan 101? The scene in the bar at the beginning where Logan confronts the bear hunter, Yukio (Rila Fukushima) appears and gives a long corny verbal introduction to her samurai sword before attacking. And then there's the scene where Logan indirectly educates the audience how fast the bullet train is right before fighting on it. There are also few more scenes/dialogues that seemed to me that it's supposed to provide some sort of a light culture shock for the audience but it's just not that interesting to me as an Asian. Is the director trying to help promote Japan or something?
Wolverine can never go bald? The flash back scene shows that his hair instantly grows back to his trademark hairstyle after being burnt by the fire. But then in present time, his hair is shoulder length. So that probably means that he can never be bald but the length of his hair can grow beyond his usual hairstyle. He doesn't even need hair gel or anything to style his hair that way.
Most forced love scene? There's very little to no development at all on the relationship between Mariko (Tao Okamoto) and Logan, and there isn't even a bit of onscreen chemistry too actually, but they fell in love anyway and jumped straight to sex after only knowing each for just a few days with minimal dialogues. Now that's a culture shock right there. Guess they're just randy.
Worst scene: The climax scene at the end is the final showdown between Wolverine and the Silver Samurai, who is revealed to be Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi) who's supposedly dead. He chops off all of Wolverine's Adamantium claws and stabs needles into the exposed bones to suck his... I dunno, bone marrows?... in order to regain youth and apparently to steal Logan's healing ability. Just when the Wolverine is about to be sucked to death (no pun intended), Yashida's very own granddaughter Mariko comes to the rescue by throwing Logan's claws into her grandfather's head and his response is "I am your grandfather"... in English instead of in Japanese (obviously a flaw by the director). Here's another culture shock I guess, a Japanese girl would go to the extent of stabbing her former boyfriend instead of trusting him and killing her own grandfather, all that to save the white man who she has just known for a few days. She doesn't even seem sad, angry, disappointed or scared when she's doing all that but that's probably just poor acting by Okamoto.
What's the point of Viper peeling off her own skin? Apparently it does nothing except getting her bald.
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