The Wolverine

The X-Men franchise hits the theatre again with the second installment from the man with claws; Wolverine. Of course we have main man Hugh Jackman acting with claws flawlessly as the rugged, fiery tempered (yet caring) 'I don't take no s**t' kinda guy and certainly brings to the screen everything you would want the Wolverine to be. Working alongside director James Mangold, who has given us some pretty heavy stuff like 'Identity' (2003) and 'Walk the Line' (2005) and equally doesn't shy away from intense emotion in this one (well - as much as adamantium alloy can be personified).

Unlike the last Wolverine flick this one follows the character after the third X-men film and how he copes with Jean's death or should I say doesn't. Many have said that this one was too dialogue heavy and there wasn't enough superhero, mutant action but I beg to differ. I think it was pretty well balanced with some skillfully choreographed marital arts and ninja techniques, which certainly made me want to throw myself into a dojo after watching. Along with all this pain and guilt that Logan is dealing with, as usual something from the deep, dark past re-surfaces and certainly interferes with his grieving (self-torturing) process even though he has a pretty Japanese grand daughter to take his mind of things. Like any action hero film, Wolverine has to protect someone thus overcoming the dangers of such a task, which I found entertaining up until they try to take Wolverine's healing powers and fight him off with a poorly CGI generated, robot samurai made out of adamantium. Not the climatic fight scene I was waiting for! Maybe I'm being a bit harsh here, however after enjoying the previous X-men films and origins alike, I perhaps had slightly high expectations for this one. Despite being a classic Marvel plot-line of Wolverine this is a standard action-thriller (with a few powers thrown in) with a few plot holes and strange Inception-esque dream sequences to get you through. Not entirely what I wanted but fairly entertaining nonetheless.

Directed by James Mangold
126 mins, 12a (2013)