"I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice."
The catchphrase Wikipedia attributes to the 1982 comic miniseries Wolverine was never uttered by Hugh Jackman in his fifth round at portraying Marvel comics' most popular mutant. Much of the audience anticipation stems from an expectation that this movie will stay true enough to the source material to elevate the character and genre from comic adaptation to something akin to a Samurai or Martial Arts movie. Beyond the Japanese setting and the inclusion of two characters who first appeared in the miniseries, THE WOLVERINE adapts as much, if not more, from the less sound-bite friendly and shorter follow-up to the miniseries which appeared in the pages of Uncanny X-men (issues #172 & 173 1983)
The Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine miniseries is well regarded for effectively transforming a short, berserker antagonist to The Incredible Hulk (issue #180, last page cliffhanger, 1974) into the leading man material seen on screen and on the page today. Miller demonstrated a love for Manga, Kung Fu and Samurai films to great success in the pages of MARVEL's Daredevil, eventually creating the Sai-wielding femme fatal Elektra. He was perfectly suited to realizing Claremont's goal of re-branding Wolverine as master-less Samurai, a Ronin, striving to come to grips with his animal nature and learn the ways of Bushido.
Initially rumored to have Darren Aronofsky as director, this version could have done for Wolverine what THE WRESTLER did for Randy "The Ram" Robinson. It would also have been the second time Aronofsky and Jackman worked together. The first being THE FOUNTAIN in 2006 where Chen Taijiquan master Ren Guanyi was hand-picked to train Jackman in his Compact Cannon Fist form. Instead, James Mangold directs an eager-to-please comic/action movie minus the moral ambiguity which filled his 2007 3:10 TO YUMA starring Russel Crow and the Dark Knight himself, Christian Bale.
Opening with a flashback to the closing days of WWII and vaguely familiar to readers of the 90's era X-men and Wolverine comics, the movie jumps to the present day, or at least the regrettable days following X-MEN: LAST STAND. Echoing the audience's disappointment with the Brett Ratner debacle, Logan has retreated to the Canadian wilderness where he is haunted by dreams of Jean Grey. Played again by Famke Janssen, she's a welcome presence to fans of the movie franchise already familiar with the setting and inevitable barroom brawl. It's in this de-saturated environment where Rila Fukushima shines in all her colorful glory as Yukio, a sword-wielding girl sidekick with more personality than all five of the SUCKER PUNCH babes.
Moving to Japan the screen is quickly awash in color and the setting filled with familiar Japanese icons. We are quickly brought into a classic manor with shoji screens and tatami mats galore, with only the well-dressed bodyguards and a brief scene of flying Kendo as a tip off to the modern setting; plus a very high-tech sick bed. It's here that Logan meets his classic damsel in distress Mariko Yashida, portrayed by the lovely Tao Okamoto. With the obligatory intrigue established, Tae Kwon Do master and perpetual martial arts villain William Yun Lee makes his appearance in time for the first action set piece. He's eager to redeem himself for RED DAWN.
With a likely unintended nod to Chuck Norris, it's the good guys who wear black, surrounded by the reds and golds of monk robes and pagodas. The colorfully tattooed Yakuza foes are fought with a combination of wire-assisted parkour and archery. The guns vs. claws remain notably bloodless though the body count mounts by the time the action has taken the bullet train out of Tokyo. Fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio has effectively made a name for himself as the go-to guy for superfights as demonstrated by THE AVENGERS and the BOURNE franchise, but Mangold seems unable to keep up. Instead he prefers to linger on shots of people jumping or falling, despite director of photography Ross Emery's experience with THE MATRIX trilogy. The in-story plot twist which downgrades Wolverine's super-power, the healing factor that keeps him perpetually young and able to survive a bomb blast (not to mention fallout) works well enough. It makes a threat out armed gangsters but all too conveniently returns in time to face the Ninja clan audiences waited patiently for; as well as the katana-wielding Hiroyuki Sanada.
Of the two sequences, Sanada lends a greater measure of authenticity as foe to Jackman. A fallen Samurai rather than the silver one, there was still room for the more personal "I'm going to prove you're just an animal" motivation which featured so prominently in the miniseries. He's the strongest casting choice next to Hugh Jackman himself who cultivates a catchphrase unique to the cinematic Wolverine; "go ‡#¢* yourself." Building towards its finale like a videogame stacking up levels, what should have been a glorious Claw Fu vs. Ninja explosion of crazy weapons is spent mostly on the run. Sure, there's that cool Frank Miller-esque image (think hedgehog) but not one single shuriken is thrown, a sin in the eyes of any reader of Frank Miller's work from the 80's, even BATMAN BEGINS got that right. Eusebio should have had more room to top his work on NINJA ASSASSIN, hopefully his stab at TMNT in 2014 will do just that.
Come the big boss fight, Mangold and company saturate the sets and design costumes which hearken back to the pages of Uncanny X-Men circa late 80's - early 90's. It's a fair complement to the plot-twists pulled from that era, but the CGI robots and 3D of PACIFIC RIM were preferable. THE WOLVERINE wants the audience to remember what they liked most from previous iterations. It goes so far as to include a sort-of-remix of Ray Park's Toad fight from X-MEN, but it missed some chances to deliver the Easter Eggs comics readers crave. MARVEL's signature post-credit sequence has appropriately mutated into a mid-credit tease to further sequels for the X-Men and Hugh Jackman who, it should be noted, wears an improved Wolverine hair-do. Like the movie itself, it's an improvement.
About
Patrick Lugo :
Patrick Lugo has been Senior Designer at Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine, since the 90's, has done design work for martial art books as well as illustrations. Most notably, illustrating the award winning Little Monk & the Mantis. More artwork and comics can be found at PLUGOarts.com.
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