The literal man of steel
"Man of adamantium, actually"
DIRECTOR: James Mangold
CAST: A singing French ponce, a red-haired alien, Poison Ivy, and Famke Janssen's cleavage...
PLOT: After being in the midst of the United States' nuclear bombing of Japan towards the end of World War II, 'The Wolverine' (Hugh Jackman) saves a Japanese soldier from inevitable annihilation. Over 60 years later, said Japanese soldier is dying, and requests to say goodbye to 'Logan' in person. Sounds like an uplifting, tear-jerking drama, doesn't it?
Oh yeah, and there's something to do with some rich girl getting kidnapped, the Yakuza, double-crossing, etc, etc.
Soon after watching The Wolverine, I came up with a theory about certain superheroes. Superheroes that were victimised were both the indestructible Wolverine, and the equally indestructible Superman, who made his first successful (but in my opinion, underwhelming) big screen outing in quite some time this year. And here is that theory, whether you asked for it or not...
Due to the fact that these two immensely popular superheroes are essentially immortal, the writers of their respectable(?) films build overly convoluted plots that ultimately prove to be both incoherent and very fucking annoying. Rather than simply pitch our heroes against their foes in a more straightforward fashion that we would be accustomed to in Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man films, the writers seem to feel the need to up the ante, in a narrative sense, to trick us all into believing that our hugely powerful superheroes are in danger.
But they're not in danger. They're in no more danger than if you were to put them up in a straight-up fight with their enemy. Previous X-Men films have gotten past this issue because Valjean had to fight other mutants such as Magneto, a being capable of controlling the metallic Logan, and thus proving to be exciting and dangerous. Even the dismal Origins managed to set Logan some tough tests, such as his near-enough equal half-brother, Victor. But when The Wolverine has to deal with mere mortal human beings, the only danger that he is in is if his head were to explode.
Unfortunately, to reiterate, in the process the plots become convoluted, incoherent and very fucking annoying; and we would all really appreciate it if Logan turned Wolverine and began to hack and slash his mortal enemy. If the narrative is this stupid and the acting this poor (with the exception of the lovely Hugh Jackman), the only sensible route would be to turn the action up to eleven and delve into pure popcorn fodder fun. The Wolverine does not take this route; instead it's all po-faced and a lack of, what superheroes should be all about - fun.
"Deshi! Deshi! Basara!"
The film opens with Logan as a POW near Nagasaki during WWII. The atomic bomb falls and the sequence turns out to be hugely impressive. Soon after, he breaks a vow to never hurt anyone again... within about three minutes. And then, building on from the trailer that didn't exactly scream enthusiasm during the marketing campaign, our angry neighbourhood mutant puts the fun back into funeral. Yep - it looked as if we were going to get a great film.
However, before long, the film began to dive into its complicated messy story, as noted. And the supporting acting prowess wasn't as strong as what we are used to in Jackman's long career as The Wolverine, missing talent such as Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, or even Liev Schreiber. The supporters are brilliant when it comes to the action scenes, a fantastic one coming on top of a bullet train, but when they mumble through a plot that is equally indiscernible you'll be fighting the urge to replay First Class in your head again in an attempt to stay entertained.
The change of scenery is a breath of fresh air but it isn't a trick that is taken advantage of to its full potential. The oriental world of Japan goes with Wolverine as much as whips goes with chains. It's nice to see cool fights in traditional Japanese houses with thundery backdrops and establishing the location through showing the neon jungle that is Tokyo for all of five seconds, but the culture isn't fully immersed into, barely cracking its shell. It's a crime that the absurd climax didn't instead take place in a location that rings of Japan, instead regrettably indulging in formulaic bullshit.
Despite all of the double-crossing and the forced twists and turns, which are predictable, if not nonsensical, it's hard to care much about what is happening on screen when people aren't being killed. Making The Wolverine a lot more vulnerable than we are previously used to is inspired, it even went a fair distance to saving this from being a complete waste of time, but with strange insects and a Poison Ivy rip-off, you'll ask 'at what cost?' Surely it could have been done in a much better way. We were promised The Wolverine movie that we deserved. But the sad truth is at the end of the day is if Origins didn't exist, this would be seen as a total failure.
However, before long, the film began to dive into its complicated messy story, as noted. And the supporting acting prowess wasn't as strong as what we are used to in Jackman's long career as The Wolverine, missing talent such as Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, or even Liev Schreiber. The supporters are brilliant when it comes to the action scenes, a fantastic one coming on top of a bullet train, but when they mumble through a plot that is equally indiscernible you'll be fighting the urge to replay First Class in your head again in an attempt to stay entertained.
The change of scenery is a breath of fresh air but it isn't a trick that is taken advantage of to its full potential. The oriental world of Japan goes with Wolverine as much as whips goes with chains. It's nice to see cool fights in traditional Japanese houses with thundery backdrops and establishing the location through showing the neon jungle that is Tokyo for all of five seconds, but the culture isn't fully immersed into, barely cracking its shell. It's a crime that the absurd climax didn't instead take place in a location that rings of Japan, instead regrettably indulging in formulaic bullshit.
Despite all of the double-crossing and the forced twists and turns, which are predictable, if not nonsensical, it's hard to care much about what is happening on screen when people aren't being killed. Making The Wolverine a lot more vulnerable than we are previously used to is inspired, it even went a fair distance to saving this from being a complete waste of time, but with strange insects and a Poison Ivy rip-off, you'll ask 'at what cost?' Surely it could have been done in a much better way. We were promised The Wolverine movie that we deserved. But the sad truth is at the end of the day is if Origins didn't exist, this would be seen as a total failure.
P.S. Stick around for a post-credits scene that will get you more excited than the entire film that you've just watched.
* *
No comments:
Post a Comment