Director: James Mangold
Screenplay: Mark Bomback, Scott Frank
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Svetlana Khodchenkova
Synopsis is here
We all have our biases, and for me, a Wolverine film with
James Mangold was going to be a negative one. Speak to more open minded
bloggers and critics and of course the idea of biases is a secret shame that is
often shunned. “We must be open to all things!” Some may scream.
We’re not. Our personal afflictions affect us greatly and
the idea of the director of the horrible faux fizzy, Charade wannabe; Knight and Day, helming a Wolverine sequel that was to effectively erase the risible “origins”
film out of people’s minds was not on my list of things I can’t wait to see at
the cinema. Mangold has had a decent past with the likes of Copland, Girl Interrupted
and Walk the Line. However the elements that were making up this feature just
didn't seem to meld in my head.
But what do you know (more what do I know), The Wolverine manages
to be a pretty effective waste of time. I mean that as a terms of endearment. I
had more knock around fun with this than some of the “bigger” blockbusters of
the year. I think the reasons are simple. The Wolverine doesn’t seem to be
invoking any sort of terrorism, or end of the world foolishness. It’s almost as
if the film realised the fatigue that has come with the pummelling all these
major cities have taken. The Wolverine has its focus on its people (well mutants)
and the all the better for it.
Mangold was quick to spout of a very particular list of
films that influenced the film, ranging from the likes of Wong Kai Wai’s Chungking
Express to Yasujiro Ozu’s Floating Weeds. Mangold’s choices are interesting to
say the least, as while the film doesn’t particularly feel like any of the
films he mentions, the first two acts of the film didn’t seem to fall into the
same typical categories of similar fare. There an interesting use of framing
and space, the action that takes place has weight to it (I was a massive fan of
the bullet train sequence) and Jackman clearly looks like he’s having more fun
than he did previously. It helps that his supporting cast are a bevy of
attractive ladies. Both Rila Fukushima and Tao Okamoto are fashion models
rather than actors. But neither embarrass themselves in terms of performance.
The chemistry that both women have with Jackman is palatable.
Yet it’s that dastardly third act, which looks to hamper
things as the film moves from formidable jaunt to scattershot clusterfuck.
Character motivations fly quickly out the window as the film decides to lend
itself to typical reveals for reasons that don’t seem to matter anymore. A
shame, as there’s more than enough to make this worthwhile. A screenplay tidy
up and a better villain (Svetlana Khodchenkova is hammy and out of step with
the tone of the film) would have had The Wolverine as a more solid recommendation.
It now gets merely a light tip of the hat for convincing my bias that it can
easily be mistaken.
