The Wolverine (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: James Mangold (Identity, 3:10 to Yuma)
	Actors: Hugh Jackman (X-men 1-3, The Prestige, The Fountain), Will Yun Lee (Total Recall), Tao Okamoto
	Country: USA, GB
	Genre: Action, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 24.02.2014, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: Logan (Jackman) is called to Japan as the last wish of a man he saved during WWII. In this foreign land he will be threatened to lose his immortality.
Review: Inspired by the 2009 graphic novel simply entitled Wolverine and illustrated by Frank Miller, this movie makes a refreshing trip to Japan, where the Wolverine will meet less mutants that he does in the X-men movies. The negative side is that human enemies are too easy for him to defeat (as he is invincible and immortal), the positive side is that we feel more involved in a movie closer to reality, and we fear for the hero when he starts to lose his powers. Don't forget that this is still a comics-book super-hero movie so you should avoid it if you are allergic to this sort. I liked the Japanese setting and the slow rhythm of the movie that let you time to know the characters, although both could have been better exploited. The action scenes are good and original sometimes, but are too much in contrast with the rest of the movie that tries to be believable (the fight on the roof of the high-speed train is over-the-top). I liked the design of the Bunraku (giant samurai robot) at the end of the movie as it reminded me of the french comics book series Okko, but the movie trailer had spoiled the surprise. What I didn't like at all is the mitigation of violence to make a PG-13 movie. Wolverine fights tens of enemies and the only way he know how to do so is with his sharp claws, but we almost never see a drop of blood or a severed limb. This obvious attempt at making the movie less violent to target a larger (and younger) audience completely spoiled the movie for me.
Rating: 5 /10