The X-Files: The Wolverine (2013)

It may sound hard to believe, but this is a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With the announcement of the next Wolverine solo outing made mere days following its previous instalment's opening weekend, many would have cried foul over the focus of Wolverine-based outings that followed on the disappointing opening, but perhaps thanks to the critical and audience reception to fellow prequel X-Men: First Class in 2011 and the news that this would instead act more as a semi-sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (a film that still had its naysayers, but not quite so negative as Origins) - not to mention the story being based on a well-known comic book arc created by Frank Miller, a writer perhaps better known for creating some of the themes later integrated into this year's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - The Wolverine had a lot more faith going for it. And with the film at one point having Darren Aronofsky at the helm (departing the project when he discovered he would have to leave his family for nearly a year), you must wonder whether or not this film is going to be a good redeemer for the sins of Wolverine past.

About a year on from the events of The Last Stand, and Logan (Hugh Jackman) has elected to live the life of a hermit within the forests of Yukon, withstanding terrible visions of former love interest Jean Grey (a returning Famke Janssen) and being somewhat protective of the animals he resides with. It's through his avenging of one such animal that he comes across an ally with Yukio (Rila Fukushima) - a sword-yielding assassin who's tasked with bringing the clawed mutant to Japan under the instruction of Ichirō Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), whom Logan saved back in 1945 during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Logan reluctantly agrees, and meets the dying CEO who offers the Canadian the gift that was thought to be impossible: death. Logan disagrees, and following a strange encounter with a fellow mutant who calls herself Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) stays for Yashida's funeral...only to discover that gangsters are trying to kidnap his granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) and that his healing factor seems to have stopped. With Logan electing himself as Mariko's bodyguard despite his missing immortality, the two must evade the ninja assassins chasing them and discover the perpetrator that surrounds it.

There are two aspects which make The Wolverine memorable: the mostly-Asian cast which presents not only a unique film but also an intriguing story, and removing the healing factor which made previous films void of any real tension for the character of Wolverine. Compared to the same-y feel of the first three instalments and their stories having similar premises, it makes Wolverine's story here seem somewhat fresh. Unfortunately, it's not entirely interesting nor fresh as an overall feature, as the mystery side of it is predictable if anything, and rarely breaks out into anything new nor overly interesting. Even the growth Logan goes through with his visions of Jean seem standard in execution, as the enforced romance between Logan and Mariko lends itself to a very generic subplot which viewers know won't continue on into future instalments. Add a so-so villain and an ending which is made moot almost immediately, and the film feels like it's a very generic entry to the franchise despite its uniqueness. It's a step forward and a step back. 

As per usual, Jackman shines as the clawed mutant, with an increased appeal in that he's trying to redeem for his previous X-Men effort, and it's evident in how much he puts into his performance. Unfortunately, it doesn't lend to much character stretching nor bringing in new aspects to the character, but when you consider it's his sixth appearance in these films it's somewhat understandable. Plus he actually feels pain for long periods of time here, which is a bonus. Tao Okomoto is a fine actress, and an improvement in terms of Logan's romantic entanglements, but she acts more like a macguffin than anything; Rila Fukushima presents a strong character and survives the fighting sequences well but seems to take her mutant side as being more of an alien aspect than a human one; Haruhiko Yamanouchi is fine as the standard dying old man character; Will Yun Lee as Harada is simply evil male Fukushima; Svetlana Khodchenkova makes for an appealing if not generic female villain, with the decision to include Viper in the story being a bizarre choice; and Hiroyuki Sanada is kinda just there. Again, it's great seeing such a large international cast of characters, but it’s a pity that it all comes into a rather standard story. 

With James Mangold at the helm, he does manage to do well with the action sequences – with a fight based on top of a moving bullet train being a strong highlight of his prowess – whilst his work on the smaller dialogue-set moments also lends to some good visuals and direction. Unfortunately it is mostly unremarkable, as aside from those few moments it may seem a little too basic by X-Men standards at this point. But hey! At least the visual effects are mostly consistent with that of X-Men: First Class and X2: X-Men United!

The thing about The Wolverine is that it's neither a great film or a terrible film. There's nothing overly questionable about it, nor is there anything superbly crafted or performed. It's a little light on the comedy and works mostly as a little pit-stop ahead of the 2014 X-Men sequel which brings the entire franchise together. It's unique yet generic; interesting yet never overly exciting. Performances are fine, direction is fine...it's just a fine movie, and one that could easily be skipped during a runthrough of the X-Men anthology. 6/10.