‘I’m the Wolverine.’

Following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is now for the first time in his life physically and emotionally vulnerable. In present day Japan, he is up against not just steel wielding samurai or an ultimate enemy, but his own struggle against his immortality, making him more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

On a personal note, let me just say that Wolverine is one of my all time favorite superheroes, DC or Marvel. Not just because how fierce or powerful he truly is, but because he fights for what’s right and stands up to everything on a personal level. And through five movies, we thought we have seen every side of our favorite mutant, well The Wolverine shows a completely different type of Wolverine which we have never seen, and oh boy it’s fantastic to watch.

After the disaster of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which I was praying for to be excellent but obviously didn’t happen. We didn’t know if we’d see him in another standalone movie, at least for a whole or until they reboot the character. But luckily for us, Marvel and others decided to take a chance and a chance on a Wolverine Comic Book classic from the past, the Japan life searching journey that altered his life for the better. And though it may not have been all the same or 100% true to the comic, the movie turned into one of Marvel’s best X-Men movies to date.

I really enjoyed this movie after not knowing what to expect from it. I didn’t know what to think about not seeing Sabretooth or Rogue or anyone from our known X-Men Universe in the movie, but I was extremely happy with what this movie gives. It is multiple steps up from the previous Wolverine movie and does the character complete justice – like he deserves. Bringing James Mangold in to bring this story (and the sequel) to life was a great choice by FOX. He used those great things we love about the character, but went deeper than anytime before. Wolverine is at his lowest point in his life and it truly shows on screen.

Once again, Hugh Jackman just kills the role and character. I doesn’t really need to be said any more, but this guy IS Wolverine and has change the way actors/actresses have played and will play superheroes. The big surprise for me was Rila Fukushima who plays Yukio. She is such a fun, smart, and witty character and is that perfect counter to Wolverine’s personality – on top of being a total katana wielding badass who will cut anyone down. 

As a whole, the movie is fun, powerful, and entertaining that is shocking at times but ends becoming the Wolverine movie that we’ve all been waiting years for. From the opening moment we get a fantastic dropping journey that leaves our hero the most vulnerable he has ever been, but leaves him more complete, stronger, and clear sighted than ever before. And although there may be flaws, the incredible portrayal Hugh Jackman (always) gives to the character and the X-Verse set-up it has is plenty of greatness to see in a two hour stretch to make up for it and making it into my top 3 X-Men movies (behind Days of Future Past and X2).

Rating: 7.5/10