The Wolverine reviews - Spoiler free

[Operation:Mego]

Reviews so far have been mixed.

Rotten Tomatoes lists 65% positive reviews based on 25 reviews, with a rating average of 3.5 out of 5 stars. It holds currently has a score of 52 out of 100 on the aggregator Metacritic and 44/100 on Metascore.

IGN praised the film giving it an 8.5 out of 10 and states, "The Wolverine is a stand alone adventure for the classic character that reminds us that there's more to this genre than universe-building and crossovers. ... [The] story paints a deep and compelling portrait of Logan, a haunted character that Jackman still finds new ways to play all these years later."

Coming Soon.net also gave a 8.5 out of 10, saying, "Fans of the character disappointed by "X-Men Origins" who have been clamoring for a great Wolverine movie, one that lives up to Bryan Singer's early "X-Men" movies, should be thrilled. Those just wanting a solid, well-made action film might be surprised by how much depth Mangold brings to the mix. The results are the best comic book movie of the summer and one that rarely feels like a comic book movie."

Total Film gave it 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "[a]n improvement on Origins" but "[n]ot as big an improvement as you were hoping for: perfectly decent, but ponderous, too."

The Guardian however blasted the film, giving it 2 out of 5 stars and stating, "Hugh Jackman's sixth time out in the claws and hair combo is looking increasingly wearied, as the backstory gets more complicated and the action gets duller and flatter."

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I never bother with ratings. They're subjective. I sometimes read the reviews, 'cos that gets you more of the nuts and bolts. If folks hate a movie for the right reasons it makes me want to see it. Some of these comments seem.... odd:

>a stand alone adventure for the classic character that reminds us that there's more to this genre than universe-building and crossovers

Weird.... It DOES add to the universe though, bringing in a few more "classic" characters and no doubt the back story that goes with them. The weird part is the hidden derision for such things in the comment; weird since that's the very thing the hardcore fans have been CLAMOURING for in these films, and that the most popular Superhero film in a while.... "The Avengers" was BASED on it.

>The results are the best comic book movie of the summer and one that rarely feels like a comic book movie

"Comic book movies are AWESOME! but they SUCK!"

Personal peeve: I HATE the term "comic book movie" for "superhero movie."

>the backstory gets more complicated and the action gets duller

But.... that's Wolverine's thing! He's the superhero with the most convoluted, rebooted, reconstituted origin(s) ever!

Don C.

[Bruce Banner]

Saw it this morning...

It's a decent film... better than Origins, anyway.
Action scenes are well executed, lots of claws vs. katanas, although the combat isn't as visceral as it could have been.
And obviously, as we've come to expect from the X films, it plays fast and loose with comics canon.
But it's worth watching.

And definitely stay for the mid-credits coda for cameos from two very well known characters, setting up Days of Future Past.

[bigphill]

I thought it was a good movie, way better than I thought it would be

[LonnieFisher]

I'm going to see it today. I'll give an opinion when I get back.

[Mego Superboy Prime]

I missed the after credits footage...anyone want to spoil it foe me?

[Sideshow Spock]

I was looking forward to the movie, since Frank Miller's original mini-series was a benchmark moment for me as a young comics reader...

But the film did little for me. The first 20 minutes were very promising, but things came apart for me when he went to Japan. I was bored quite a bit, had trouble hearing/understanding Yukio/Mariko some of the time. And I thought Viper was terrible.

I'd give it a B-

[madmarva]

I thought the movie was solid. Not as good as I had hoped, but much better than it could have been. I enjoyed the portions of the film in Japan. It was cool seeing Miller-like ninja running on rooftops and Wolverine being able to cut loose. Mariko's home really reminded me of the mini series.
Some traditional super hero type stuff was added (or I didn't remember from the comic) to the climax that I think should have been left out, but it wasn't bad, just more tired than anything else.
The film offers up some classic Wolverine moments inspired by the comics that I particularly enjoyed. The fight between Logan and Mariko's dad was excellent to me. Both of the women who played Mariko and Yukio did a nice job. Yukio was my favorite character and Viper the least.

It may have gone to the dream sequence well once too often, but many guys have been haunted in similar ways.

And do stay for the mid-credit scene. To me it's the best one I've seen, really setting up what's coming next.

[LonnieFisher]

I LOVED the movie!! I usually am very disappointed with super-hero movies. I never liked Wolverine in the comics. When the first X-men movie came out I liked the way Jackman portrayed him and like him now. Not in the comics, though. Just the movies. I had absolutely no interest in the comic of him when this storyline came out and never read it. Most of the comic movies are a let-down because the story gets changed so much, and I know the comics so well that I don't like the changes. So for me the movie story was new and had nothing to spoil it. So I really enjoyed the movie from start to finish! I'm so excited for "Days of Future Past" next year! That was an awesome storyline and the last of the X-men comic that I liked. I know it won't follow the comic story, but that's fine with me. I love time travel movies, and it will just be super entertaining, however the story goes. I give "The Wolverine" two thumbs up!

[Hector]

I just saw it today and liked it a lot...I just loved the Japanese storyline, the chicks were hot, and Wolverine is just a baddarse...Hugh Jackman owns that role.

[johnmiic]

Saw it today and thought it was really good. Have not seen Origins so I can't compare. Some might find parts slow but this is not an all-action film. This is a more personal story and need not be about constant fight scenes.

[madmarva]

Here's a link to the additional scene after some of the credits

http://vimeo.com/71184830

[Operation:Mego]

[Operation:Mego]

Chris Claremont voiced his approval of the film:

I loved it. It was a lot of fun. I mean, it may not have been the Wolverine I thought of, but it’s still Wolverine. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad to see these characters having their day in the sun on a bigger stage than in the comics.

[Operation:Mego]

I just saw it today and thought it was awesome. Lots of great fight scenes, and character moments.

There were some unexpected nods to the previous films that I thought was a nice touch. The villains were pretty evil, though Harada seems to redeem himself in the end. And the Silver Samurai was somebody who I was not expecting (the fight with him was epic).

It was great to see the women kicking butt too, both Mariko and Yukio seemed to hold their own pretty well. And Viper was pretty bad-*** I thought, you never knew what she was going to when she was on screen.

And it's definitely Jackman at his best as Wolverine, He owns the role. He also provides some of the films' laughs with his remarks.

And the post-credits scene blew me away; I was not expecting what happened to happen.

All in all, The Wolverine is a great film which I do recommend to anyone who has not seen it yet.

Rating: B+