Back in November of 2012 I wrote the following in the review for the then just released James Bond film Skyfall:

It is a credit to director Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, and all those in front of and behind the cameras (that they) delivered a movie that moved as well as it did.  In fact…it wasn’t until after the movie was over that I realized the screenwriters delivered a truly underwhelming, ultimately silly story.  (you can read the entire review here)

I might as well have been speaking of last summer’s The Wolverine as well.

The summer of 2013 was awash with superhero inspired movies and The Wolverine was a late comer to the party.  Yet there were those who felt that of all the superhero related films released at that time, this was the one that merited better scrutiny and reward.

I can’t agree with that although there most certainly was a great deal of effort put into this film.

The Wolverine is essentially a “stand alone” story that takes place shortly after the last X-Men movie and, in its credits, hints at what’s to come in the next X-Men feature.  The always reliable Hugh Jackman returns for the fifth time in the role of Logan/Wolverine and, at the start of the film, we’re given a window into something he experienced during World War II and as a prisoner of war just outside of Nagasaki (yes, THE Nagasaki and, yes, just before -and after!- the bomb was dropped).

Logan saves a kind Japanese soldier from the devastation of the Atomic Bomb before we move, chronologically, to the present.  That Japanese soldier, it turns out, is named Yashida and after the war he became the head of a very powerful -and rich- company that is at the technological forefront of Japan and the world.  He’s also very old and dying.  He gets Logan to come to Japan to visit him for one last time.  During this visit, he tells Logan he can make him mortal and end what he perceives as the man’s Earthly torment.  This, Yashida states, is done by somehow transferring Logan’s immortality to the aged Yashida himself, effectively giving him the immortality Logan has.

Despite his torment, Logan refuses the deal and, in short order, all hell breaks loose.

Yashida dies, his son and apparent heir is up to no good, and his granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) is in mortal peril.  Logan jumps into action and saves Mariko but quickly realizes that during his visit to Yahida’s estate something has happened to him.  He no longer recovers as quickly from injuries as before.  On the run in Japan and with the forces of evil converging on the two, will Logan have enough gas in his tank to emerge victorious…or will the two fall?

As noted above, I’m reviewing the Extended Cut of The Wolverine.  If you’re interested in the differences between this version of the film and the Theatrical Cut, check out this website as it offers a terrific in depth comparison:

http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=274643

Now, moving on to the movie itself and as I noted before, this film experience proved similar to Skyfall.  I found the effort put into The Wolverine truly admirable.  The movie looks great and moves like lightning.  The characters presented are interesting and their motivations arouse your curiosity.  Yet it was also very obvious early on who the “big bad” was.  Just reading my fairly non-spoilery plot synopsis above should clue you into that.

The problem with The Wolverine lies in the fact that, like Skyfall, we have this huge/big/enormous set pieces that ultimately are revealed to be…nothing.  In Skyfall, the villain’s goal was so damn small and petty and all the running around proved to be just that: silly running around.

In The Wolverine, all the running around is also incredibly pointless as (I’m going to try to tiptoe around the story without getting to spoilery) the villain had his hands on his “prize” early in the film and there was absolutely no need for all that extra crap that followed.  Or, to put it another way: All the villain(s) had to do was knock their intended victim out with some kind of tranquilizer (which, by the way, they already did as the villains managed to implant something into their victim without their realizing it!), take what you need on that very first night, and -voila!- you’re done.

Silly, silly, silly.

And yet, like Skyfall, I can’t entirely dismiss The Wolverine despite its ultimately idiotic story line.  Again, there’s some really good stuff on display here and its just a shame that it gets torpedoed with such a silly script.  Perhaps it is a sign of these ADHD times that filmmakers are more focused on the thrills presented to their audiences rather than any logical explanation for why those thrills are occurring.

In the end, I can only offer a tepid recommendation for The Wolverine.  The film is worth seeing but, whatever you do, try not to think too hard about it afterwards.  You’ll only drive yourself crazy.