At first I couldn’t tell if I liked The Wolverine because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. But having seen it again, I can honestly say that this is a fabulous.
It’s a very mature and solid story that is –thankfully- devoid of contrivances. Sure, some of the action gets cartoonish, but it pulls away from that course just as it is about to cross into “yeah right” territory. Or in some cases, stops the cartoonishness dead in its tracks with a brutal turn of events that make your eyes stop mid-roll. And make no mistake, this movie is brutal; not only because of its physical violence, but due to the psychological stage on which Logan is forced to confront his demons by engaging a father-son “team” who are fully embracing theirs.
Jackman is great, but he can play Wolverine in his sleep. It’s Sanada who wins the movie by delivering a performance that is steeped in near-Shakespearean animosity. Honorable mention goes to Tee who filled to the brim every single second of his screen time in his portrayal of the hapless scum-bag politician
With this movie Jackman and Mangold not only fumigated some of the stench from Origins and X3, but provided an excellent baton hand-off to DOFP. That's a tall order for one movie. Good for them.