I was invited to attend a New York City screening of The Wolverine with The Moms complete with an appearance and interview with Hugh Jackman, and lucky for me, my family had a trip to Boston that coincided with the movie premiere. Yes, we drove all the way to New York City on our own dime, leaving at the painful hour of 4:00 am. Although my movie and interview experience was provided by The Moms, all opinions are my own.
I will admit that I have not seen all five of the X-Men movies, and I probably would have been smart to plan an X-Men movie marathon prior to heading all the way to New York City to watch the premiere of The Wolverine.
Don’t worry – I did not mention to Hugh Jackman that I hadn’t seen all of the movies and after viewing The Wolverine today, I am sold on the fact that I do need to go back and catch up.
What I thought of The Wolverine
I loved it. It was entertaining, emotional, intense and full of beautiful scenery. But it was obvious that there was some background story that I didn’t know and I could tell that certain scenes and situations would have been more meaningful with that back story.
But it didn’t ruin the movie for me. The story was able to stand on its own (other than the possibly less intense back story scenarios) and was thoroughly entertaining despite my lack of X-Men knowledge.
I love the message of The Wolverine (and all X-Men movies, for that matter)…the message of tolerance and acceptance of other’s differences. I appreciated the different perspective that this movie’s story line brought to light. In The Wolverine, we see a more human, possibly weaker/possibly stronger Logan, depending on how you look at his character.
My favorite scene? I loved the super-high speed train fighting scene. This 300 mile per hour bullet train in Japan puts all other fighting-on-top-of-a-train scenes in movies to shame. It is intense.
Should my kids see The Wolverine?
Because of the pretty intense action (lots of knives and guns and fist fights) as well some language (the bad language is not constant, and it is mostly mild, but *Parent Alert* I did hear the F-word), I would not recommend The Wolverine to young kids. Teens and pre-teens will love it, but only you know what your kids can handle (and what you want your kids to be viewing and hearing).
Should I see The Wolverine in 3D or 2D?
I saw The Wolverine in 3D and, while it was impressive, I don’t think 3D is necessary. I’d recommend saving money by skipping 3D and buying popcorn instead.
About The Wolverine:
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he will face a host of unexpected and deadly opponents in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality.
Starring Hugh Jackman and Will Yun Lee, directed by James Mangold. Coming to theaters on July 26, 2013.
Note: I’m eager to share all of the great information and video footage that I got during the 30 minute interview with Hugh Jackman. As soon as I’m back home and can edit the video, I’ll be sure to transcribe the questions and answers and let you hear Hugh’s amazing accent. Until then, enjoy this Wolverine trailer and let me know how you like the movie if you see it this weekend!
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© 2013, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
First and foremost I must say that I absolutely loved this movie. But as I will cover in my review it may largely be due to the fact that I have always held the source material of this film in very high regard. Having said that, I do recognize that their may be a sliding scale of enjoyability for this film. If you are a fan of the 1983 Claremont/Miller miniseries of Wolverine then this is the movie you have been waiting for. If you are fond of the character Wolverine and interested into delving deeper into his chronology and exploring his inner conflicts, you will certainly enjoy this movie. If however, you have no familiarity, or no desire to familiarize with the character of Wolverine, you may find yourself not caring about many of the slower moments and longing for a more evenly paced action film.
Fans of Claremont’s Wolverine rejoice, this Wolverine does it right. The film does its best keeping characters intact while deviating from the comics in the sake of a self contained story and grander character development. There are several of the shots in this film that are near recreations of the comic’s original panels, and although story lines have been shifted and shuffled in some places, its all there. Mariko, Yukio, Harada, Shingen and Viper may develop differently than in the comic series, but their relation to each other and contextual significance is intact. As a Wolverine fan it was also nice to see a meaningful relationship blossom between Wolverine and Mariko, unlike the comics where it really is love at first sight. Instead here Wolverine falls in love not entirely with the character of Mariko, but rather with the idea of being a protector, a take that is a welcome addition to the Claremont storyline. The characters of Silver Samurai and Viper undergo the largest facelift in this film, but it isn’t entirely out of place. Let us not forget they were involved in the X Men issues directly connecting to the Wolverine miniseries. Although their characters have undertaken slight adjustments in order to incorporate ideas from the Fatal Attractions storyline, the plot does well to take from Wolverine’s side of this storyline because it was one of the few times in the series where Logan did feel vulnerable. Many fans will recognize that the plot device and character of Master Yashida cannot be found in any of the original comics, but one must keep in mind it serves as a useful device to connect all the developments of Logan’s journey. All in all I think its the best character study of Wolverine that any fan could ask for. Wolverine struggles with his animalistic urges and his commitment to reform, he grapples to find meaning in his endless immortality, and he ultimately finds purpose and resolution that he had not before. None of these developments are significantly or profoundly discovered, rather they are slowly revealed, which may turn casual movie goers off from enjoying this film. As a thoughtful exploration of Wolverine’s character and a grand homage to incredible source material though, how can any Wolverine fan say no to this movie? It is the best X-Men movie and one of the best comic based movies.
For those who would not consider themselves fans, but are rather moviegoers intent on enjoying a superhero epic, be warned. This film is a character study, it does not grapple with any conflicts outside of Wolverine’s internal struggles. The world is not being threatened, and not many lives outside of Logan’s are even being threatened, so the storyline does not crescendo in epic suspense like the Avengers or the Dark Knight. So for those not invested in Wolverine’s personal self discovery, some of the action can seem unmotivated and the pacing an obstacle to satisfaction. The film does its job in providing action sequences, but it intersperses several moments of symbolic soul searching, cryptic metaphors and relationship building that serve as pavement for Wolverine’s self discovery. This movie can still be enjoyable without interest in Wolverine’s inner conflicts however. With an outstanding supporting cast, a beautiful setting, and gripping and intense action sequences, it plays a lot like a token Bond film for those unfamiliar with Wolverine.
Whether you are familiar with the original comics or not, this movie will certainly provide entertaining thrills and intriguing themes. If, however, you are a fan of the original comic books, this film is a wonderful achievement.
Haha! I haven’t seen ALL of the movies, but I have seen some of them. I’m totally playing catch up when I get back home!
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh. Oh I so can’t wait I love wolverine almost as much as I love Johnny Depp. Girl I can’t believe you haven’t seen the x-men movies? Maybe a good thing you didn’t let him know that ;)
Awesome!! I can’t wait to see it!!