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STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “The Wolverine”

Jeffrey Tung
Sep 10, 2018
2 min read

It’s not often that American superhero stories on screen can take place in another country. The fact that Japan is that country and Wolverine is that character makes one curious about what kind of story is going to be told.

Directed by James Mangold, written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank, and based on the Wolverine story arc by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, The Wolverine revolves around mutant Logan living as a hermit in Canada after the events of X Men: The Last Stand, where he was forced to kill Jean Grey when she was causing destruction. He has since been haunted by visions of her.

One night, Logan is visited by another mutant named Yukio who has ordered by her master, Yashida, to bring him back to Japan so he can say his final goodbye to him, wanting to thank him for saving his life in 1945 Japan during the Nagasaki bombing.

When they arrive, Logan is offered by Yashida that he can take his healing factor so that he may die a normal death, to which Logan refuses. Yashida dies the next day, and the funeral is infiltrated by the Yakuza who attempts to kidnap Yashida’s granddaughter and the next heir to his company, Mariko. Logan is able to save and protect her while they figure out why the Yakuza wants her dead.

The premise of the story has a lot of things going for it: a mystery added with the tension that Logan’s fast healing factor has now been suppressed, so he is in danger of getting killed. There are two factions going after Mariko, both with their own motivations of wanting her.

The character arc that is introduced has Logan saying that he is “not the Wolverine” anymore. You can guess what he embraces by the end of the film. Still, it’s an interesting journey that he has to go through, especially in a country he knows almost nothing about.

The film’s strongest element is the fact that the story is one of the first to have a grounded reality; this concept will continue in Mangold’s next Wolverine film, Logan, which we’ll get to very soon. There is no “saving the world” plot going on; it’s a story driven by characters filled by greed, jealously, and anger.

There are not a lot of action or fight scenes, but the standout is the bullet train sequence that just looks so cool.

That being said… the story, or at least the twist that happens, is very predictable. I was thinking as I was watching it, “… wait, was that supposed to be a twist? Because… I knew that would happen.”

Ultimately, The Wolverine is a valiant attempt at a future film; a very well made prototype film for Mangold to base off of in order to make a proper, better film. What’s frustrating is that personally, I wish this film treated with much dedication as Logan. It’s a modern day samurai tale of rediscovery and identity reclaiming, and I really wanted to see that be given the respect I know it should deserve. Regardless, it certainly has my respect.