Arts & Entertainment

'The Wolverine' Delivers, Critics Say

Hugh Jackman reprises his role in the latest comic book-based film to hit the big screen.

Compiled by Deanna Allen 

The premise, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox as cited on IMDb.com

In modern day Japan, Wolverine is out of his depth in an unknown world as he faces his ultimate nemesis 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, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

Here's what critics are saying:

Though 'Wolverine' is well-crafted visually by director James Mangold, who evokes a moody atmosphere, there are few surprises, and the movie descends into formula. — Claudia Puig, USA Today 

Logan is both the ultimate X-Man and the audience’s stand-in, and Jackman never loses sight of either side of his signature role. It’s put to best use in a scene where he has to extract a weapon from his own heart. Unfortunately, the rest of the film becomes standard slice-and-dice, all the way to the ridiculous ending involving a baddie in adamantium armor. — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News 

So much of James Mangold’s 'The Wolverine' is explicitly rooted in character and small-scale action that its almost disheartening when the picture goes somewhat absurdly larger-than-life in the final two reels. For most of its two-hour running time, it’s trying its hardest not to be the biggest, baddest blockbuster on the block. — Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Luckily for fans, The Wolverine delivers where the previous outing failed, giving us what could very well be the defining cinematic appearance of Hugh Jackman as Logan. — Neil Miller, Film School Rejects 

'The Wolverine,' directed by James Mangold, is a mildly bonkers affair that occasionally reaches for a gritty yakuza drama, but clearly aches in every scene to collapse into a gleeful, giddy pile of ninjas, psychics, snake women, and multiple stabbings. This is a film that is gritty and melodramatic half the time, and wonderfully cheesy half the time. — Whitney Seibold, Crave Online

"The Wolverine" is rated PG-13 for for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language. The movie runs 2 hours and 6 minutes. 


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