The Wolverine is a standalone film, not because they’ve decided to pursue a Japanese thread to the popular comic book character, but because other films featuring Wolverine are too embarrassed to stand next to it. While peppered with iffy CGI and mixed reviews, Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is actually a better film than the most recent effort from James Mangold.

Mangold and Jackman worked together on Kate & Leopold, so there’s an understanding between the director and his lead actor. Unfortunately, this connection doesn’t extend to the rest of the cast, whose collective deer-in-the-headlights performance is no match for the rugged mountain wolf man turned jet-setting superhero.

While Hugh Jackman rivals Henry Cavill in physique and physicality, there’s a similar holding back to Bruce Willis’s performance as John McClane in the latest Die Hard installment, A Good Day to Die Hard. Whether it’s too many times around the block or a bad hair day, we just expect more charm from these lovable heroes, whose never-say-die attitudes and quotable one-liners ooze cool under pressure.

The Wolverine also lacks a Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) or Stryker (Danny Huston) supporting act to create spark and ignite our hero’s quest. Insubstantial and out-of-place supporting characters in Yukio (Rila Fukushima) and Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) make Wolverine his own worst enemy as he battles on against an invisible enemy.

“You DO NOT want this to turn into a cat fight.”

It’s an odd mix of Tokyo action and drama that echoes films like: Blade Runner, Lost in Translation, The Grey, The Last Samurai and Highlander. The Westerner in the not-too-distant future Tokyo draws comparisons with Blade Runner. The honourable fish-out-of-water guest and foreign setting have parallels with Lost in Translation. The intermittent cutaways to Jean Grey offer a strained connection with The Grey. The allusions to Wolverine being a soldier and samurai reverberate The Last Samurai, while the immortal’s past-present dilemma and swordplay make it seem like Wolverine was surgically transplanted into an abandoned script for a Highlander reboot.

While the filmmakers try to justify “A Wolverine in Tokyo” and camouflage a jarring Uma Thurman style Viper, the story’s relevance, level of performance and overall lack of chemistry become more apparent. While the premise has considerable promise and a myriad of fascinating conflicts, it fails to capture our full attention as we plod along on the tangent that is Wolverine’s quest.

The action sequences are fierce and Wolverine’s handicap does inject some dopamine, but The Wolverine doesn’t hold fast long enough to be the introspective actioner it set out to be. You can see it working as a graphic novel, but find yourself wishing the film was in fact a Highlander reboot or that Wolverine would just start getting Hulk primal to liven things up. While it does step up in the third act, it’s stifled by the build-up.

The bottom line: Dull

Release date: 26 July, 2013
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