The extended version of The Wolverine adds some twelve minutes to the theatrical version. I can’t quite remember the differences, but mostly it just makes the film seem longer. Mangold hasn’t got a good pace for it; the fault for that problem, however, lies with the screenwriters.
The film opens with a flashback, moves on to establishing what Hugh Jackman’s been up to since his last outing, then gets him over to Japan with sidekick Rila Fukushima. And then The Wolverine introduces enough suspicious people in five minutes Raymond Chandler would be shaking his head.
But Wolverine isn’t noir (though there are some reasonable Big Sleep comparisons–or should be) and it’s not exactly superhero action either. Mangold and screenwriters Mark Bomback and Scott Frank want to make the film about Jackman rediscovering his will to live. Except he kind of does it in the first sequence after the flashback. There are a whole lot of contrivances–not just in the plot itself, but in the backstory–to get Wolverine to the finish. Way too many.
Mangold just can’t direct the action. The extended cut, which does feature some more action, still doesn’t have the right action. It’s supposed to be a samurai movie, right? Then Jackman should be kicking ass in lengthy, visually dynamic fight sequences. Not surprisingly as Mangold’s direction for the film is mind-numbingly bland.
It’s long, it’s boring, it could be worse. But the studio clearly didn’t cut any good stuff from the theatrical release.
★½
CREDITS
Directed by James Mangold; written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank; director of photography, Ross Emery; edited by Michael McCusker; music by Marco Beltrami; production designer, François Audouy; produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker; released by 20th Century Fox.
Starring Hugh Jackman (Logan), Rila Fukushima (Yukio), Tao Okamoto (Mariko), Sanada Hiroyuki (Shingen), Will Yun Lee (Harada), Svetlana Khodchenkova (Viper), Hal Yamanouchi (Yashida) and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey).
Alternate versions:
- The Wolverine (2013, James Mangold), the theatrical cut
Related posts:
- 3:10 to Yuma (2007, James Mangold)
- Knight and Day (2010, James Mangold), the extended cut
- Kate & Leopold (2001, James Mangold)
- Australia (2008, Baz Luhrmann)
- Deception (2008, Marcel Lagenegger)
X-Men series:
- X-Men (2000, Bryan Singer)
- X2 (2003, Bryan Singer)
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, Brett Ratner)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, Gavin Hood)
- X-Men: First Class (2011, Matthew Vaughn)
