Hugh Jackman has never been in better shape than in The Wolverine,despite playing the titular character for the sixth time. The Australian thespian reportedly stopped drinking 1.5 days to allow extreme dehydration to tighten his skin further, just so he could add high definition to his abs when he was topless.

Set after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, the current Marvel blockbuster opens with a flashback scene during World War II in 1945, with Logan aka The Wolverine, as a captive in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. When the Americans drop the atomic bomb in nearby Nagasaki, he saves soldier Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), triggering a ripple of repercussions.

Cutting to the present, Logan is a recluse in the Canadian wilderness, tortured by nightly visions of the deceased Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom he reluctantly killed in Last Stand. Yukio (Rila Fukushima), a doll-like mutant with the special power of foreseeing people’s deaths who doubles as one of the most dangerous assassins from the Shingen Clan, tracks him down at the request of the now-dying Yashida. Chemistry between the two worked like vanilla and cookie dough, providing the occasional romantic tension.

Flung into the bustling metropolis that’s Tokyo, Japan, Logan finds himself vulnerable for the first time, stripped of his super self-healing abilities after an attack by The Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova).

With Logan now mortal and with the obvious lack of mutant presence (with the lone exception of Yukio, who just mostly swings samurai swords around) we are used to in the previous X-men movies, the film has a heightened sense of relatability, further enhanced by love interest Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the granddaughter of Yashida, who plays a central role in the movie as a regular homo sapien

Other than the main characters themselves, the film’s Japanese setting also provided quite the visual treat. Expect to see a never-ending lack of ninja, samurai and Yakuza, coupled with serene and scenic backdrops iconic to Japan.

However, the film’s insipid at times due to the lack of brutality and gore which is essentially what Wolverine is all about as shown in the abundance of comic books that Logan appears in. Add that to the slow pace, and we have the perfect conditions for a boring and disappointing flick, much like its predecessor, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

However, not all was lost, as some the fight scenes were brilliantly carried out, especially evident in Wolverine’s skirmish with the Yakuza atop a speeding bullet train, reminiscent of a similar scene in Skyfall, albeit with a lot more badassery and a much hairier protagonist with adamantium blades sticking out of his fists.

Fortunately, Jackman’s passionate portrayal of the feral character saves the movie, successfully channeling the pain and angst of our favourite berserker. The guilt from the death of Jean Grey and the anguish from his existential crisis really spill out of the screen. This comes as no surprise as Jackman has, after all, been playing the character for 14 years straight, making him the longest serving superhero on the silver screen, as well as the crux of not just the film, but the entire Wolverine franchise.

The same can’t be said for director James Mangold of Walk The Line fame, who wasted too much time trying to introduce a character that, frankly, doesn’t need one at all. His loose adaptation of volume 1 of the 1982 Wolverine arc by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller probably left longtime fans of the character and series with a bad taste in their mouths, with its incredibly slow pace and lengthy introduction.

Ironically, the post-credits cut scene in the last few minutes of The Wolverine, hinting at the possible reunion of the mutant misfits that we’ve grown to love in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past might leave fans more excited than the actual movie.

Compared to the likes of previous Marvel releases such as Iron Man 3 and Thor,The Wolverine is an insipid number that just manages to make the bar, if only for Hugh Jackman’s conviction in his depiction of the ripped character and beautiful oriental sets.

Rating: 3/5

Release Date: Jul 25

Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins

Language: English

Censorship Rating: PG 13

Genre: Action / Science Fiction

Director: James Mangold

Main Actors: Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto