What makes James Mangold’s The Wolverine a cut above other super-action-heroes of late is not the Japanese setting (tick), the agreeable runtime (tick) or the relative lack of digital carnage (tick) but the fact that he, Mark Bomback and Scott Frank have made an effort to flesh out their characters (two ticks). Granted, Logan is still a man with metal claws who battles a giant, adamantium clad Samurai warrior, but reaching this point is a story invested with surprising humanity. It’s everything Superman needed but didn’t get.

Based on a 1982 graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, Logan (Hugh Jackman) has given the mutant world short-shrift to live a hermit’s life. He’s haunted by the ghost of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and wants little more than to join her, but immortality makes that a distant prospect. This theme of longing and regret is the story’s backbone, one which is amplified when Logan is coaxed out of his cave and travel to Japan. A dying industrialist seeks to repay an act of kindness and offer Wolverine what he desperately wants, ‘a gift equal to the life you gave me.’ But there’s a catch. Now vulnerable, Wolverine is pushed to breaking point and forced to revaluate everything he’s ever wanted, or ever known.

Throw in a snake tongued vixen and a band of black-clad ninja’s and it all makes for quite an interesting ride. Mangold (3.10 To Yuma, Walk The Line) understands the power of character and lets Jackman’s cheerless mutant explore both his inner and outer torment. The consequence of this is to slow down the action and let the audience embrace the likes of Wolverine’s sword wielding, J-punk protector; the misguided industrialist and his compromised daughter. Not that the film is all noir-ish introspection. There’s a clear focus to the storytelling in which bursts of eye-popping action heroism are thrilling and actually propel the narrative. A seen-it-before fight atop a train is given new claws and the novel twist of bullet speed. There is also welcome risk from this blockbusting contender in its use of unfamiliar location, unfamiliar stars and a not insignificant amount of subtitling. In many ways, The Wolverine echoes the mix of megalomania, tortured hero and fresh backgrounds from early Bond movies, and is better for it.

Although post-production conversion to 3D adds nothing to the film, and the final showdown is more of a letdown, The Wolverine is a completely different beast to the deservedly mauled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Crisp camera work enables heavy themes of loss, regret, vengeance and redemption to interact beautifully with neon-scarred city skylines and the muted tradition of rural ryokans. As Wolverine is forced to navigate a strange land as a stranger, Mangold gets to riff on Kurosawa which, after a season of unrewarding super-action-hero movies, goes on to earn The Wolverine an extra tick. For added pleasure, keep an eye on the post-credit X-teaser.

// COLIN FRASER

Previewed at Events Cinemas, George St, Sydney, 19 July 2013