{"id":5804,"date":"2013-08-08T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=5804"},"modified":"2022-10-25T09:16:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T13:16:41","slug":"james-mangolds-the-wolverine-is-the-right-kind-of-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/james-mangolds-the-wolverine-is-the-right-kind-of-serious\/","title":{"rendered":"James Mangold’s The Wolverine is the right kind of “serious”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was very pleasantly surprised by James Mangold’s The Wolverine<\/em>. Everybody involved did the right thing by simply pretending that the appallingly awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/a><\/em> was never made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marvel Comics<\/a> continues their (mostly) winning streak, showing everyone how superhero movies should be done. Hopefully soon we will be rid of grimly ultraviolet takes on children’s characters like Christopher Nolan’s Batman<\/a><\/em> trilogy and Zack Snyder’s Watchmen<\/a><\/em> and The Man of Steel<\/em>. The Wolverine<\/em> is just the right kind of “serious”, in the sense that it focuses on character and not on vengeful violence. I’m tired of gruesome sights like Superman summarily executing General Zod by snapping his neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wolverine<\/em> should be commended for having four major female characters, when a typical superhero movie maxes out at one (such as Lois Lane in Man of Steel<\/em> and Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man<\/em>). But The Wolverine<\/em> squanders this achievement by casting women than look like supermodels, and a script that fails The Bechdel Test. All any of the women talk about are Logan and their daddy issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"High<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mangold is a true chameleon, having tackled everything from indie drama (Heavy<\/em>) to Oscar-bait biopic (Walk the Line<\/em>). He’s handled action before (Knight and Day<\/em>, 3:10 to Yuma<\/em>), but here in his first real summer blockbuster popcorn movie, he exhibits a remarkable stylishness and even a little visual poetry. One scene stages a self-surgery straight out of a Cronenberg film. And when Wolverine races through the streets of a Japanese village to rescue his beloved imprisoned in a tower, swarms of ninjas shoot tethered arrows into his back, in an apparent homage to Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood<\/em>. The sight is startlingly moving, like something out of a violent fairy tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also helps that until the climactic action sequence, not a single character parades around in a spandex costume. By the point that the villains Viper and Silver Samurai show up in full four-color splendor for a big comic book-esque fight sequence, I thought, what the hell, this movie has totally earned it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was very pleasantly surprised by James Mangold’s The Wolverine. Everybody involved did the right thing by simply pretending that the appallingly awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine was never made. Marvel Comics continues their (mostly) winning streak, showing everyone how superhero movies should be done. Hopefully soon we will be rid of grimly ultraviolet takes on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[1859,384,355,1978,385,380],"class_list":["post-5804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-1859","tag-comic-books","tag-hugh-jackman","tag-james-mangold","tag-marvel-comics","tag-x-men"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wolverine-2013.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-1vC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3476,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/xmen-origins-wolverine\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":0},"title":"Rewind & Reboot: X-Men Origins: Wolverine","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Much of what's wrong with X-Men Origins: Wolverine can be traced right back to its confused conception, indeed beginning with its clumsy title. The ungainly prefix is clumsily bolted on solely for it to alphabetize adjacent to the three previous X-Men films on Walmart shelves, iTunes, Pay-Per-View, and torrent trackers.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "1 Star"","block_context":{"text":"1 Star","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/1-star\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"X-Men Origins: Wolverine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/x-men-origins-wolverine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/x-men-origins-wolverine.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/x-men-origins-wolverine.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/x-men-origins-wolverine.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/x-men-origins-wolverine.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1738,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/mutant-mayhem-x-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":1},"title":"Mutant Mayhem: Bryan Singer’s X-Men","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bryan Singer's X-Men surprised me twice, first in a theater in 2000 and then again on a recent rewatch, by being better than it had any right to be. I used to be a comics fan, and read most of Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr.'s lengthy run on The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/x-men-2000-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2035,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-mutant-menagerie-x2-x-men-united-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":2},"title":"The Mutant Menagerie: X2: X-Men United","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In retrospect, the first X-Men movie did an incredible job of managing the introduction of a wide array of characters to mass audiences likely unfamiliar with the decades' worth of continuity established in its comic book source material. But the sequel X2: X-Men United crowds the stage with too many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"X2: X-Men United","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/x-men-2-united.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/x-men-2-united.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/x-men-2-united.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/x-men-2-united.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/x-men-2-united.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":3},"title":"Brett Ratner’s X-Men III: The Last Stand is lost in a densely self-referential world","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"God help me, but I agree with Harry Knowles' review. Sometimes you need a fanboy to point out what's wrong with a movie crafted for fanboys. He picked up on the absurdly sensitive Wolverine, the important Phoenix backstory cursorily related in hammy exposition, and the sudden and arbitrary shifts from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"X-Men III: The Last Stand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1770,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":4},"title":"Frank Miller’s The Spirit is the Insane and Unhinged Product of a Uniquely Obsessed Auteur Mind","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"At last, finally another entry to our hallowed pantheon of zero-star unholy cinema atrocities. Frank Miller's The Spirit is far more than just merely bad. Like the most infamous movie disaster of all, Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space), it veers wildly from stunning weirdness to unintentional hilarity, interspersed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "0 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"0 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/0-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Spirit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/the-spirit-movie-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/the-spirit-movie-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/the-spirit-movie-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/the-spirit-movie-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/the-spirit-movie-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5331,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/avengers-endgame-2019-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":5804,"position":5},"title":"No escape from the tyranny of continuity, in Avengers: Endgame","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There is no escape from the tyranny of continuity. Like daytime soaps, superhero comics exist in a quantum state of constant churn and perpetual stasis. Characters are introduced and die and un-die, relationships form and split and reform, villains are defeated and rally and are defeated again. 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