The Wolverine
A reluctant superhero returns to action.
Directed by James Mangold
(PG-13)
**
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Hugh Jackman’s latest Wolverine film might be “the most satisfying superhero movie of the summer,” said Andrew O’Hehir in Salon.com. Shaking off the “general stupidity” that plagued the character’s 2009 solo outing, this unpretentious action hit suffers “a severe energy drop-off” in its final act but otherwise provides the “popcorn-flavored” thrills that summer audiences crave. Jackman is “electric” in his sixth go-round as the title character—a surly mutant who’s been blessed/cursed with immortality and retractable claws since surviving the bombing of Nagasaki in a nearby prisoner-of-war camp, said Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times. This time he’s drawn into a conflict in Japan after he visits the deathbed of a wealthy industrialist, and he rewards fans with, among other highlights, an “outrageously entertaining” fight scene atop a racing bullet train. Unfortunately, the “grab-bag plot” feels “scattered and far-fetched,” said Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. Despite Jackman’s star power and a fair share of effective action sequences, this Wolverine “stubbornly refuses to catch fire.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What's behind Trump's last-minute merch push?
Today's Big Question With just weeks to go before the election, Donald Trump is spending the waning days of his campaign hawking a suite of new products, from silver coins to cryptocurrency
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Kamala Harris' plan to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy
the explainer Tweaks, rather than sweeping overhauls, characterize the Democratic nominee's proposals
By David Faris Published
-
Rowan Jacobsen's 6 favorite books that explore our relationship with food
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Harold McGee, Kristin Kimball, and more
By The Week US Published