The Wolverine

I'm not an X-Men Origins: Wolverine hater. I thought it was stupid fun. Still, many despised it, so this is a new attempt to take Hugh Jackman's Logan into a freestanding franchise. DirectorJames Mangold goes a darker, more serious route, but proves quite adept at making action scenes. The opening scene in Nagasaki and a fight above a bullet train are incredible. Jackman, who has a lot more veins popping than the last time we saw him, still has a blast in the title role. The plot involves an old friend of Wolverine's looking for the key to eternal life, which Wolverine actually has, so this makes him a mutant of extra purpose. Most of the action takes place in Japan, and Wolverine loses his powers for a stretch, so we get the odd sight of him bleeding and getting lethargic. Mangold and his crew must get credit for filming two of the year's most beautiful women, Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima. Good lord, these two are remarkable looking. Famke Janssen makes some dream appearances as Jean Grey, and, yes, stay through the credits to get what some might consider to be the film's best scene.