The Wolverine

So they let the guy who directed "Walk the Line", "Girl Interrupted", and "Cop Land" make a comic book movie.  James Mangold has proven his worth as a storyteller, and definitely understands the importance of strong, well developed characters.  The question is whether this quality translates into a good comic book movie?  That question leads to another; why are movies still segregated into their source genres?  It seems ridiculous that audiences (and by audiences I mean me) would accept sub-par stories, acting, realism, etc. all because "it was a cool comic book".  Likewise, I have concluded that it is irrational to demand faithful adaptations when movies are inspired by comic books, or novels, or real life events, or anything*.  If you really care how Wolverine or Charles Darnay behaves as originally envisioned, read the book.  The process of filmmaking is an artform in and of itself, which depends on a different approach and execution than writing (or drawing).  I have decided to accept this principle whenever* I watch a film, critiquing the work presented, independent of its source material. 

By this rationale, I can easily say that "The Wolverine" has the elements of a great film, but is seriously burdened by its comic book roots.  At its core, this movie is about loss, with an interesting twist; sometimes those things which seem undesirable are what will be missed the most.  There is a great story, and intriguing characters spread throughout this movie, but they are so often interrupted by sequences which only a comic book fanboy could appreciate.  Perhaps there is a fanboy out there somewhere blogging about how annoying the moments of contemplation and internal struggle were…  I think that Christopher Nolan was able to translate the essence of the Batman mythology in his Dark Knight Trilogy.  Bryan Singer understood what made mutants important when he directed the first X-Men movie.  On the other side of that coin, overwhelmingly, comic book adaptations have missed the point entirely; simply being moving picture versions of books, which already contained all the motion necessary.  Mongold's Wolverine movie contains the ingredients which elevate it above the rabble, unfortunately it also tries to be everything for everybody; which will never work**.

 

*I wouldn't apply this rule to Biblical accounts, or Tom Clancy novels.

**Unless directed by James Cameron apparently.