Here's a notion: can we all just agree to pretend that X-Men Origins: Wolverine, never happened? I mean, can we just erase it from X-Men lore or treat it like the Bond Franchise treats Never Say Never Again, like a weird, mutant (ha ha!) of a film? Can we do that? Good, because this stand alone Wolverine film is far, far, far, far, far, far better than that was.
In 1945, turns out Logan (Hugh Jackman) was being held in a Japanese POW camp near Nagasaki- just before the a-bomb is dropped on the city, he rescues a Japanese officer named Yashida and shields him from the worst of the after effects.
Flash forward to present day, and Logan is living on a mountain somewhere in the Yukon, tormented by hallucinations of Jean Grey, whom he was forced to kill at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand (another movie I wish we could pretend never happened- greatest storyline in comics and you let Brett Ratner direct that? What's wrong with people?) Logan is eventually tracked down by Yukio, a mutant with precognitive abilities to foresee people's deaths, on behalf of the now old and dying of cancer Yashida- who is also the CEO of a large technology corporation. He wants to repay his life debt to Logan and after some persuasion, Yukio gets him on a plane and they head off to Japan.
When they get to Japan, Logan meets Yashida's son, Shingen, his granddaughter Mariko and his creepy oncologist Dr. Green. Yashida formally thanks Logan for saving his life, but offers something else: the ability to transfer Logan's healing abilities into his body, which would save his life and alleviate Logan's immortality, which he views as a curse. He refuses and prepares to leave. That night, he dreams that Dr. Green (whom I guess is Viper) introduces something into Logan's body, but he thinks it is a dream.
The next morning, he learns that Yashida has died and stays for the funeral, where Yakuza attempt to kidnap Mariko, but she and Logan flee into downtown Tokyo. Logan gets shot in the process and his wounds do not heal as quickly as they should. After fighting off more Yakuza on a bullet train, they eventually make their way south to Yashida's house in Nagasaki and start to fall for one another.
Mariko is then kidnapped and taken back to her father, Shingen at Yashida's estate, but ninjas attack and whisk her away before Logan and Yukio can stop them. They realize that Logan's healing abilities are being suppressed by a robotic implant in his heart and he cuts it open while Yukio holds off Shingen long enough for Logan to repair the damage. Once his back, bad and down with his bad self once more, Logan kills Shingen and tracks Mariko to a secret base in the north, where there is one last climactic confrontation that reveals the secrets of both Viper and the mysterious Silver Samurai.
Overall: What a great, solid movie- perfect for this character and a perfect continuation of the story already established in the first three X-Men movies. We see a bruised, battered and hurting Logan get pulled back into the world, find love and by the end of the movie, find a little peace for himself- even if it might prove to be temporary. Love the story, love the setting, loved the characters... I haven't read the comic storyline this is based on, but I have a feeling it does it justice. If you want to do more stand-alone X-Men movies, please, make them more like this: **** out of ****
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