The Wolverine

This is sort of "Crouching Wolverine, Hidden Dragon..." because much of it takes place in Asia and the women are martial artists. Our hero was near Nagasaki when the A-Bomb was dropped and he saved a Japanese soldier at the time. Many decades later, with the death of his beloved Jean still haunting his dreams, he is summoned to Japan as that same man, now elderly, lays dying.

My favorite part of "Iron Man 3" was when our guy was suddenly stripped of his power. In this one, we see another Marvel superhero become a mere mortal...at least for a time. Wolverine tries to help a young woman who is being pursued by gangsters and killers who are somehow tied to the death of her grandfather. In addition, he also finds himself in dire need of assistance from a young Goth chauffeur/body- guard.

Let's see who's who in this one:

• Hugh Jackman ("Real Steel" and "Les Misérables") is, for the sixth time, Logan/Wolverine, our self-repairing immortal who has retreated to the wilderness to grieve for his lost love.
• Famke Janssen ("Taken" and "X-Men") joins us courtesy of flash- backs and dreams, as Jean Grey, the woman he adored...and killed...
• Rila Fukushima ("Karma: A Very Twisted Love Story") is Yukio, Wolverine's maroon-haired bodyguard.
• Tao Okamoto (in her first film) is Mariko, granddaughter of the elderly industrialist who offers to "cure" Logan of his immortality.

There are many, many more characters in this story, but I have named the ones who caught MY eye. Of course we can expect endless fisticuffs and martial arts, along with CGI-driven action, but the fight on top of a speeding bullet train is worthy of mention, as is our lonely hero's anger and isolation. This is a PG-13 film, so they are allowed one "F" word... which is used appropriately. I DID object to one scene where our hero has more arrows piercing his body than St. Sebastian! Enough already!

Do not join the stampede to the exit when the final credits start to roll: This is a Marvel production, so there WILL be a teaser for their next outing! You'll smile...

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Here is a link to a trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi116827673/
* * * * * * * * * * * *