The Wolverine (2013) β¦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-09-07 18:45:01 +0000 UTCAnd we continue our journey with another Logan focus!
I'm looking forward to your comments! Thanks so much for watching with me. π
If you'd rather watch on YouTube, click here.
β¦ KL
Comments
That's true, you are correct. My apologies
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-09-18 22:12:03 +0000 UTC(of course, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Chow-Yun Fat are Chinese actors...)
Tyler Foster
2024-09-18 22:11:38 +0000 UTCThat's true! Jackie Chan's the comedy/action guy, Jet Li's the dramatic action guy, and Hiroyuki and Ken are everything in between! Speaking of, we haven't seen Chow-Yun Fat in anything lately, have we? Seems like the last thing I saw him in was Pirates 3
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-09-18 21:48:01 +0000 UTCAnother one I have an update to after the fact. Having finally watched the Rogue Cut and looked up what the differences were, I get why people would say it's the better of the two, and if you can get it I think it'd be more satisfying in comparison, but I definitely think the differences have been greatly overstated.
Tyler Foster
2024-09-18 21:46:05 +0000 UTCOoh thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out someday.
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:43:47 +0000 UTCA third act in a Japanese setting definitely would have been cooler, that's for sure. Especially when so much of the movie had Japanese architecture as a backdrop. Yeah, Japanese movies are something I definitely want to get into (especially since I'm over a year into learning the language).
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:43:26 +0000 UTCBig improvement, for sure! Oh that's fun about Logan! I had no idea. That's awesome.
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:42:05 +0000 UTCBecause Hiroyuki Sanada IS the mysterious Japanese man! π In all honesty, my guess is that him and Ken Watanabe are chosen a lot because their English is really good, they're well established actors both in Japan and now in the West, and they're just both phenomenal actors, period. We can consider Hiroyuki like the Matt Damon of Japan. He seems to show up in so much that you don't necessarily expect him to be in.
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:41:07 +0000 UTCI'm terrible at remembering names in movies I've only seen once (and years ago), so I'll probably recognize her as soon as I see her, but now I have that connection to this! Can't wait.
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:38:52 +0000 UTCWait, you lived in Japan for 10 years?! I'm jealous haha. I want to go there so badly one day.
kaiielle
2024-09-18 21:38:16 +0000 UTCI think this movie should get more credit, it takes a turn on a more violent end on the side of X-men/Logan which as fans we had been wanting, sure they didn't show the true blood or R rated stuff but it was there. I've always wanted a younger Logan where he's more wild just to see whom he really was and what he could really do if no one calm him down. I loved the whole background of Japan and the storyline, would love to see more of it, I also wish to visit Japan some day. Overall I enjoy this movie fun times with great characters. Side note on Amazon Prime there is six episode show called James May our man in Japan who tours Japan from top to bottom but he doesnt do the normal tourist stuff its interesting to see non tourist things. its a good watch if you ever get the time
Chris Elkins
2024-09-09 14:38:41 +0000 UTCThere are already two comments here to this effect, and I know it's sometimes a pain to track down alternate versions of a film, but I just want to reiterate that I believe X-Men fans widely consider The Rogue Cut to be *the* cut of Days of Future Past. Might be worth doing a poll here to see if people would prefer you react to that version than the theatrical version. (FWIW, I am not one of those with any opinion; I only saw DofP in theaters, although I did order the Blu-ray of The Rogue Cut to watch with Cassie.) As someone who is largely indifferent to the X-Movies, The Wolverine is one of the ones I really like. Not sure why, although I suppose I appreciate giving Jackman the spotlight (and in a better movie than Origins). The Japanese setting is fun, and for the most part I think it's very well-made, balancing a slightly more serious tone and more complex drama with the superhero action stuff. The one big whiff for me (and others, based on the comment section) is the third act. This time through, I think the ideal solution would be to 1) come up with a more interestingly-designed compound, perhaps with a Japanese flavor to it -- so much of the movie makes use of the movie's foreign locale, but the lab looks like a very generic science lab -- and 2) make the adamantium samurai suit more person-sized. While it may seem less spectacular, I think it would also do a better job of keeping with the movie's more grounded atmosphere instead of getting a little silly. Director James Mangold has had one of the more unusual filmmaking careers out there. He burst onto the scene with the great dramatic thriller Cop Land, about small-town corruption. Next, he did a traditional drama with no genre trappings in the form of Oscar-winner Girl, Interrupted. He tackled a rom-com with Kate & Leopold, a horror-thriller with Identity, scored big with the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, made a Western with his 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma, and cut loose with the action-rom-comedy Knight and Day. That brings us to The Wolverine, after which he came back for Logan. More recently, he directed another great true-story drama, Ford v Ferrari, and stepped into the world's biggest shoes taking over for Steven Spielberg on the last Indiana Jones movie, Dial of Destiny. Honestly, it's hard to think of a guy who's managed to tackle such a broad range of projects, many of which are very good, while also not being a household name. I always preface these things by reiterating that I don't mention this to sway you (you know how I feel, but I'm not trying to use peer pressure), but it's exciting to hear you might do a samurai poll, since presumably you don't mean whatever American samurai movies there are (not many, and those that exist are not good), but Japanese-language movies.
Tyler Foster
2024-09-08 06:24:30 +0000 UTCThis one falls apart in the third act a bit, but it's a huge improvement over the previous Wolverine movie, and I like it a lot. It's (very loosely) based on the first solo Wolverine comic mini series from the early 80s. If it were staying a little closer to the source material, it would be a lot more grounded, and would have ended after the fight between Logan and Mariko's father. The bits with Viper and the big superhero fight (and the excessive exposition needed to make it all make sense) at the end of the movie were tacked on because I guess that's what they thought a superhero movie needed at the time? One other big deviation from the comic is the fish out of water aspect - in the comics, Logan is a bit of a Nipponophile and had spent decades of his long life living in Japan at this point, and spoke fluent Japanese, knew the culture etc. Also would have happily watched more adventures with this version of Logan and Yukio. I liked their dynamic.
Phalanx
2024-09-08 05:06:53 +0000 UTCBy far, this is in my top 3 of the entire X-Men franchise. While I prefer the Director's Cut, the theatrical version is still epic. The Nagasaki scene is both impressive and painful. Thinking of what he had to endure... the impact of the initial blast, the incredible heat, the slow, severe burning and charring of skin, all while protecting someone else from the blast and burns. Not to mention the radiation burns on top of that. And then the pain of all that reversing in the healing process. And even then, living with the memory of all that pain would send any normal man into a complete breakdown. The guilt and PTSD that Wolverine's going through is shown so perfectly in so many subtle ways. How he says "don't make me do this" when he realizes he has to kill the bear, how he says "sorry Jean" when he wants to attack the hunters... all tiny trauma responses that don't seem to be as important as his dreams/visions but they absolutely are. All these movies later, it's easy to forget what all the man's been through. Some of the worst wars in history, captured at least twice, torture and loss and grief. All of the healing powers he has and his mind is the one thing that needs healing but can't. Definitely not complaining because I love the actor, but why is it any time a film calls for a mysterious Japanese man, they turn to Hiroyuki Sanada? Do what you're good at, I suppose. The whole sequence on top of the train might be a little ridiculous but it's possibly my second favorite action sequence in the film. Yes it's over the top (and realistically getting a bug in your eye or mouth at 300mph doesn't sound fun) but come on, who doesn't love a fight on top of a train? Yukio's such a little badass and she certainly held up her promise of being Logan's bodyguard. She kept him from being killed while he was performing heart surgery on himself and while he healed from the cardiac arrest and shock. Logan growling "The Wolverine" right before killing Shingen will always stand as a highlight of the film for me. He's finally come to terms with the fact that he can't run anymore. He's a fighter, a survivor, and an X-Man. I did enjoy how Logan and Mariko bonded over the course of the film. She didn't want anything to do with him at the start and by the time he comes to rescue her, her heart's aflutter and she's all excited... partially probably because she needed rescuing but it can be for sweet reasons too. Viper is the Ew Factor in the movie, molting like the damned snake she is. *shudders with disgust* That credit scene is such a hype-up. Can't wait for Days of Future Past!
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-09-08 02:31:57 +0000 UTCOh, in case you missed it, the character of Yukio here is the same character from the Deadpool films -- this is just a different interpretation of the character.
William
2024-09-08 01:09:46 +0000 UTCI didn't know there was more than one version. Yes, just went with what was on D+.
kaiielle
2024-09-08 01:09:02 +0000 UTCAhhhh, that was fun. I'm glad you enjoyed this movie...a movie that has beats that may not be done just yet. To say any more would dip your toes into spoiler territory. *winks* You picked a fantastic time along your Marvel journey to arrive at this place and time with The X-Men films. Fortuitous might be a better way to say it. π On a semi-related note, I once lived in Japan for about 10 years, just outside of Sasebo...which is a short hop, skip, and a jump from Nagasaki. It's such a spectacular area! This movie is one of several that brings back some amazing memories for me. I miss it dearly.
William
2024-09-08 01:06:18 +0000 UTCLike you said, this movie is just really good fun, good vibes, good visuals, great acting and natural humour. Love it! With days of future past (Iβm sure youβve been told this before so my apologies if this seems hammered in) but βThe Rogue Cutβ of DOFP is absolutely the superior version of the film, unfortunately itβs not on Disney plus for some reason (it is on prime though, at least in the UK but you gotta pay to rent etc) I understand you go by which version of the movie is most accessible but I would genuinely be willing to fork out like $7 myself just so you can watch that version haha π Anyways, loved this reaction as always, KL!
Sean H
2024-09-07 21:18:05 +0000 UTCI don't know the logistics of finding it in Canada, but I highly recommend watching the Rogue Cut of Days of Future Past.
Andreas Nielsen
2024-09-07 19:57:45 +0000 UTCI assume this is the theatrical version, because I don't think the DC is on D+. If you have a chance to watch the director's cut in the future, there are many little changes, but there's one specific scene that contains the wildest alteration I've ever seen in any unrated version of a PG-13 movie, ever.
Tyler Foster
2024-09-07 19:31:00 +0000 UTCIβm loving this one the more I see it as the years go by. This should be fun!
William
2024-09-07 19:13:25 +0000 UTC
