I'm actually quite surprised by how many CBM'ers liked
The Wolverine.
Now, I'm not that familiar with the "Wolverine in Japan Frank Miller storyline," that the synopsis basically whored out, but I can guaran-damn-tee you it ain't like the comic.
And you know, that's not necessarily a bad thing that it doesn't follow the comic book, but still, overall,
The Wolverine was god awful.
Why? Let's take a look.
I was lost why Logan would give a bleep about even going to Japan in the first place, and when he got there, why he would care about anyone there?
Was he best buddies with Yashida? Heck no. Wolvie was a prisoner of war who saved the guy's life. And that's about it.
So Wolvie is all messed up over Jean Grey, and then Yukio shows up and shows off her sword power. Yawn! Yeah, I get it that it was all set up with the bear, the poison arrow, and the hunters to "get" Wolverine over to Japan, but still, it was a short sale. They didn't sell why Wolvie should go.
Oh, he's a soldier so you have to go.
Ehhh...
And then he gets there and magically falls in love with Mariko - which didn't come through on the big screen AT ALL. You only figured it did if you were familiar with the comics (but the argument online is that if you are a comic fan and didn't like the movie you are a douche - go figure). Also, it was rather funny seeing a 6'2" Jackman towering over the Japanese actors when Wolverine is really supposed to be their height or shorter (bad arse, Napoleon syndrome anyone??).
So Wolverine goes to Japan, and James Mangold conveniently takes away his powers. So why is The Viper there in the first place or even part of the movie? Yeah, Yashida met her here or there, but still: Why is she there? Now, talk about a big time missed opportunity, but they could have hooked that into Mister Sinister (with the genetics or what have you). Basically all it was, was an obsessed old guy who wasted all his money stock piling adamantium so he could steal Logan's healing power. Or was it that Fox needed to put out a Wolverine movie before the rights reverted to Disney? Where's Daredevil?
Silver Samurai was a complete joke and on par with what Shane Black did with the Mandarin.
SS is supposed to be a frickin' mutant who has the power to charge his sword and cut through anything - accept adamantium. The comic storyline saw Wolvie go over to Japan and learn - the frickin' way - the way of the Samurai. Not "put two hands on the sword to form blazing sword" - come on! It was absolutely terrible!
The characters of Noburo, Harada and Shingen were completely unnecessary for the film and did nothing for it, but confuse the audience about who was who. I mean, Wolverine get his healing power back and then guts Mariko's dad? And how about The Viper getting hung and then a big metal object (elevator) hits her in the head? LOL! And that's a good movie?
Fast forward to the end and the "big bad" is an adamantium Robocop. Seriously, folks! And did they explain how Ada-Cop was going to take Wolverine's healing power? Okay. Bore into Wolverine's bone marrow, but does that give Yashida the mutant X-Gene which - you know - is actually the source of the power? So we are supposed to believe that any mutant can have their power transferred to a non-mutant because Yashida's corporation "can do anything?" YAWN!
Story was just overall terribly done and not thought out. Where was Mark Millar? Hopefully he came on board after, because there is no way I would attach my name to this cruddy movie.
And how about the last scene? Obviously Yukio has a crush on Logan. So she sticks by his side as Wolvie tells her to go "up." So now Logan is banging Markio's "play toy?" Wow.
Best part of the movie was the mid-credit scene.
Time for a new Wolverine. My pick: Tom hardy.