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Well, That Didn't Make Much Sense The Wolverine (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS As a comic book fan, and an X-Men fan in particular, I didn't loathe The Wolverine (126 minutes). However, as an intelligent human being capable of logic and critical analysis with an attention span of more than five minutes, I didn't particularly love it either. Wolverine gets off to a great start, with an opener set in a Japanese POW camp near Nagasaki. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is isolated in a locked well when Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi), a Japanese soldier, begins freeing POWs. He frees Wolverine (note the bone claws, indicating this is before the adamantium was bonded to his skeleton), and then prepares to commit ritual suicide. He hesitates just long enough for Wolverine to grab him and get him down inside the well. Then, Wolverine takes an atomic blast to the face while shielding his new Japanese buddy with a large metal cover. Apparently, heat intense enough to burn the skin from Wolverine's body is not enough to damage Yashida beyond repair, because in a movie, staying in a well while underneath a metal cover is not only enough to save you from an atom bomb, it also prevents major injury from extreme heat. This sequence leads into Wolverine waking up from nightmares involving Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who he killed in the climax of X-Men: Last Stand. Might I just say that someone did a fabulous job of youthening Janssen? Her skin looked positively luminous. Anyway, Wolverine is racked with guilt and in serious need of some mood stabilizers. Following her death, he retreated to the Alaskan wilderness. You know he is depressed because he has a long, unkempt mountain man beard and straggly hair. When he finally does make it into a nearby town to commune with his fellow man he is waylaid by a woman named Yukio (Rila Fukushima). She has tracked him down in order to give him a samurai sword and take him to the deathbed of Yashida. Once in Japan, the story slows down considerably and makes less and less sense. He meets Yashida's son Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada) and granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okomoto). After that, it's all car chases, improbable fight scenes taking place on bullet trains and kissy-kissy. In my opinion, there was a little too much of the kissykissy and the fight scenes were a little too improbable. Not to mention the soap-opera style melodrama of arranged marriages, lost loves, family honor and plot holes regarding which mutant gets what power. Example: Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) is stabbed, but her ability to shed her skin like a snake heals her stab wound? Last but not least, the Wolverine goes to Japan storyline was interesting as it played out over a whole bunch of comics. However, it was too much to take place in a single movie. Much like condensing the Dark Phoenix saga (which took place over roughly 50 comics and several series) to a two-hour movie, condensing the Japan arc into a movie reduced the subtlety of the story. Finally, there is a pretty exciting mid-credits teaser that you need to see. In it, Wolverine is stopped at airline security by Magneto (Ian McKellan), which leads into a visit from Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart). The best part? Apparently, X-Men: Days of Future Past will blend together the actors from the first X-Men movie trilogy with actors from X-Men: First Class — tying together loose ends, and, rumor has it, eliminating most of the X-Men: Last Stand continuity from the film franchise. If Bryan Singer manages to pull that off, I might forgive him for making Last Stand in the first place. Now showing at Wynnsong HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandMarket Fair 15. comingweekly.com. R First Mo n Rent FR th's Mention p EE! romo cod e NA001 to this o ffer. *restr icti redeem MILITARY ons may apply DISCOU AVAILABL NTS E! 1939 Skibo Road Fayetteville, NC 28314 3520 Bragg Boulevard Fayetteville, NC 28303 910-864-1151 910-867-1314 526 McArthur Road Fayetteville, NC 28311 1057 Rim Road Fayetteville, NC 28314 910-488-6250 910-860-0040 IN THE MORNING Weekdays 5:30AM to 10:00AM WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM AUGUST 21-27, 2013 UCW 21