Geekscape Review: The Wolverine Unleashed

The Wolverine premiered in July 2013 to solid reviews and a strong box office, and just in time for the holidays, is being released to blu-ray (Dec. 3rd) and digital HD (available now). The DVD contains an unrated, director’s cut version of the film that is being referred to as The Wolverine Unleashed.

The extended version does away with the PG13 rating (and the pesky MPAA regulations that go along with it), adding some more gore, some f-bombs (for a total of three) and a subtle darkening of the Wolverine’s character. As the Wolverine has always been one of Marvel’s darker characters this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The film’s plot remains mostly unchanged from the cinematic release, which is a new take on the story line from the 1982 limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. The blu-ray will ship out with an alternate ending (maybe we’ll actually see Wolverine in his trademark blue & gold?), a documentary film titled Path of the Ronin, a set tour and an audio commentary in edition to the extended cut of the film.

The Wolverine breaks the Marvel/Comic-book hero/tent-pole movie mold by not being about saving the world, or the universe, or even the galaxy. At its heart, the film is about discovering ones self and one’s place in the world–offset by scenes of heart-pumping, metal-clashing, arrow-flying and knife-throwing action. While some leaps in relationships and motivations are somewhat….convenient, The Wolverine offers up a conflicted hero, strong women not needing to be rescued (at least not all the time) and a satisfyingly heroic story. The ending is still somewhat problematic (though the extended version offers up some much more thrilling fight sequences in the end that should leave Wolverine fans cheering) but since Mangold and Jackman are both in talks for a sequel, hopefully that will be resolved in the next edition.

The Wolverine is available on Digital HD now from the official website, and will be out on Blu-ray on December 3rd. It stars Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine, Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida, Rila Fukushima as Yukio and Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen Yashida, and was directed by James Mangold.

Geeskscape Score: 4/5