Wolverine's second solo movie was so much better than the first, director James Mangold opting to tell a more self-contained standalone story that drew its inspiration from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's iconic 1982 limited series. However, the third act climax devolves into generic effects-heavy blockbuster territory, with the decision to turn the Silver Samurai into a hulking adamantium exoskeleton definitely a head-scratcher. The classic Silver Samurai armor is briefly glimpsed during the movie's funeral scene, but that appears to be fan service more than anything else. In the comics, two characters have taken on the mantle of the Silver Samurai since his first appearance in 1974, and both of them appear in The Wolverine. However, Kenuichiro Harada (the original) is depicted as the leader of the Black Ninja Clan while Shingen Yashida is portrayed as a one-dimensional evil businessman with daddy issues. While having the 67 year-old Hal Yamanouchi playing an ass-kicking armored samurai would be stretching the limits of credibility even for a comic book movie, the character would have still fit nicely into the movie's overall plot if it were Hiroyuki Sanada's Shingen inside the armor. Instead of lightning-fast, expertly choreographed hand-to-hand combat audiences were instead given an over-abundance of CGI and a tired and formulaic climactic showdown.
I don't do social media, so like or follow me in person but please maintain a safe distance or the authorities will be notified. Don't snap me though, I'll probably break. I was once labelled a misogynist on this very site in a twenty paragraph-long rant for daring to speak ill of the Twilight franchise. I stand by what I said, it's crap.
