6. Stronger Action
While Gavin Hood's direction was hardly inspired, Origins also suffered from simply not boasting any memorable set-pieces; though the glimpses of Wolverine fighting in World War II at the start of the movie are impressive to watch, they are just that - glimpses. The rest of the film's set-pieces range from laughably absurd - Wolverine flying towards a helicopter and crashing it - to downright infuriating (and you know which scene that is). The Wolverine, meanwhile, benefits from Mangold's sturdy direction, giving solid coverage to the chaos that ensues during the first set-piece, before unleashing absolute insanity as Wolverine battles a gang of goons atop a Tokyo bullet train. Whether he's aiming for grounded or fundamentally insane, Mangold can deliver the action beats steadily, even if it does descend into outright silliness by the time act three rolls around (as will likely prove divisive).