DVD & Blu-ray review: The Wolverine (E)

James Mangold, DVD (126 mins)

“It is madness,” yells a confused kidnapper, and Wolverine is, but it's much more fun and much less po-faced than 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Logan has gone feral, he’s living in a Yukon cave with his demons and a grizzly bear for company. His alienation is disrupted by Rilu Fukushima’s sword-wielding Yukio, who asks him to come to Tokyo to see her dying employer, Yashida. In 1945, Logan saved Yashida from being incinerated in Nagasaki (this is the deftly handled opening scene of this good-looking actioner) and the elderly Japanese industrialist wants to allegedly thank the clawed mutant.

Once in Japan, the Wolverine is faced with the Yakuza, ninjas, a mutant with a poisonous tongue (Svetlana Khodchenkova), his waning powers (obligatory for any modern-day superhero movie) and, well, chaos. Hugh Jackman is impressive in the main role, delivering his sparse lines with commitment and wit, and Fukushima is a compelling action star.