With a change in setting, Wolverine fights off baddies in Japan with his usual flair, but there’s a twist: Wolverine is no longer invincible.  This trait adds more depth to the character of Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman.

At the beginning of the movie, Wolverine finds himself in Canada, swearing to never harm others again.  However, he soon runs into trouble.  Yukio (Rila Fukushima) takes Wolverine into Japan to visit a man who Wolverine saved from the atomic bomb at Nagasaki. This man offers Wolverine a chance to rid himself of his regenerative healing powers.  Things don’t go exactly as planned, and Wolverine must protect Mariko (Tao Okamato), the granddaughter of the Nagasaki survivor and leader of a powerful Japanese corporation, from the Yakuza and other enemies.

The film is filled with breathtaking action sequences and stunts but never overwhelms the audience with an excessive amount of action.  Instead, the film focuses on the soul of the hero rather than his physical attributes. Now that Wolverine lost his powers, the audience finds it easier to relate to his character as they watch him explore the deep feelings of sorrow and uselessness.

The film’s opening weekend in the USA grossed more than 53 million dollars, below the first X-Men movie, and far behind the highest grossing of the series, X-Men: The Last Stand, which stands at 102 million dollars. In fact, the opening weekend for this movie was the least for any X-Men installment.

Jackman has portrayed the character of Wolverine since the first X-Men movie in 2000, and has perfected the funniest of lines while embodying the grit and spirit of the character.  However, what is disappointing is that there had to be notable consequences for Wolverine, such as the loss of his mutant healing ability, to further his character development.  In the end, the most powerful force is not Wolverine’s mutant abilities, but his will to fight for what he believes in.