Twentieth Century Fox has released new footage from The Wolverine, depicting the titular hero throwing down against a train car full of thugs.
The Wolverine is an upcoming film based on the hyper-popular Marvel Comics’ antihero of the same name. It focuses on the years Logan/James Howlett/Weapon X/Wolverine/Patch spent in Japan, and as such it pits our gruff hero against all sorts of Japanese criminals. Well actually, it’s mostly just the Yakuza, but as far as nameless mooks in dark suits, the Yakuza does pretty well for itself. The same can’t be said for those who decide to attack Wolverine on a commuter train, but that’s not the weird part of this video.
Okay, let’s back up one moment and examine the situation here. You’ve got a gang of Japanese thugs, all armed with at least knives, and with no compunctions about stabbing people – particularly gaijin mutants. In the opposite corner we’ve got a centuries-old superhuman with retractable, unbreakable claws and a healing factor that makes him nigh-invulnerable. Point being: Every other object in that train has a sharp, cutting edge, yet the only things being slashed apart are pointless bits of scenery.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the reasoning behind this move. If Wolverine went into a canonically-appropriate Berserker Rage and slashed those dudes into julienne chunks (complete with Kurosawa-style arterial spray) the ratings board people would have a coronary. This is a $100 million film, and the executives at Fox are smart enough to realize that a comic book film of that scope needs a PG-13 rating to ensure its profitability. Could a hyper-gory Wolverine flick make good money? It might, but the odds of a PG-13 film doing the same are much, much higher.
Thus, we’ve got a film whose main character has been seemingly stripped of his trademark tendency to cut dudes in half in the name of capitalism. Disappointing. Here’s hoping the inevitable director’s cut is an orgy of blood.
Source: YouTube
