The Wolverine Why The Wolverine won't Hunt

[OsGom]

I want this movie to work but I have extremely low expectations. The reason being that until this point filmmakers have ignored a characteristic that is at the very core of who Wolverine was and what he became.
IMHO what made Wolverine compelling aside from his amnesiac sense of honor was his battle with his inner beast. The fury that would often over take him and cause him to lose control and endanger those close to him. His desire to redeem himself from the things he had done as a result of indulging his inner beast shaped him becoming the hero he is. It was my understanding, fanboys correct me if I'm wrong, that this inner struggle is why he quested to Japan. He hoped learning the way of the Samurai would allow him to control his rage.
Sure they touched on it in a couple scenes but Fox never really embraced his inner demon. His nightmare induced clawings. His brawl with Stryker’s attacking forces in the mansion. But they simply skimmed the surface and never let the animal loose. Hell! In his origin movie he was the nicest mutant black ops killer there ever was! Other than standing around while his buddies went to town slaughtering a village, which he eventually stopped, there is nothing for which he needs to feel guilty. Without the beast there is no reason he should be ostracized from his own kind. There is no reason to seek solitude or to journey to Japan to save his soul.
Denying this aspect of Wolverine basically waters down the character to the point of being a boy scout with claws and some growling.
Wolverine needs to get real bloody before he can get clean and I don’t see Fox as the studio with the balls to take that risk.

 

[psylockolussus]

Because a R-18 movie won't really sell that much.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

Because a R-18 movie won't really sell that much.

I agree with what psylockolussus said.

 

[OsGom]

I agree with what psylockolussus said.

As a fan I would rather they spend $75mil on a gritty samurai noir thriller that delves into his dark side than a $150mil effects driven piece of family friendly crap. His origins movie has come close to ruining this character in film for me.

That could just be me though.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

Hopefully The Wolverine will be a better movie.

 

[storyteller]

They can demonstrate that he has those issues without needing to show him in pools of blood. Quick cut away, black and white scenes.... there are ways to avoid the R rating but retain the blood. You don't depict Wolverine gutting a guy but have a close up on his face while there are screams.

But yeah so far, Wolverines inner animal seems to only react when people are trying to kill him. He has never been shown to wrestle with it.

 

[OsGom]

They can demonstrate that he has those issues without needing to show him in pools of blood. Quick cut away, black and white scenes.... there are ways to avoid the R rating but retain the blood. You don't depict Wolverine gutting a guy but have a close up on his face while there are screams.

But yeah so far, Wolverines inner animal seems to only react when people are trying to kill him. He has never been shown to wrestle with it.

I agree that there are ways to film this to avoid an R-Rating. However, my point is that Fox has never even bothered with this defining characteristic of Wolverine. Hence the Wolverine we have seen translated to screen, to this point, is a pale, sad comparison.