The Wolverine - Unleashed Extended Edition

Posted by Jeff Labels: , ,

Over the weekend I finally watched, I say that like I have waited months rather than the five days I waited, The Wolverine - Unleashed Extended Edition.
 
The extended edition clocks in at 12 minutes longer (2 hours 18 minutes) than the theatrical edition.
 
The extended edition does not fix some of the problem sequences nor does it attempt to clean up some of the bad action sequences.  When I wrote my review of the of the Theatrical Release I complained about Svetlana Khodchenkova in her role as the Viper and how the decisive battle with the Silver Samurai was not so good.   This edition probably cannot address those areas regardless of how much I would have liked to see them.
 
Building upon what The Wolverine has done well is what the extended edition is all about.  It is the usual Motis Operandi for these extended edition Sci-Fi movies to simply extend the battle sequence, which does occur here - twice, but the core of this extended edition is improving the interaction between Logan and both Yukio and Mariko.   Many of these additions are a line, a look, a fleshing out of the feelings between these three characters.  It's unfortunate that most of these little things aren't in the Theatrical Release as it improves the film.
 
This being Sci-Fi and an extended release there are of course more action sequences.
At the "Love Hotel" there is an entire fight scene that is added.  I honestly preferred the theatrical release version, sort of.   While I liked the fight sequence and I thought it was well done it really didn't fit the pacing of the film at this point.   It felt disjointed.  
When Logan travels to the ancestral home of the Yasida family there is a extended fight sequence, I honestly could have done without the Snow-blower Ninja combination (you have all seen Fargo, think about it) as it looked too unfinished.   Yet the rest of the fight scene is pretty well done, and is included in the trailers for the film.
 
If you liked The Wolverine than you will like the Extended Edition.   If you were uninspired than this probably isn't your cup of tea either.  
 
My big complaint about the Extended Edition is in the final moments you can clearly see the setup for a huge nod to the comic book fans, that doesn't happen.   Its disappointing.
 
 
PS Edited on April 30, 2014 during reposting.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - First Trailer

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - First Trailer

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Our first look at The Amazing Spider-Man 2.