2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (the first solo Wolverine film) left a bitter taste in the mouth of both the critics and fans alike. This summer Hugh Jackman returns with Director James Mangold for another go as the mutton-chopped mutant with attitude in The Wolverine.

Loosely based on the 1982 mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, The Wolverine provides a more existential look at the character. The film opens in a Nagasaki prison camp during WWII, with an atom bomb about to be dropped. Logan (who is doing time as a POW) saves the life of a young soldier named Yashida. After the blast, the soldier witnesses Wolverine’s uncanny ability to regenerate.

Many years pass and Logan wanders the Yukon, a tortured recluse haunted by the death of Jean Grey. Enter Yukio (Rila Fukushima) a sassy little minx tasked with finding Logan and convincing him to return with her to Japan. Logan meets Yashida again, who offers to transfer Logan's healing/immortality to himself, thus saving his own life and allowing Logan to be mortal (Logan views his immortality as a curse). We also meet Yashida’s granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto) who stands to inherit his considerable empire. Logan denies Yashida’s request and before you know it, the old man passes on. Later an assassination attempt leads to Logan playing bodyguard for Mariko as they go into a hiding from the deadly Yakuza.