In many ways, The Wolverine is much like every other superhero movie we’ve seen. It features a super powered hero, super powered villains, lots of CGI window dressing, and a decades-old backstory so complex I’m required to do hours of research just to understand why this character matters and how that thing does what it does. I shouldn’t complain though. After all, The Wolverine is a superhero movie, and all of that is what makes the genre, right?
On the other hand (claw?), The Wolverine is different than its generic comrades. To begin, it’s a a much quieter movie. There are few explosions, real-world politics aren’t bandied about with the nuance of a wrecking ball, and whole civilizations aren’t threatened. The Wolverine is a more personal story, Logan’s, and not a story about the fate of humanity. It is focused on him, his grief over killing the woman he loved at the end of X3: The Last Stand, and his uneasy relationship with his own near immortality. For those things, I commend it.
Of course, Logan isn’t the only person in this movie. The other characters and their relationships to each other and to Logan are complex. This story is set in Japan, and Logan’s roughness clashes with the culture’s refinement. I wish this movie was longer (and better paced) so that Logan would have had time to truly integrate into Japanese society in a way that was obviously life-changing. Here, he barely learns how to correctly use chopsticks. Were this film longer or, rather, better paced, the film could have also spent more time exploring and explaining the complicated family drama driving the plot forward.
That family drama is really the heart of this film. While it does include a couple of rousing action sequences – the bullet train sequence is one of 2013’s best action scenes – The Wolverine is chiefly a mystery. Like a film noir detective, Logan finds himself embroiled in a family’s infighting. His self-healing ability is coveted by the family’s dying patriarch, and Logan finds himself falling in love with the patriarch’s granddaughter.
When all that’s hidden is finally revealed, it’s apparent that all the problems are the result of one man’s fear of death. Rather than life the lifespan appointed to him and pass on his legacy to the next generation, Yashida clings foolishly to life and threatens to take anyone else’s life he needs to take to ensure he stays alive. He could have a legacy. He’s well respected by his family. Instead, he wants immortality, and he’ll sacrifice his legacy to get it.
Logan, on the other hand (again, claw?) wants death. He has been granted an impossibly long life and burdened with the accumulated heartache of that impossibly long life, and he wants escape. His healing ability doesn’t extend to his heart, it seems, and his heart won’t stop hurting. He is visited in dreams by the woman he loves, and death promises to restore him to her. Yashida sees only this life. Logan sees beyond it and welcomes what is to come.
Too often, we’re too much like Yashida – terrified of death and willing to do terrible things to avoid it. We should be more like Logan, because we too have been given a vision of what’s on the other side. Death isn’t the end for us. Whatever the mechanics of how it is accomplished, Christ promises to reunite us with our loved ones on the other side of death in the great resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
So, ought we to seek death then? If we believe that there is great good on the other side of it, should we live life recklessly? Should we climb on top of speeding bullet trains and jump around for instance? No. We ought not seek death either. God has given us this life, and we ought to live it to its fullest. Who knows what God has planned for each of us, what good we might do while we’re here on this side of death?
That’s the tension of the Christian life. It’s what Paul was wrestling with when he wrote, “For me, living serves Christ and dying is even better. If I continue to live in this world, I get results from my work. But I don’t know what I prefer. I’m torn between the two because I want to leave this life and be with Christ, which is far better. However, it’s more important for me to stay in this world for your sake” (Philippians 1:21-24). Logan learns something similar by the end of the movie. He wants to die and be with Jean, but he knows he ought to stay alive and protect and save others.
Maybe one day Logan will find the peace he wants. He might as long as they don’t keep needing to bring him back for sequels. One day, I do believe we’ll find the peace we need, and the sequel to this life will be even better than the original.
Key Scenes
Clip 1
Clip 2
Discussion Questions
Adults
Watch Clip 1, and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
1) Do you fear death? Why or why not?
2) What will you leave behind when you die?
3) How much control do we have over death?
Watch Clip 2, and read Philippians 1:21-24.
1) What gives your life meaning?
2) Why should we cling to life?
3) Logan calls himself a soldier, and so he must stop hiding and live life. What is your role?
Families
Watch Clip 1, and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
1) Is death the end?
2) When all of us are dead, how will our family live on?
3) What do we hope our family’s legacy will be?
Watch Clip 2, and read Philippians 1:21-24.
1) What gives life meaning?
2) Why should we cling to life?
3) Logan calls himself a soldier, and so he must stop hiding and live life. Are we hiding in any ways?
Students
Watch Clip 1, and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
1) Do you fear death? Why or why not?
2) Are you leaving a legacy?
3) How can a life that ends still have meaning?
Watch Clip 2, and read Philippians 1:21-24.
1) What gives your life meaning?
2) Why should we cling to life?
3) Logan calls himself a soldier, and so he must stop hiding and live life. What is your role?
Children
Watch Clip 1, and read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.
1) Is death scary?
2) Has anyone you have known died? How did that make you feel?
3) When does the Bible say you will see people who have died again?
Watch Clip 2, and read Philippians 1:21-24.
1) What do you think life after death looks like?
2) If we get to be with Jesus when we die, why do we want to stay alive?
3) Logan calls himself a soldier. Paul is a minister. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Related Scripture
Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died[d] so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose, so we also believe that God will bring with him those who have died in Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)
Because for me, living serves Christ and dying is even better. If I continue to live in this world, I get results from my work. But I don’t know what I prefer. I’m torn between the two because I want to leave this life and be with Christ, which is far better. However, it’s more important for me to stay in this world for your sake.
(Philippians 1:21-24)
Related Resources
Immortal Questions Raised By The Wolverine
