Also, the yarn devolves into blockbuster movie clichés during the extended end battle. Hugh Jackman is the cast standout. Rila Fukushima is sassy as the emissary who coaxes him out of self-imposed exile.

Without going into too much details of the plot, it is well written. It will keep you gripped and at the edge of your seat. There are some cameo appearances towards the end which the fans would enjoy.

It isn’t the best of the mutant series. It’s just a sharp marketing trick aimed to please Jackman fans, and it works just fine.

There’s fine line between familiar and boring, and The Wolverine looks like it’s a franchise that needs someone to stop it from mutating into predictable and dull.

It is better than the truly daft film before it, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but that just means one can tolerably sit — or sleep — through it. There are a couple of strong moments and two very interesting female characters, but on the whole this film, like the protagonist, mostly just grunts.

There are superhero movies with better gags and then there are superhero films with more effects. Eschewing any of those in excess, what this film also offers is soul, pathos and a pretty good look at the multifaceted character that is The Wolverine.

Don’t forget to stay in your seat for an exciting post-credits sequence that sets up next year’s ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ that’ll likely give die-hard fans more of the stuff they expect from an X-Men movie…the stuff that’s missing here.