James Mangold knows his shit. And he wants you to look at it. He wants you look at his shit. He’s got references in every color!
Earlier this year, the “Walk the Line” and “Knight and Day” director took to Twitter to help educate his followers, many of whom were watching his feed in anticipation of comic book revelations. Could Mangold (“3:10 to Yuma”), a man of many genres who lacked “geek cred,” do justice to the X-Men’s most famous character? His way of giving people hope was the opposite of what anyone would have expected. There was no pandering to the source material. Instead, Mangold brought his film knowledge to the table, spelling out ten films — some widely classics, some deeper cuts — that informed or inspired “The Wolverine.”
It’s a ballsy move, one that promised a different kind of superhero movie. Many directors cite influences that disappear after going through the filtration process of big, studio filmmaking. Surprisingly, this isn’t the case for “The Wolverine,” that actually manages to wear its influences on its sleeve. On FILM.COM, we take a look at *how* the masters of the past seeped into one of the summer’s best blockbusters.
I can never understate how important this is. If you want to make films, if you want to write films, you have to watch films.
Also, is Mangold a Bond name or what?
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