He added "There’s echo tunnel drumming that takes place in there, but often times it’s processed, and different effects are put on it; so it’s nothing really traditionally Japanese as part of the score.

Beltrami cleverly runs counter to expectations in another way as well, acknowledging the film's samurai themes with some Japanese flute passages and taiko drum sounds, but keeping them largely in the background.

With the filmmakers backing an ambitious score for large orchestra by a composer who appears to be hitting his creative peak, this is a worthwhile pick for film music fans in general, as well as those brought to it by the brooding Wolverine himself.

"[5] Chris McNeany of AV Forums called it as "a fine amalgamation of moody ethnic-laced suspense, pulse-pounding excitement and an ambient sense of melancholic romance and mystery that is suitably strung with quivering apprehension".

[6] Filmtracks.com gave a mixed review saying "Beltrami fails to really adopt any kind of superior narrative approach, forcing ambient brutality upon us rather than continued growth for the character.

"[9] James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "Beltrami establishes an incredibly dark tone – huge parts of the score consist of oppressive percussion (including mighty Japanese drums, reflective of the film’s setting) with brass stings and murky string runs around them.

A couple of the action cues are more vintage Beltrami and these are fantastic but far too much of the album consists of monotone brooding drone for it to work for me as a piece of entertainment.

"[10] Peter Debruge of Variety called it as "sensational cross-cultural score",[11] while Screen Rant-based critic Sandy Schaefer wrote that parts of the music recall Ennio Morricone's music for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), "which helps to hammer that idea home and strengthen the film's East-meets-West subtext in the process.