Logan
5 Stars Reviewed by Naomi
Directed by: James Mangold Written by: James Mangold, Michael Green, Scott Frank Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen
Official Synopsis: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.
For most of my life, I have had two great loves; The Batman and The Wolverine. It comes from weekday afternoons in front of the TV watching these two larger than life characters kick ass and take names while being dark, broody and angry. There have been many Batmans’ close to my heart, but Hugh Jackman is Wolverine.
Superheroes aren’t new. Whether it’s Arthur, Beowulf or Hercules, we have had tales about man as myth and legend since the first humans used their imaginations to tell stories. But, there is just something about Wolverine. Whether it’s his willingness to use deadly force, the adamantium forcibly fused onto his bones or his status as the ultimate anti-hero, Wolverine is one of the most popular comic book heroes of all time.
With Logan, Wolverine is now cemented as one of the best cinematic heroes of all time.
Comic book adaptations aren’t new. Whether it’s Adam West’s Batman, Christopher Reeves’ Superman or the cartoons of our childhoods, we have all grown up with comic book characters in one form or another. I walked into Logan aware that I was not getting the average comic book movie. You can tell from the trailers that you’re not getting The Avengers or even another installment of X-Men, but something new. Even that knowledge did not prepare me for the experience that is Wolverine’s last stand.
The Wolverine is retired. He’s old. Logan is limo driver with a drinking problem and a secret. He is hiding the most dangerous mind in the universe and that mind is slipping into dementia. Logan has one goal, raise enough money, take a boat and sail out the rest of his days with his old friend, away from the world and its troubles. When a stranger with a little girl in possession of his anger and adamantium claws approaches and calls him by a name he long buried, Logan is once again pulled into the duty of saving a young mutant life.
Logan is a risk. It is the first time that the ‘genre’ has broken out of the mold. Super Hero movies are usually a story about a galaxy, world, continent or nation in trouble and a hero, or a group of heroes must save the day. Logan is not about that. Like, at all. It’s a modern-day western in the likes of Shane or Unforgiven where a man is on the run from his nature and faced with his greatest fear and the past he’s been trying to avoid.
The film does this character justice, by examining this man that we have all been obsessed with for decades. What is Logan afraid of? What has he never had? What does Logan need?
These questions are heavy, but for a man who has watched people and a species die around him, it’s a burden heavier than those of normal mortals.
The director, James Mangold, dares to answer these questions. But, also the question that I myself wondered...who could possibly be Wolverine’s final villain? He’s faced Mageneto, Stryker, Sabertooth and the dark Pheonix. What could possibly threaten Wolverine at this point? Time, old age and his own body.
For someone who has loved Wolverine since elementary school, old man Logan is heartbreaking. Watching him be slower, weaker and not on his game was like a punch in the gut. He’s softer and out of practice because he’s taken off his suit and put the X-Men behind him. But, he is still Wolverine. The action sequences are fast paced, well executed and bloody. Hello, R-rating.
R ratings are interesting. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Deadpool, but I appreciate how it’s rating helped the creatives bring to live an authentic Deadpool. Well, Logan’s R-rating brings to life the Wolverine he’s always been, but so much more. Rated R means it’s not a kids film. It gave the filmmakers greater creative license to give Logan and Professor X the time they need to tell this last story. They can sit in conversation about the past, present, and future without having to resort to gimmicks. It gives the story time to unravel and the tension the correct time to build.
Which is important. Because, by the time you meet Laura, or Lil Wolverine as I call her, you are already emotionally compromised. Dafne Keen, the young actress who plays Laura, is a miracle. It’s amazing how Hollywood finds these kids who can sit in a scene with Patrick Freaking Stewart and hold their own. Dafne is a magnet that you can’t take your eyes off of. She fights viciously and to win and yet she’s still a little girl.
There are so many questions and drama and emotion in this film. Logan takes the mold that is the action film or the super hero film and decimates it in true Wolverine fashion. A film can be action and it can be drama and it can have a comic book character as a star. There’s no reason to separate it.
Logan is a call to arms for the Marvel and DC cinematic Universes. Similar to the change in quality that was brought with The Dark Knight, we have a new style in town and it will be interesting to see how future films run with the new found freedom given to them by Wolverine’s last hurrah.
Logan is funny. It’s smart. It’s action packed. It’s heartfelt. It will absolutely kill you and then bring you back to life. It is the Wolverine film I have been waiting two decades for and didn’t even know it.
I highly recommend it. A must see.