Logan Review

2017 is probably the year where I took watching the movies seriously. It’s the first year where I took classes on film studies and was exposed to multiple domestic and international movies from the decades. As well as multiple bangers that were coming out that made me love movies especially more. When this one was coming out, I was hyped since it was billed as Hugh Jackman’s final role as the Wolverine. I think it’s one thing where you go in hyped and then leave the theater just stunned with what you watched. This is one of my favorite films of the past decade. 

1. Old Man Logan

        I can imagine that some die-hard comic book fans were disappointed that the film isn’t a literal adaptation of the storyline “Old Man Logan”. Mostly about the Wolverine in a dystopic future where villains reign supreme and how he’s responsible for the murder of the X-Men. The film is literally an adaptation by name only. Albeit, the film does have that doom and gloom to it but I’ll elaborate on that in a moment. I also thought it was unique to name the movie Logan, like how Warner Bros. titled The Dark Knight as a sequel to Batman Begins. 

        I think the film’s vibe overall is very apropos of the time and now considering just what the main plot is all about. With all that, the film takes place in the not too distant future where Logan is now a hired limo driver. From the very beginning we see him at his lowest where he seems very weather beaten, to the point where the title of the film pops up just as our hero is on top of the dirt getting beaten up by some gangsters. 

        It's revealed that he’s not as strong as he used to be as the adamantium skeleton inside him is toxic. To the point where he’s not as regenerative as he used to be. Compounding it is that there’s very little mutants left as he resides with another and Professor Xavier. I like how we see how Logan is the caregiver to Xavier but just how literally low they’ve gotten. I love the moment where we see Logan is restless in his bed as he feels the misery of wanting a quick death. 

        While I’ll talk about the breakout star in the film in a bit, the ensemble is chased by the Reavers. Humans with mechanical augmentations as they want to find a mysterious girl they want back. So yeah, this is a very different comic book with how it’s shot and the overall story. At it’s core, despite being a comic book film, it has elements that evoke Neo-Westerns with the setting and how the action is utilized. There are no gun fights but hack and slash action where it’s all grounded and we can feel the violence being etched out. 

        Of course I may be biased, but I think that this is one of Hugh Jackman’s best role when portraying Wolverine. At the time, he’s been doing it for 17 years and has been the face for the X-Men films that came out preceding this one. So when word was released that this was the last one at the time, he really went all out by portraying a jaded and dying version of beloved hero. Just the performance where he’s a reluctant protagonist and then becoming a hero is interesting where he’s been the outlier in the film’s he’s been in. 

        Anytime that he’s involved with regular people, trouble usually comes around. The best moment in the film I think is when he, Xavier and the girl are having dinner with a family of farmers. It’s the only moment where we have some calmness and where we see Logan and Xavier at peace for only a little while. It makes Wolverine a tragic character where regular people are caught in Logan’s mess. Just seeing the Professor spilling his heart out to “Logan” where he gets killed was shocking to me since he thought that the copy was the real one. 

2. Laura

        It’s tough to create a new character in the comic book sphere. More so any new character is going to be either beloved or reviled could make any appearance in more books and then other medium so tough. Laura/X-23 is unique since she debuted in an animated show back in the 2000s. Then to be properly introduced in the Marvel Universe in one of the X-Men books. The next logical step is to have her be in a movie, but it’s one of the film’s best asset to have her be in this one. 

        Played by Dafne Keen, Laura is as I stated earlier a breakout star in the film. At first we don’t know much about her, but she’s seemingly innocent when Logan first sees her nurse at a hotel. She’s the driving force for the whole plot where the Reavers want her back to kickstart their weapons initiative. With how she is at first, you would think that she’s out of control violent. I like that she can be unassuming at first to let people’s guard down. 

        When she rolled out of the foundry with a Reaver’s head is when she is just like her father. She has claws like Logan but is easily flexible and I love how she can hold her own when we see the fight scenes. I think it was intentional to have a little girl that looks somewhat like Hugh Jackman. Like, she could sell being his actual daughter and it makes the relationship more interesting where in the movie Logan wants nothing to do with her. 

        She’s mostly silent as Xavier talks to her when the group is on the movie. It’s established that the Professor and Laura are talking telepathically and it unintentionally feeds the animosity that Logan has for her. To the point where he sees the comic books that she’s collected as nothing more than a fantasy. Like it’s there for her to have something since she didn’t have a regular childhood. I just love how we see just how wild she is as she attacks a gas station clerk and nearly tearing apart a kiddie ride. 

3. James Mangold

        For the longest time, I had no idea which film of his that I wanted to talk about. He’s becoming one of my favorite directors that hasn’t missed. He’s mostly known for films that have that Baby Boomer quality, where his films are called Dad flicks. Mostly bio-films that are broadly liked by any stretch. My first film that I watched of his was the Tom Cruise film Knight and Day. I could not tell you what it was all about but it did have Cameron Diaz but the whole thing is a blur that I wouldn’t want to revisit. And this wasn’t the first Wolverine film that he helmed. 

        Back in 2013 he directed The Wolverine, a sequel to the main X-Men films and the character’s second solo film. It was a massive improvement over Logan’s prior solo film. With the huge critical improvement and box office success, 20th Century Fox ultimately gave him the keys to do whatever he wanted for the obligatory third film. With the title announcement and the rating the film got, the boost in hype where for awhile we only seen a tame version of the character where he could go all out. 

        It’s clear that the film took it’s inspiration with the classic Western film Shane. To the point where the film is directly acknowledged when Laura and Xavier are watching it in their resort room. As I mentioned earlier about the film’s action, the overall look has that grounded look to it. There’s very little fantastical elements due to the source material, but it has that distinct look to it where it’s referencing the past Westerns and Neo-Westerns. The grit is the visual selling point where we see desert environment and the forest vistas make the film unique. 

        Lastly, this is the type of R-rated film where it’s mature and not explicit. The difference between the two is that this isn’t the film that has buckets of blood spilled with each limb that’s cut off. The film is mature for the sake of the story where we follow this hero who’s dying that tries to be heroic despite not being 100 percent. It’s a brutal film where nothing is hold back to the point that I was naïve to think that Logan would survive the whole film. To me, with subsequent rewatches that there’s an motif at play for him. 

        I’m not saying that this film is religious, but it has elements where we see Logan as this Jesus-esque character as he’s the last mutant. Additionally, the motif is apparent when we see Logan ruffling through Laura’s comic books. Containing a coordinate to where Laura has to go to find salvation from the Reavers. And lastly where Logan goes down swinging as he’s impaled on a tree. I think it’s Mangold’s way to show how Logan is a flawed hero but one where he had to go through his journey of guilt to find redemption as the Wolverine. 

4. Overall

        Logan is one of the best comic book films and one of the best films of the last decade.