Review of Logan (2017) by Dana F — 09 Jul 2017

After 17 years and 8 films, it's appropriate that Wolverine's last foray into the cinematic world is his most mature. This is NOT your average X-Men movie. Brutal, bloody, and honest, it's an R-rated film that deserves its rating.

Look out, Wolverine is finally allowed to use those claws to their full extent, and use them he does... in spectacularly violent fashion. This is perhaps the first comic-book movie that is grounded more in raw emotion and reality than in fun escapism, and I have to say, it's all the better for it.

It's the grown/thinking-person's superhero movie, and the tone is somber and atmospheric instead of light and colorful. It's by far the darkest, most serious, and most grim of any "X" movie, it doesn't even belong in the same genre.

Though it's the third solo outing for Wolverine, the film definitely stands on its own - it's heads and tails the most personal and unquestionably the best of the three. Hugh Jackman is outstanding, the story allows for him to tap into the character's humanity and psychological pain in a way that he was never able to before.

Dafne Keen, who plays the little girl, is also wonderful in the part, though I question the choice of her casting just because she looks so eerily similar to Evan Peters, who plays Quicksilver in the previous two X-installments.

I just couldn't get past it! (Google them, I assure you, the similarity is totally freaky). The film is a little too long but is mostly well-paced so you don't feel the length of it. Writer/Director James Mangold's filmography may as well be titled "Hit and Miss", but this film is decidedly a hit, maybe his best ever.

It's a fundamentally human story (albeit, a little too familiar) that is told with care and respect for the character and all he has been through, and I really appreciated that. After all this time, Wolverine has finally gotten the movie he deserves, and I'm so glad he was able to go out on top.