Review of Logan (2017) by Patrick L — 03 May 2017

"Logan is a dire, bleak and more engrossing "X-Men" story than any of the previous entries. It makes it's mark as one of the first great films of 2017.".

Movie Review: Logan.

Date Viewed: March 3 2017.

Directed By James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Cop Land, Girl, Interrupted, Knight and Day and The Wolverine).

Screenplay By Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, Story By James Mangold, Based on the graphic novel "Old Man Logan" from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

Pretty much everything in the superhero movie world has been covered, from the origin story to the parents or uncle's death to the love story and to superheroes fighting each other, you would think that everything in the comic book movie checklist will be checked off but wait a minute! What happens when the superhero grows old and his or her powers start to deteriorate quickly. That aspect is very well covered in "Logan", an "X-Men" movie that's more tragic and violent than any of the previous films in the 17-year-old franchise.

When I say that this movie is violent, I mean that literally. It's more hyper-violent and bloody than "Deadpool". Despite the intense violence in the picture, I was still really pleased with "Logan", it is the best superhero film since "The Dark Knight". Hugh Jackman gives it his all in his last outing as Wolverine, it is a gripping and emotionally warped performance and he deserves high praise for creating and old and ailing Logan who's lonely and lives in a sad and mutant-less world. Patrick Stewart also returns in his final outing as Professor X or Charles Xavier whose in his 90s and his powers have become rapidly unstable.

"Logan" is not only the best film of the three "Wolverine" movies, it is also the best "X-Men" film since "Days of Future Past". Set in the year 2029, mutants are all but extinct and no new mutant has been born in 25 years. James "Logan" Howlett (Jackman) formerly known as Wolverine is a retired X-Men who now spends his days driving in a limo as a chauffeur and he hustles for prescription drugs in Texas. Since he is growing old, old age comes with a great burden, his body has aged greatly, his claws aren't popping out properly and his healing powers are weakening by the day.

Sadly, Logan is not the only remaining X-Men who holds weakening powers, Charles Xavier (Stewart) is in his 90s and he's currently living in an abandoned smelting plant across the border in Mexico. Logan and along with mutant tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant) care for Professor Xavier who's suffering from a terrible disease which causes him to lose control of his telepathic powers.

One day, Logan gets approached by a nurse named Gabriella (Elizabeth Rodriguez) who pleads with him to take her and an 11-year-old girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to a safe-haven in North Dakota but he refuses to do so at first. He reluctantly accepts the job but Logan discovers that Gabriella has been murdered so he takes the girl and goes back to his hide-out. Logan also comes across a team of cybernetically-enhanced enforcers called the Reavers and they are led by the cunning and relentless Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook).

Pierce wants to take the girl for scientific purposes but Logan refuses which leads to Pierce and his Reaver enforcers to capture Caliban and Logan, Laura and Professor X to escape. Logan and Xavier are amazing to see that Laura is not only a mutant but she has the same claws and healing powers Wolverine has. Logan and Xavier also find out through a video on Gabriella's phone that Laura is Logan's daughter and she was part of a completed project called X-24. The project was created by Transigen, a secret sibling from the Weapon X program and the company is headed by a surgical madman named Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant).

As they are being pursued by the Weavers and Pierce, Logan does everything he can to protect Laura and the terminally-ill Professor X at all costs as his powers continue to deteriorate. After a terrific action sequence in the Mexican hide-out, "Logan" turns into a dramatic and at times funny road picture with the two veteran mutants discussing about life, family and of course death. Superhero movies are not just about fighting crime or stopping evil or how many things you blow up, they can also be about the characters and their relationships.

The themes of getting old and dying are risky to put in a superhero movie but those themes alone are the reason why we need more comic book movies like "Logan". Hugh Jackman is so great here as the aging Wolverine, he may believe it or not receive some Oscar consideration. Come on people! Don't you think it's finally time for an actor to get an Oscar nomination for playing a superhero? Dafne Keen is excellent in her near-silent role as Laura, the tough and keen young mutant who may lead her own X-Men spin-off series some time in the near future.

We've superhero movies go into dark directions before (Batman has been through that area many times before) but "Logan" is the perfect definition of what a dark superhero movie should be because it's like a gritty, Western tale from the veins of "Unforgiven" and "3:10 to Yuma (2007)" in some fashion, it has a lot of brutal bloody violence and you will probably be sad and moved by the ending.

Thanks to director and co-writer James Mangold who helmed "3:10 to Yuma", the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" and the 2013 "Wolverine" movie and his screenwriters Scott Frank (Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report, The Wolverine) and Michael Green (Green Lantern), they have crafted a dire, bleak and more engrossing "X-Men" story than any of the previous entries.

"Logan" should be taken into consideration as a more adult superhero movie because it pulls no punches with it's R rating and this is not your 12-year-old's "X-Men" movie. Like "Deadpool" which was a completely different superhero film, "Logan" is for older adults and comic book geeks only, this movie is not for children for sure. "Logan" should pave the way for other dramatic comic book movies in the future like Bryan Singer's 2000 "X-Men" film did when it paved the way to a long-running superhero franchise and gave Marvel the keys to start their own batch of superhero movies as well as a cinematic universe.

"Logan" makes it's mark as one of the first great films of 2017.