Review of Logan (2017) by Mrmoviebuff — 03 Mar 2017

What better way to say "goodbye" to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine than to adapt Mark Millar's "Old Man Logan" comic book into an R-Rated and poignant picture. 'Logan', directed by James Mangold ('Walk the Line' and 'The Wolverine') takes place in the year 2029, and we see an aged Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), beaten and weak from his adamantium poisoning, trying to take care of the usual business.

He is spending his days as a chauffeur and smuggling prescription drugs in Texas, the drugs are for a senile Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart, who actually appears old for once), who apparently is responsible for the death of the X-Men due to a seizure attack one year before.

Logan seems to be followed by a woman named Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez) who informs Logan to take care of a young girl and get her to where she needs to go. This young girl however, is no ordinary child, she seems to inhabit mutant powers as well, similar to that of Logan.

She has blades that can extend from her knuckles. Logan and Charles try to protect her from a man named Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), the leader of the Reavers, who want to take the little girl named "Laura" for some experiment.

The movie then becomes a road-trip of sorts, where we spend most of the time with these characters trying to get away from the bad guys. 'Logan' is a fantastic movie, what makes it even better is that it's not your typical superhero movie where men are wearing colorful spandex, fly around, and try to battle some CGI army in a city where innocent people run away from the danger.

This is a Western, and it doesn't feel like an adaptation where pages from the comic book are ripped out and brought to the big screen. Director James Mangold improves heavily from his last movie 'The Wolverine' (2013) which I enjoyed very much, until the third act, but it was still a solid movie.

He was right to change up the genre, he was right to use "Old Man Logan" as an inspiration for Hugh Jackman's last ever appearance as Wolverine. Even just the title 'Logan' sounds much like a Western movie.

This movie also thrives on the R-Rating... in fact, the very first word spoken is the "F" word, and is said by our title character. The violence here, while very bloody and graphic, feels natural.

Much like 'Deadpool' (2016) before it, the violence, the profanity... they don't feel forced just to get that "R" rating, unlike the movie 'Sausage Party' (2016) which I mildly enjoyed, that movie was trying way too hard to be crude and vulgar at every minute to achieve its restricted rating.

With 'Deadpool' (2016) and 'Logan', none of it is overused, but when a violent incident occurs... prepare yourself because this movie does not hold back on its promise to be rated 'R'. There is no better way to end Hugh Jackman's run as Wolverine, Mangold handles it fantastically well.

Jackman gives this movie one last shot, and he does it with such grace, Stewart has also never been better, but at the same time, it's interesting to see him in this state. Dafnee Keen, who plays the little girl Laura, is also fantastic as the angry and curious child of her own powers.

'Logan' is already one of the best movies in the "X-Men" franchise.