For seventeen years Hugh Jackman portrayed one of the most beloved comic book characters ever to grace the silver screen in a role that has defined his entire career. The role was the Australian actor’s breakthrough performance in Hollywood and made the extremely versatile actor a household name, but rather than wanting to promptly leave the character behind him as so many actors often do with these kinds of things, Jackman was always happy to return for every X-Men film to try and evolve the character even further. But there was always a time when Jackman would hang up the claws and walk away from the character, which with the arrival of the third and final Wolverine solo film seemed an appropriate time. So, together with director James Mangold, Jackman and co-star Patrick Stewart gave their characters a send-off worthy of their incredible performances in what is, in my opinion, the best X-men film in the entire franchise.
The year is 2029 and no new mutant births have been recorded in twenty-five years. Logan (Hugh Jackman) is slowly being poisoned by the adamantium that is attached to his skeleton, the results of which mean that his capacity to heal has been detrimentally affected, and he has begun to rapidly age and deteriorate.
Living in the dust plains of northern Mexico, Logan cares for a dementia ridden Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) with the aid of Caliban (Stephen Merchant), two of the only remaining mutants still known to be alive.
When Logan is contacted by a nurse, Gabriella Lopez (Elizabeth Rodriguez), to help her transport a young mutant girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), to a safe haven in North Dakota, the group become targets for the Alkali-Transigen corporation who seek to recover Laura as she is a stolen experimental asset for the new Weapon-X program.
The year is 2029 and no new mutant births have been recorded in twenty-five years. Logan (Hugh Jackman) is slowly being poisoned by the adamantium that is attached to his skeleton, the results of which mean that his capacity to heal has been detrimentally affected, and he has begun to rapidly age and deteriorate.
Living in the dust plains of northern Mexico, Logan cares for a dementia ridden Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) with the aid of Caliban (Stephen Merchant), two of the only remaining mutants still known to be alive.
When Logan is contacted by a nurse, Gabriella Lopez (Elizabeth Rodriguez), to help her transport a young mutant girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), to a safe haven in North Dakota, the group become targets for the Alkali-Transigen corporation who seek to recover Laura as she is a stolen experimental asset for the new Weapon-X program.
Every once in a while, a superhero film comes along that changes everything. The original X-men did it in 2000, but whilst that film simply proved that superhero films could work without being campy and childish; Logan however, much like The Dark Knight in 2008, transcends the superhero genre and proves that with the right people a film about super-powered comic book characters can be more than just a superhero film crammed with over-the-top action.
Logan more closely resembles a western, with its tale of a withered former hero on the final frontier of a time that’ll soon be long forgotten. To help make it stand out amongst its contemporaries and deliver a story that’s appropriate for a proper send off for Logan, the film is considerably more mature and deals with much darker themes as well as having some proper bloody violence.
Logan is struggling to come to terms with his mortality, after living for nearly two hundred years and having witnessed the extinction of his species, he’s colder and harsher than ever before. He’s also having to content with caring for Charles who has the most dangerous mind in the world that he can no longer control. With it being alluded to the idea that he may be partially responsible for so many mutants being dead because of his inability to control his telepathic powers. Then there’s Laura, a girl created in a lab with the specific purpose of being raised to be a killing machine.
It’s all heavy stuff and Logan presents a lot of these difficult subjects with nuance and intelligence, rather than with shoddy exposition to ensure there’s enough time left for an extra fight scene.
The film is considerably slower paced than most superhero films but that doesn’t mean its without its fair share of combat sequences. But with Logan’s old age and inconsistent healing abilities he’s far slower and more fragile than he’s ever been before. He has a constant limp from where he has knee problems, and he needs glasses to read now. It’s funny to think of a character like Logan contending with the problems of old age, but it’s handled really well.
Unlike most superhero films these action sequences aren’t flashy and effects driven. It’s slow and got weight behind it, you feel each punch, you see claws tearing through flesh, and each time Logan is shot he’s noticeably weaker than he was beforehand.
Logan more closely resembles a western, with its tale of a withered former hero on the final frontier of a time that’ll soon be long forgotten. To help make it stand out amongst its contemporaries and deliver a story that’s appropriate for a proper send off for Logan, the film is considerably more mature and deals with much darker themes as well as having some proper bloody violence.
Logan is struggling to come to terms with his mortality, after living for nearly two hundred years and having witnessed the extinction of his species, he’s colder and harsher than ever before. He’s also having to content with caring for Charles who has the most dangerous mind in the world that he can no longer control. With it being alluded to the idea that he may be partially responsible for so many mutants being dead because of his inability to control his telepathic powers. Then there’s Laura, a girl created in a lab with the specific purpose of being raised to be a killing machine.
It’s all heavy stuff and Logan presents a lot of these difficult subjects with nuance and intelligence, rather than with shoddy exposition to ensure there’s enough time left for an extra fight scene.
The film is considerably slower paced than most superhero films but that doesn’t mean its without its fair share of combat sequences. But with Logan’s old age and inconsistent healing abilities he’s far slower and more fragile than he’s ever been before. He has a constant limp from where he has knee problems, and he needs glasses to read now. It’s funny to think of a character like Logan contending with the problems of old age, but it’s handled really well.
Unlike most superhero films these action sequences aren’t flashy and effects driven. It’s slow and got weight behind it, you feel each punch, you see claws tearing through flesh, and each time Logan is shot he’s noticeably weaker than he was beforehand.
As I stated in my opening paragraph, Jackman and Stewart are incredible in this film. They’ve both always been incredible actors and their roles in the X-Men franchise are career highlights of the both of them, but the performances they give in Logan are poetic. Saying goodbye to these magnificent characters after seventeen years couldn’t have been easy for them and they truly give their all and then some in this final film. For a long time X-Men fan it’ll be difficult to keep a dry eye when their final scenes roll around.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, Stewart in particular has an absolute blast playing a genius that’s truly lost his marbles with some fantastic one liners that would even have Deadpool lost for words.
The film is absolutely gorgeous too with some incredible cinematography. The dusty heat of Mexico has never looked better, and once the latter stages of the film roll around and our characters begin to spend more time in forest areas, once again you get some incredible shots. Mangold also released a black and white version of the film on Blu-Ray and 4K, and whilst I do feel like something is lost from the lack of colour, there’s also a lot gained, particularly in conversations.
Logan is an outstanding film and one of the greatest films in the superhero genre. The way it has taken what was established over the past nearly two decades and rewrites the rules for Jackman & Stewart’s swansong is fan service at its finest. Whilst it would have been nice to see what happens to the surviving characters come the end of the film, I also enjoy the finality of it. The closing moments are truly that, which for a superhero series in the modern day seems extremely peculiar.
I’m sure Marvel will revive the X-Men in the MCU at some point, but there will always be the hurdle to contend with as who to cast as Wolverine, because I honestly don’t know who could ever replace a man as iconic as Jackman in that role.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, Stewart in particular has an absolute blast playing a genius that’s truly lost his marbles with some fantastic one liners that would even have Deadpool lost for words.
The film is absolutely gorgeous too with some incredible cinematography. The dusty heat of Mexico has never looked better, and once the latter stages of the film roll around and our characters begin to spend more time in forest areas, once again you get some incredible shots. Mangold also released a black and white version of the film on Blu-Ray and 4K, and whilst I do feel like something is lost from the lack of colour, there’s also a lot gained, particularly in conversations.
Logan is an outstanding film and one of the greatest films in the superhero genre. The way it has taken what was established over the past nearly two decades and rewrites the rules for Jackman & Stewart’s swansong is fan service at its finest. Whilst it would have been nice to see what happens to the surviving characters come the end of the film, I also enjoy the finality of it. The closing moments are truly that, which for a superhero series in the modern day seems extremely peculiar.
I’m sure Marvel will revive the X-Men in the MCU at some point, but there will always be the hurdle to contend with as who to cast as Wolverine, because I honestly don’t know who could ever replace a man as iconic as Jackman in that role.