Logan - Review
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant, Dafne Keen
It's time to say farewell. After a tumultuous but wonderful seventeen years, Hugh Jackman has bid adieu to the franchise that made him famous. Yes, Jackman has feverishly stated time and time again that Logan will be his last outing as the adamanteum-coated mutant before he hangs up the claws for good. With the trailers promising a darker tone and the shedding of more blood and tears, this depiction of Wolverine is unlike any audiences have seen before.
The year is 2029, and mutants are near extinction, with no new mutants born in 25 years. A weary James "Logan" Howlett (Hugh Jackman), whose self-healing powers have considerably waned, cares for his former mentor, an ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart). Their goal to search for peace and safety is scuppered when they're confronted by Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant with powers identical to Logan's. Logan must now protect the girl and defeat the forces of evil who want to seize control of her.
Like the wildly successful Deadpool, Logan has been decorated with an R-rating, and with great R-ratings comes great responsibility. Everything you'd expect from such a rating is present in the film; Profanity, violence and gore. However, none of the aforementioned feels unmotivated or a consequence of mindless action. It's all in service of the story and is only one facet of what separates Logan from previous iterations of the character - the chief one being the raw emotion that courses through the picture. You'll be hard-pressed to think of a superhero flick that stirs and evokes as much as Mangold's does. It's unflinchingly brutal and heartbreakingly beautiful in equal measure.
At the beginning of Logan, the eponymous character is making a quiet and honest living as a limousine driver. Years of battle against opposing foes and unrelenting invincibility have now made their mark on his appearance as newfound wrinkles and scare etch their way across his face. When a posse of criminals deface his limousine, Logan attempts to reason with them before engaging in a bloody, limb-slicing brawl. But Wolverine is no longer the lean-mean fighting machine he once was. Jackman's physical performance excellently conveys Logan's deteriorating condition - each blow he receives exhausts him a little more and every extension of his claws creates fresh wounds (both for him and his victims). The sight of the once indestructible Wolverine taking a harsh beating from a group of non-enhanced is near upsetting to witness, but it sets a precedent for the rest of the picture. Logan is no longer invulnerable. Get used to it.
Charles Xavier, the once composed and authoritative figure of the X-Men, has also radically changed almost beyond recognition. The man with the greatest mind in the world is now battling Alzheimer's disease and frequent seizures - seizures that induce paralysis into those in close proximity with even greater eventual catastrophic results. Logan, along with mutant-tracker Caliban (an underwhelming Stephen Merchant, who allows his make-up to do most of the acting for him), act as Charles' carers, administering his medicines and ensuring his identity and whereabouts are safely concealed as his brain is now considered a weapon of mass destruction. Logan's central focus throughout the majority of the film is to scramble together money for Professor X's treatment, but Charles continues to act as his guiding light and moral compass, encouraging his former student to defend Laura. Logan begrudgingly agrees after futile resistance, revealing even further his oxymoronic personality; He is selfish and selfless. Often ignorant to the plight of others but always the first to put himself last. Mangold and his lead actors reach new depths with their portrayals of these iconic characters, and the dynamic between mentor and mentee finally pierces beyond the scratched surface.
In terms of tone and genre, Logan has heavily emulated Westerns, including Shane and Unforgiven, but pays little respect to its predecessors of the franchise, largely ignoring every other X-Men film that has come before. However, the complete disregard for the previous entries and the frankly discombobulating timeline is a welcome and necessary change in order for the filmmakers to strike their desired vision. Audiences are given puzzle pieces of what has happened between the future events in Days of Future Past and the period depicted in Logan and are left to their own devices to assemble them. What has happened to Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and the rest of the X-Men? Their fate is hinted at here and there but nothing is ever defined. The lack of exposition is at times refreshing but ultimately a refreshing exclusion and also enables for more character development; The scene where Logan, Xavier and Laura enjoy a reprieve from life on the run around a family dinner table would most likely not have existed if the script was insistent on filling in the blanks for us. Instead, we catch a glimpse of what life could be like for our heroines. Although, the threat of peril from Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant), the head of the crooked Transigen, and his army of henchmen is never far away, and every moment of temporary serenity is laced with impending menace.
If anyone had been experiencing Wolverine fatigue, or were never champions of the mutant in the first place, then Logan will undoubtedly be the film in which the antihero digs his claws into your heart with a steely grip. Rife with poignant emotion, rich characters and blood-pumping action, Logan is a unique blockbuster that joins the likes of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight to claim a spot on the list of the finest superhero films ever made. By the fickle nature of Hollywood, the role of Wolverine will most likely be recast within the next 5-10 years. But it's almost unfathomable to picture any other actor than Jackman assuming the mantle, let alone another reincarnation of the character achieving the same masterpiece-worthy status.
EB
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant, Dafne Keen
It's time to say farewell. After a tumultuous but wonderful seventeen years, Hugh Jackman has bid adieu to the franchise that made him famous. Yes, Jackman has feverishly stated time and time again that Logan will be his last outing as the adamanteum-coated mutant before he hangs up the claws for good. With the trailers promising a darker tone and the shedding of more blood and tears, this depiction of Wolverine is unlike any audiences have seen before.The year is 2029, and mutants are near extinction, with no new mutants born in 25 years. A weary James "Logan" Howlett (Hugh Jackman), whose self-healing powers have considerably waned, cares for his former mentor, an ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart). Their goal to search for peace and safety is scuppered when they're confronted by Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant with powers identical to Logan's. Logan must now protect the girl and defeat the forces of evil who want to seize control of her.
Like the wildly successful Deadpool, Logan has been decorated with an R-rating, and with great R-ratings comes great responsibility. Everything you'd expect from such a rating is present in the film; Profanity, violence and gore. However, none of the aforementioned feels unmotivated or a consequence of mindless action. It's all in service of the story and is only one facet of what separates Logan from previous iterations of the character - the chief one being the raw emotion that courses through the picture. You'll be hard-pressed to think of a superhero flick that stirs and evokes as much as Mangold's does. It's unflinchingly brutal and heartbreakingly beautiful in equal measure.
At the beginning of Logan, the eponymous character is making a quiet and honest living as a limousine driver. Years of battle against opposing foes and unrelenting invincibility have now made their mark on his appearance as newfound wrinkles and scare etch their way across his face. When a posse of criminals deface his limousine, Logan attempts to reason with them before engaging in a bloody, limb-slicing brawl. But Wolverine is no longer the lean-mean fighting machine he once was. Jackman's physical performance excellently conveys Logan's deteriorating condition - each blow he receives exhausts him a little more and every extension of his claws creates fresh wounds (both for him and his victims). The sight of the once indestructible Wolverine taking a harsh beating from a group of non-enhanced is near upsetting to witness, but it sets a precedent for the rest of the picture. Logan is no longer invulnerable. Get used to it.
Charles Xavier, the once composed and authoritative figure of the X-Men, has also radically changed almost beyond recognition. The man with the greatest mind in the world is now battling Alzheimer's disease and frequent seizures - seizures that induce paralysis into those in close proximity with even greater eventual catastrophic results. Logan, along with mutant-tracker Caliban (an underwhelming Stephen Merchant, who allows his make-up to do most of the acting for him), act as Charles' carers, administering his medicines and ensuring his identity and whereabouts are safely concealed as his brain is now considered a weapon of mass destruction. Logan's central focus throughout the majority of the film is to scramble together money for Professor X's treatment, but Charles continues to act as his guiding light and moral compass, encouraging his former student to defend Laura. Logan begrudgingly agrees after futile resistance, revealing even further his oxymoronic personality; He is selfish and selfless. Often ignorant to the plight of others but always the first to put himself last. Mangold and his lead actors reach new depths with their portrayals of these iconic characters, and the dynamic between mentor and mentee finally pierces beyond the scratched surface.
In terms of tone and genre, Logan has heavily emulated Westerns, including Shane and Unforgiven, but pays little respect to its predecessors of the franchise, largely ignoring every other X-Men film that has come before. However, the complete disregard for the previous entries and the frankly discombobulating timeline is a welcome and necessary change in order for the filmmakers to strike their desired vision. Audiences are given puzzle pieces of what has happened between the future events in Days of Future Past and the period depicted in Logan and are left to their own devices to assemble them. What has happened to Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and the rest of the X-Men? Their fate is hinted at here and there but nothing is ever defined. The lack of exposition is at times refreshing but ultimately a refreshing exclusion and also enables for more character development; The scene where Logan, Xavier and Laura enjoy a reprieve from life on the run around a family dinner table would most likely not have existed if the script was insistent on filling in the blanks for us. Instead, we catch a glimpse of what life could be like for our heroines. Although, the threat of peril from Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant), the head of the crooked Transigen, and his army of henchmen is never far away, and every moment of temporary serenity is laced with impending menace.
If anyone had been experiencing Wolverine fatigue, or were never champions of the mutant in the first place, then Logan will undoubtedly be the film in which the antihero digs his claws into your heart with a steely grip. Rife with poignant emotion, rich characters and blood-pumping action, Logan is a unique blockbuster that joins the likes of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight to claim a spot on the list of the finest superhero films ever made. By the fickle nature of Hollywood, the role of Wolverine will most likely be recast within the next 5-10 years. But it's almost unfathomable to picture any other actor than Jackman assuming the mantle, let alone another reincarnation of the character achieving the same masterpiece-worthy status.
EB
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