“You always thought we were part of God’s plan. But maybe, maybe we were God’s mistake.”
The superhero genre has evolved far beyond what many had envisioned when Richard Donner’s 1978 classic ‘Superman’ came out. A superhero film was a rarity, only when a director or studio had the passion or money-making scheme did we receive one. Superman and Batman may have paved the way but it became something of it’s own beast in the early 2000’s. Most will attribute the success of Marvel’s ‘MCU’ as the reason we have so many films to the point that the media has become over-saturated with nothing but big budget blockbusters, but it truly started with the X-Men and Spider-man movies of the 2000’s. At a time when Marvel didn’t have their own film studio and licensed all their properties to different studios, it was a time of uncertainty to whether the film would succeed. The first X-Men film was released in 2000 and it’s success spawned a whole franchise that 20th Century Fox refused to let go off. We even got two Wolverine focused movies of…questionable quality. Fans called out for a Wolverine movie that was darker and grittier and James Mangold answered with a movies that somehow exceeded expectations. This is the swan song of Fox’s Wolverine character, Logan.
The film focuses on the titular hero, Logan (Hugh Jackman) who lives in a world where his race of super-powered beings known as mutants have gone practically extinct. Logan watches over his long-time friend and former X-Men founder Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) who is suffering badly with psychic epileptic fits that can potentially kill anyone around him. They also live with an albino mutant named Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Time for Xavier, and all other mutants, is short but there may be a glimmer of hope when a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) is brought into the care of the grizzled Logan. Xavier can sense they she is a mutant and believes that she will be the last hope for their kind. Logan is initially reluctant to look after the girl but his mind changes once he sees Laura take down a group of mutant hunters using the same adamantium (fictional metal) claws as himself. We soon learn that she is a clone of Logan and has now become a part of the surviving mutant group. Logan and Xavier are on the run from the military group while Caliban is held prisoner due to his ability to sense other mutants. The clock is ticking as the trio look for a place of supposed legend that will be a safe-haven for mutants.
The initial worry that some first time viewers may feel about venturing into the movie is the lack of experience or knowledge with the previous movies, after all there were eight entries prior to this but the film manages to ease people into this by treating this as a standalone movie. There are minor references throughout the movie to previous events but they only serve two purposes; giving veterans of the series small acknowledgements and to give newcomers a sense of backstory for the friendship between Logan and Xavier. The film is heavily reliant on it’s expanded limitations with portraying a darker and grimier tale that we haven’t seen in the franchise prior. Mangold’s previous ‘The Wolverine’ gave us a small taste of what could be done with the barrier of a ’12’ rating but clearly felt like it was struggling for air as the studio was too afraid to go that far. With this being a ’15’ the film shows us levels of gore and cursing that would make an overprotective mother claim the studio was promoting smut in a ‘lovely Marvel movie’. The film doesn’t use this freedom to garner extreme reactions but uses it in a way that feels powerful. Each strike from Logan or Laura’s claws hits with such intensity and gore that it shows us just how unhinged the collective psyche of these characters is. The frequent cursing was more jarring but it’s perfectly within character, though Xavier swearing like a sailor is slightly out of character.
There is no more an appropriate title than ‘Logan’ as while this movie plays out as a mutant roadtrip of sorts, it’s main goal is to focus on Logan’s more complex attitude. Logan isn’t just a screaming, experimental, killing machine. He suffers greatly over the feelings of loss and the sadness over seeing his friend in a dementia-like state. Logan is very dismissive of an optimistic future as everyone close to him has died, it’s never stated how but they allude to the idea that it was one of Xavier’s seizures that caused it. The complex relationship between Logan and his clone daughter provides a new sense of protectiveness for Logan, he isn’t accustomed to having a blood connection and initially views her as a burden. The film gives us moments of Logan’s true feelings, he becomes overprotective and tries to teach her to control her anger. Logan desperately wants Laura to have a better life than he ever did, disgusted of the fact that a child was born from an experiment, similar to his origins. We also get more time to see a more domesticated side to Logan. We see him garnering a friendship with a strange family that he unintentionally brings the danger to as he becomes their protector. We also see Logan treating Laura and Xavier as a family, a somewhat bizarre father-son dynamic that still feels very real.
Hugh Jackman had announced prior to the movie releasing that this would be his last time portraying the fan-favorite mutant. This film, in a lot of ways, is treated as a swan song not only to the hero but also the franchise. The X-Men films have all varied in quality from amazing to downright terrible, it’s struggled to keep any level of consistency that Marvel has managed to (mostly) keep. James Mangold seems to treat this as the final movie despite there being more plans for future movies. And, honestly, this is the perfect place to stop. The story doesn’t only want to shine the light on Logan but also Xavier (this was Stewart’s last time playing him as well). They’ve remained the only consistent characters in all eight films, their friendship has gone from uncertain strangers to Logan travelling back in time and being the one to convince Charles’ younger self into saving the future. Fans will feel the weight of each tribulation that they go through as incredibly gripping but newcomers can easily become attached. Xavier’s words when lying in bed in one particular scene is gut-wrenching and what follows shatters one’s emotions. At the end of the day, however, it’s Logan’s journey that matters the most. We watch as he finally shows signs of physical aging that his mutant power prevented and his secret desire to finally end it all, but Logan is covertly thinking of others more than himself. His care for everyone around him is kept to himself, a gruff personality with a softer side held within. Logan’s words towards the end of the movie completes his arc and won’t fail to imprint a message that finalizes the series.
I consider Logan to be a step far above the average other superhero movies. It doesn’t feel the need to sensor or hold back, it poignantly beautiful with it’s emotion and leaves both fans and newcomers with an experience that defies it’s genre. Every single character is brilliantly performed and executed and not a single character feels wasted. It has plenty of action that feels very natural and only excessive when the narrative calls for it. I still wholeheartedly wish that this was the final X-Men film, it’s a perfect way of representing the franchise and it’s two key characters but is now sullied by the mediocre Dark Phoenix and the upcoming New Mutants. It’s especially disappointing in hindsight now that Disney has purchased Fox and plans to reboot the franchise. Not their fault, obviously, but it makes it feel more hollow. Logan is still a brilliant movie that shouldn’t be ignored because of that dreaded superhero fatigue. If anything, it’s a perfect pallet cleanser for just that. Check it out.
Side note: Deadpool is pretty much why this movie exists so check that out too.
Written review by C. Johnson.