Logan is the latest X-Men spinoff
film featuring Wolverine and is the final film for both Hugh Jackman’s
Wolverine and Sir Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier (or so they say). Set in
2029, we meet up with an aging and weakening Wolverine who has a job as a limo
driver while attending to the ailing nonagenarian Charles Xavier. The conflict
of the film arises when Logan (or James or Wolverine) encounters a woman and a
young girl and becomes intertwined with their quest. James Mangold returns
after The Wolverine to direct this
film which stars Jackman, Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holdbrook, Stephen
Merchant, and Richard E. Grant.
My
overall takeaway from Logan was that
this film was dramatically better than previous Wolverine films and a generally
poignant conclusion to the storylines for Wolverine and Professor Xavier. However,
it failed to really break the mold set in most X-Men storytelling and do
something different to engage me as an audience member. What I think this film
does most successfully is present an interesting concept (I feel like I’ve
written this for each of the Wolverine films) coupled with some incredible
performances, beautiful cinematography, and a generally emotional story.
Logan sets out an interesting premise
meeting an aging Wolverine in a less vibrant (but not quite post-apocalyptic)
future as he grapples with life and slowly losing his powers (or at least
having them wear off). It also shows Professor X grappling with different
struggles that are similarly caused by aging. We haven’t really seen the
struggles of aging intelligently or effectively tackled in in a superhero film
before. The way this film uses those to set up the basis for the story and
works those issues into the broader narrative really worked. In the past, the
Wolverine films have struggled to bring an interesting premise together into an
effective final product and I’m happy to report that Logan does manage to use this effectively which made me a very
happy viewer.
The
next key thing that made this film what it was were the focal performances. Jackman
and Stewart absolutely bring it in this film and give their characters the
brilliant send offs they deserve. Hugh Jackman brings a lot of emotional depth
and layers to his character that have ruminated as a result of his consistent
work as the character for the past seventeen years. There is one scene in the
film in particular that is one of the best Jackman has delivered in any film in
his illustrious career and that was great to see. Sir Patrick Stewart, who has
also been portraying Professor Charles Xavier for seventeen years, also brings
a lot in this film. He has to present a massively different version of his
character in this film and does so impeccably well. In addition to doing
something very different, he also managed to maintain the core heart of his
original character which made this work all the more and gave the film a
quality weight that was significantly impactful.
In
addition to the performances, Mangold and cinematographer John Mathieson bring
stunning western-esque cinematography to the film. This looks very distinct
from any X-verse film released prior to its benefit. I loved the way different
shots are assembled and the starkness and richness captured as the moment
called for it making the look as much a character as any character in the film.
Finally,
the film managed to tell an emotional story. By pulling on simple plot points
and plot cues, Logan managed to strike
a chord with me as an audience member effecting me emotionally, particularly at
the films conclusion. It also managed to use emotions to give character
development to the newly introduced X-23 (or Laura) who might have been a
really ridiculous introduction if done improperly. By finding all the right
notes to hit with respect to the audience’s feelings (as opposed to their
thoughts), Logan manages to get
people to accept it on a deeper level.
Logan is a very strong film but I’d
be lying if I said I didn’t leave this feeling a bit underwhelmed. Maybe it was
the expectations developed by the trailers. Maybe it was my expectations due to
the massive love I’ve been hearing for the past couple weeks. Maybe it was the
fact that people keep saying this goes beyond the comic book genre (one of the
most ridiculous statements in these modern times but that is a discussion for
another day). I’m not sure exactly what the cause was but I think the film
falls into quite a number of typical X-verse storytelling traps and, frankly,
undermines itself with some questionable choices.
The
first real problem is that it falls back into typical X-verse storytelling,
especially with the villains. This is not, per se, a bad thing. However, in a
film with as different a set up and design as this one, to do the exact same
thing we’ve seen time and again felt tired and frankly depleting. I didn’t need
to see something I saw in this film again (because I have seen it before) and I
just felt so let down by a film that I thought was going to take a different
route and that arguably should have taken a different route.
The
other issue with this film is that it undermines a lot of what it does with
some weird inclusions and moments. I can’t get into this without spoiling but
there are several beats that are robbed of their impact by how they’re executed
and different things included in or around those moments. I also thought that
the way the main conflict works out similarly felt off-balance, especially with
the tone set out in the rest of the film. Finally, the character of Caliban,
though reasonably well acted, didn’t fit in this movie at all and really detracted
from the film whenever he was around.
Overall
I think Logan is a good movie and one
of the better films in the X-verse. I don’t think it breaks the barriers many a
critic and fan are saying it does. It delivers to us, for the first and last
time, a good Wolverine movie and that is worthy of praise but to set this
alongside the best in the comic book genre or say that it pushes beyond it
would be, to me, incorrect.
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