Logan (2017) Review!!!

Synopsis – In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

My Take – Being a comic book geek & a massive superhero fan in general, its delight to see how almost every Hollywood studio has been clamoring to repeat the success of Marvel’s cinematic universe and Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy with positive & of course deficit results. Among the mix, Marvel’s X-Men series spearheaded by their franchise owners, 20^th Century Fox, has somehow always found its way to stand tall since its inception on the comic book pages back in September 1963. Unfortunately, with the underperformance of last year’s ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ we also witnessed something I as an audience feared for sometime – the beginning of comic book fatigue. But among this mix of successful & not so successful superhero films of last year, stood a film, produced with just a fraction of the typical budget for superhero fare, an audience-prohibiting R-rating (presumably box-office poison), and the lack of a Summer release date, yet with the help of positive reviews, the film turned out to be a mammoth success – Deadpool! Paving way, for actor/producer Hugh Jackman to finally make a film he has been wanting to the past 17 years! For decades now, we have been clamoring for a ‘Wolverine’ film done right. From his first incarnation in Hulk #181 to his own miniseries in comic book form in the 1980’s by Frank Miller, to the amazing Saturday Morning Cartoon, and his first appearance in a feature film in 2000 with ‘X-Men’, which had the then unknown Australian actor Hugh Jackman marking the iconic character’s live action debut. Besides the ‘X-Men’ films, Wolverine got his own set of standalone films, which despite a couple of positive points, were too bland to be even considered as good films.

Here, teaming up yet again with director James Mangold (who also directed 2013’s The Wolverine), and set free of its PG rating (thank you again Deadpool), this films also marks as the final time Jackman dones his fictional adamantium claws and gives us a send off to a very much loved character in the most brutal possible way. While this James Mangold directed feature may not be a perfect film, it is most certainly a perfect comic book film; it is a masterpiece of the most epic proportions and leaves us with a brilliant swan song for its star and his legacy, and a character-driven superhero film done right. Unlike the usual action-packed comic-book superhero film this was comparatively subtle but contains doses of insane fight sequences that top many that we’ve seen perhaps due to the well deserved R-rating. But surprisingly this film manages to not only succeed on that front but also in telling this story that is really a lot more meaningful than the classic or even clichéd good versus evil that is slowly becoming overused and boring, the film really felt like a breath of a fresh air among many other accolades that is going to achieves. Loosely inspired by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s comic mini-series Old Man Logan, this sequel to 2013’s The Wolverine wipes the slate clean by fast forwarding ahead into the future — specifically, 2029 — long after the events of 2014’s Days of Future Past and last year’s Apocalypse. In fact, the film couldn’t be further removed from Singer’s ultra-sleek vision of tight leather suits, steel-paneled doors, and extravagant East Coast mansions. No, this is a grounded, hard-R film set in a barren American wasteland, where the settings are grim, the stakes are high, and the proceedings are anything but pleasant. It’s a complete 180 for the long-running franchise. Set in 2029, when mutants have all but gone extinct, the story follows former X-Men member, Wolverine aka Logan (Hugh Jackman), who is now just an old, mean, drunk limo driver. When not working as a chauffeur for bellowing business bros and squealing sorority girls, Logan lays low in a junkyard desert headquarters just south of the border, set with the help of the former mutant tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant), where they look after an elderly, ailing Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Xavier, now in his 90s, is losing his mind—a dementia that manifests itself through deadly, occasional mental shockwaves that paralyze everyone in proximity. The former Wolverine isn’t doing much better; poisoned by the Adamantium that coats his skeleton, herby slowing his trusty healing factor day by day. Collecting cash in order to make a run to the ocean with the professor, Logan’s otherwise quiet life is disturbed by the arrival of Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez), who in exchange of money wants Logan to drive Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant to other side of the border to a place called Eden, a supposed safe haven for surviving mutants. Reluctant at 1st, upon the insistence of Xavier and his seemingly important connection to her, Logan unwillingly ends up serving as an imposing guardian, mentor, and protector to Laura, as Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), the relentless, calculating and intense head of security, and leader of the Reavers, begins tailing them. It’s a fairly straight forward story and it takes its time setting up these older, dying characters, as well as its new ones. The film doesn’t mess about with side tangent plot lines or love interests here. It’s balls-to-the-wall, heart breaking action and drama, which is something we’ve wanted for a long time now with the Wolverine character .

The writing, is solid for a superhero film, it really digs deep into these beloved characters, how vulnerable they are, how they long for a world where people would just leave them be. You truly feel for Xavier and Logan in a way that you never did in the previous X-Men films, not only because they’re now in their twilight years but there’s also that father-son type of relationship that’s tough love and endearing and then there’s also the reluctant father daughter connection Logan has with Laura aka X-23.The tone that is established through the actors and atmosphere is truly breathtaking and somber. First thing that struck me about the film was just how different a take on the character this was going to be. Sure, he’s always had anger issues but we have never seen him in this state before, constant pain and deteriorating powers making him a shadow of his former self. Right from the off we are thrown into a scenario that perfectly sets the tone for the film about to unfold, it’s subtly comical yet brutally violent, making me so glad we finally have an R rated Wolverine film. As a comic book fan it really is a blessing to see the “Old man Logan” title being explored and re imagined to the big-screen in such a way. This film shows the other superhero films what a superhero film could be and adds another to the list of R- rated films that are necessary of that rating and delivers beautifully under the category. In my opinion perhaps this is the next direction for superhero films as people are starting to grow tired of the colorful capes and Leotards, just look at the change that has been done in the comic book world, darker tales and growingly gritty violence, perhaps the next step for superhero films to evolve and adapt is by going in this direction, targeting a more mature audience. The difference in quality between The Wolverine, which Mangold also directed, and this film is quite staggering really and you can certainly tell Mangold was in full control of the story this time round. The former descended into a typically over-the-top CGI-fest of a finale whereas this film takes its time to build a study of this beaten down hero before climaxing with a heartfelt and personal finale that makes it much more of an involving film for the audience. The theme of parenthood has been explored a little with this character before, his relationship with Rogue in the first two X-Men films however, none of them have been quite like this, Mangold‘s homage to the old school Westerns playing out fascinatingly well as the film plays out. The real dirt and grit of a Western etched with Logan’s past is felt through John Mathieson‘s quite wonderful cinematography while the adventure of it all is encapsulated in Marco Beltrami’s score.

This film is the first to follow Deadpool‘s wake, and like its predecessor, it wears its R rating like a badge of honor. The curiously bloodless stabbings of Wolverine in his previous PG 13 outings are out – now we are treated to spectacularly gory Adamantium-fuelled fight scenes that are utterly thrilling and cathartic. Importantly, the violence isn’t just cheap thrills – it actually serves to contribute a real sense of stakes to the plot, making you really feel and understand the mortality of these mutants, that violence is ugly, brutal and most importantly painful. We are also treated to profanity, which once again is not exploited, merely a reflection of Logan’s age and weariness, as he approaches the latter stages of life. Also, if you ever wanted to see Wolverine go berserk, you’ll finally get that here on more than one occasion, complete with some long shots of Wolverine slicing and dicing the bad guys without any cuts. The film’s R rating is effectively utilized for the service of its story, which is far darker, meaner and more mature than other X-Men related films. Another aspect that really worked well was the inclusion of Laura, a girl with formidable powers that prompts Logan to seek heroic redemption and rediscover his sense of purpose (albeit rockily.) Steely, tough and mostly mute, Laura is the antithesis of a cute film kid – she takes no prisoners, and leaves no throat unstabbed, a terrifically entertaining character. As such, her uneasy union with Logan is believable and unexpectedly emotional, grounding the film in pathos usually absent from superhero films. As I mentioned earlier, the film does have a set of few flaws, mainly the pacing which slows down for quite some time in the middle & of course the under development group of antagonists. Bringing in the torch from the MCU, this film also has a bunch of forgettable villains, who despite enough screen time remain underdeveloped. Making his mark in his much hyped final role, Hugh Jackman carries the film in a minimalist, yet another terrifying performance. He is miserable and broken in this film and to see him like this as the character; it is bittersweet especially because Jackman has been so attached to this role. If he hurts, we hurt. If he’s mad, we’re mad. It is a true testament to Jackman as an actor to make his audience feel this connected to someone who is, by traditional standards, completely unrelateable. Also marking his final role here is Patrick Stewart, who sharing an excellent chemistry with Jackman, forms the emotional back bone for the film, and is expectantly great. The real standout performance here is from Dafne Keen who plays Laura aka X-23. Without many dialogues & just expressions, the young girl is a delight to watch and yes she does give Logan a run for his money in matters of brutality. The rest of the supporting cast, most notably Boyd Holbrook, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Stephen Merchant make the most of their screen time, even if Holbrook does fall foul to the comic-book film villain curse. Richard E. Grant is wasted. On the whole, ‘Logan’ is a brutal, merciless, emotional and honest film that does justice to both the character and Hugh Jackman by stepping away from the superhero norm and offering a personal and emotionally fueled outing that certainly brings the violence and delivers one of the best comic-book films I’ve seen.