Theatrical Review: Logan (2017)

"An excellent curtain call for an excellent character."

(aka Old Man Logan.)
Release Date: In Theaters now.
Rating: R
Country: USA.
Written by: James Mangold and Scott Frank. 
Directed by: James Mangold.
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, and Dafne Keen.

17 years and 9 movies later, this is the end of the line for Wolverine, or at least it is for Hugh Jackman's part, anyway, because you know that FOX is not going to let such a massively popular character just go away. Sad as it is to see old Wolvie bid adieu, it's equally as satisfying to see him go out in a blaze of perfection and glory.

This is a dark movie, and to say that it's violent is an vast understatement.

It's also a heartbreaker, so prepare yourselves.

The year is 2029, and mutant-kind is nearly extinct, with most of them dead, and no new ones being born in over 25 years. Logan is now a limo driver who drinks his pain away, and is slowly dying due to his adamantium skeleton poisoning him to the point where his healing factor isn't working properly. He even walks with a limp now.

HE'S SEEN SOME SHIT.

Logan, along with help from fellow-mutant Caliban, keeps Professor X in an old smelting plant in Mexico, feeding him pills and injecting him with something to make him sleep. He's got dementia, or something close too it, which is making his brain deteriorate, and his powers near-impossible to control.

AIN'T THAT A BITCH.

Enter into their lives a young girl who is being hunted by the mercenary group, The Reavers, at the behest of the bastard who wiped out mutant-kind so that he could create a better, more dominant breed. You don't really think that Logan is going to let that stand, do you?

That's all we're saying about the plot. 

BLOOD WILL BE SHED.

Whoever decided to go the R-Rated route with this final installment in Wolverine's saga should be commended. After so long we got to the see the foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, ultra-violent Logan that we loved from the comics, and it translated to film perfectly. This is the most violent comic book flick that we've seen, and it's straight-forward in its brutality. It's equally straightforward in its humanity, as we see two characters whom we love as broken men trying to survive the best they can. 

This is a story of loss, and of two men coming to terms with how life moves on, and it was heavy stuff.

Hugh Jackman is a brilliant actor, but there's something particularly extra satisfying in watching him suit up to play Logan. It's the way that his ferociousness is always complimented by a layer of humanity and vulnerability that makes the character, and the way he's portrayed by Jackman, so damn lovable. We're going to miss the hell out of this character.

As much as this is Jackman's movie, it belongs in equal parts to Patrick Stewart, and newcomer Dafne Keen. Stewart's Professor X broke our hearts in this one. Watching the most powerful mind on earth wasting away from a degenerative brain disease was tough, especially since we know that Professor X was such a benevolent and caring man throughout his life. As for Dafne Keen, Her X-23 was a brooding, silent death machine, and it's quite possible that she racked up more severed heads and brutal deaths throughout the move than even Logan did. Kudos to that little girl, who is probably sweet in everyday life, for making us believe that she's a feral killer.

The relationship between the three of them, especially between Logan and Professor X, is what drives the film, and what makes it such a dark and emotionally powerful ride. Professor X saved Logan, and made him into what he is, and you could say that in some ways Logan saved Xavier along the way too, and to see them both there at the end of their lives, with only each other to count on, was both beautiful and heartbreaking. Of course the addition of the little girl to the mix brought some humanity back to them both, and in the end, gave them a sort of peace.

It's a love story, folks. Everything always is.

BLOOD FATHER.

***MASSIVE ENDING SPOILERS***

The one bitch that I have about this movie is Logan's death. We pretty much knew that it was coming, what with the film's somber tone being heavily advertised, and with knowing that Jackman is done with the role, but the way that they did it...

Sure, he went out in grand, berserker rage fashion, but the character of Logan didn't really find much peace in the end. With everything he's gone through, and with everyone he's lost, we selfishly wanted him to have a minute to enjoy some happiness, not just save the kids, then die. It felt very abrupt, and as appropriate and needed as it may have been, it left us on a bit of a downer.

Logan was a tortured soul who found very little peace at the end, or at least got very little time to enjoy it.

***END SPOILERS***

AT LEAST HE GOT A PIECE OF THAT GUY'S FACE!

Oh, so that's why they have to keep Professor X sedated. Damn.

"YEAH, CHARLES. YOU DID DO THAT!"

This movie sees Logan and his baby girl putting their claws through faces, necks, chests, and every other body part they can manage, and it's graphic as hell.

NO HOLDS BARRED.

A girl flashes Logan, which might mark the first time a major superhero property has shown boobs.

HE LIKES IT.

• There are no after-credits scenes in this one. 
• In the comics, X-23 goes on to be the new Wolverine.
• That Rictor kid is the son of Avalanche in the comics, and he goes on to join The New Mutants. 
• The name Nathan Summers is seen in  the phone booth during the _________ promo before the movie, and is listed as "cumming soon." That's Cable, the mutant son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, and he's a pretty big deal. 
• Logan remembers "What happened in Westchester" which is to say that 7 people died from Professor X losing control of his powers. We can only guess at who they were...

WHO KNEW HE HAD SUCH RANGE?

An excellent finale for an excellent character, Logan is maybe the best Superhero movie that doesn't really feel like a Superhero movie that's ever been made. Much like Christopher Nolan with his Batman flicks, James Mangold has given us a realistic, dramatic telling of a super story, and has managed to create something more by removing the spandex and huge action set pieces found in most Marvel movies, opting instead to tell the story of two brave men at the end of their lives, dancing with the forces of evil one last time.

This is one movie that deserves to bee seen on the big screen.

A

Logan is playing now in theaters everywhere.

Since there aren't many sexy ladies in Logan, we thought that we'd give our readers who like the men a few pics of Hugh Jackman, because he's awesome. And dreamy, I suppose. The 4th one is our fave.