Logan: Movie Review

Hugh Jackman says farewell to his iconic portrayal of X-Men member, Logan aka Wolverine.  Although he has played the regenerating clawed mutant for seventeen years, the quality of various instalments had been mixed.  I was not a fan of 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” or the 2013 follow-up “The Wolverine”.  In Jackman’s ninth (including cameos) and final turn as Logan, he finally gets to play the character the way he has always meant to be played. Unlike previous films, “Logan” is brutal, bloody, grim, heartbreaking and at times, beautiful. This is the one X-Men movie you shouldn’t bring your children to.  It definitely earns its’ “R” rating.

Set in the near-future, mutants are close to extinction. Logan (Jackman) is no longer a hero, living his life as a limo driver who is also a functioning alcoholic.  His ability to regenerate has diminished a great deal and the adamantium steel that runs through Logan’s body is poisoning him.  Logan keeps Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) secluded on the Mexican border where he is looked after by Caliban (Stephen Merchant), a mutant who can track other mutants.  Xavier is now Ninety years old and is suffering from a degenerative brain disease. A side effect are seizures that cause temporary paralysis to anyone within a close-proximity.

All Logan wants to do is save enough money to get a boat where he and Xavier can live the rest of their days sailing across the ocean.  That dream is suddenly put on hold when Logan is forced to protect Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant who has the exact same abilities as Logan.  It turns out she is a clone that has been created from Logan’s DNA and a sinister organization will stop at nothing to get her back.

“Logan” runs at 137 minutes and at times the film does drag-on a bit. However, that is such a minor issue when compared to how much the film does right.  Unlike previous X-Men films, “Logan” doesn’t try to impress the audience with spectacle, but rather the simplicity of character development.  For the first time in seventeen years, we really get to see Logan and Xavier bond as-well-as suffer in a way we have never seen before. Keen steals absolutely every scene as Laura. If you think Wolverine can wreck-havoc with bouts of rage, wait until you see what she can do. Fans of the comics of course will know her as X-23.

There are quite a few surprises in “Logan” but, I am not about to go and ruin them for you. I will say that Jackman and Stewart have never been better in these roles and couldn’t have asked for a better way to end their run as Logan and Xavier.

By: Marc Ferman