The X-Men movie series by Fox studios is probably the superhero franchise with the most mixed reviews. With gems such as X-Men: Days of Future Past and trash such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it is quite evident that Fox doesn’t always know what it’s doing with their Marvel character rights. With that in mind, I entered the theatre with hesitancy, as the last X-Men movie I saw, X-Men: Apocalypse, was sub-par and forgettable at best and a CGI test that happened to have characters I was familiar with at worst. Despite this, Logan is the best film of Fox’s X-Men franchise, and it only needed to focus on one member of the legendary X-Men team to achieve this — Logan, or as we know him, Wolverine.
Logan takes place during the nearly-modern year of 2029, and follows the Events of X-Men: Days of Future Past. The birth of new mutants has stopped and the old ones are dying out, leaving only Logan (Hugh Jackman) and the now half-senile Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) left, trying to live the rest of their lives quietly and away from the sight of whatever government wants a superweapon next. This quiet life is stomped on when a young girl by the name of Laura (Dafne Keen) arrives at their secluded doorstep with a band of military-grade mercenaries on her tail for allegedly being a mutant. The audience and Logan himself soon learn that Laura is the genetic daughter of Logan, having been grown in a lab where these mercenaries tried to raise their own artificial mutants as weapons. Laura, Logan, and Charles Xavier then set out on a journey to find a place known as Eden, a supposed safehaven for mutants, so that Laura can be reunited with her fellow mutants who had escaped the facility.
With the plot out of the way, I can tell you right now that this is not your typical tongue and cheek humor superhero movie. In fact it is much the opposite, with a grim and almost nihilistic tone that shows the gravity of the story and the mercilessness of this world as a whole. Every aspect of this movie feels real in a cruel sense. The fights are brutal, well choreographed, and don’t shy away from gore. If that wasn’t enough, the emotional parts of the movie are even more gut-wrenching, making you truly hate the villains. There is a reason why Logan is rated R, and it’s not for bad language. The movie is only funny when it wants to be, and that strict emotional control over the audience makes Logan stand out. Logan doesn’t put the heroes on a level higher than the common person. In fact, every character has weakness both in and out of combat. It can be seen in the way Logan walks and how he takes being shot, signalling to the viewer that no matter how super these heroes once were, Logan is at the tail end of his life. This is a very vulnerable time for anyone, mutant or not, and it makes you understand the characters through action as opposed to dialogue. The only time I found myself laughing when I wasn’t supposed to was during the first fight scene in which Laura uses her claws. Admittedly it’s cool and all, but it is hard to not chuckle when an 11 year old girl is brutally cleaving fully grown men to bits.
There isn’t else much to say about Logan without spoiling key parts of the plot, so I will end with this final message: Logan is not only a great Marvel movie, it’s a great movie in general. The balance of brutal action and a tear-inducing story that Logan offers is something that up until now we have not seen in a marvel movie to this magnitude. My final verdict for this movie is an 8.5/10. Although this movie is not as perfect as Deadpool or other legends, Logan offers a new, darker interpretation of comic-book based movies. This unique action film has the potential to change the superhero movie industry, and Hugh Jackman’s last time playing Wolverine certainly ended on a powerful note. That’s all folks.
