Logan
I’ve often attributed the success of the first X-Men film to a small line spoken by Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). When asked if it hurts when adamantium claws emerge from between his knuckles, he takes a moment and quietly responds: “every time.” Logan is a feature-length mirror image to that moment, standing at the opposite end of the role that made Jackman a star. It is a harsh, brutal, and generally hopeless exploration of the death of heroes and the future of those who are left behind. With all that baggage, it is surprising that the film is so incredibly worth seeing. Why is Logan destined to become a blockbuster hit and oft-discussed superhero film when so many gritty superhero movies are dead on arrival?
Performance is the main key here. Jackman is astonishing as Logan, who in the desert of 2029 Texas has watched most of his mutant brothers and sisters fade away into obscurity. He’s now a soldier with no fight, and little fight within himself as his regenerative abilities are fading. His downtrodden weariness is broken up by spurts of violence where the old Wolverine surfaces. These moments undoubtedly mirror Jackman’s fatigue with the role (this is his ninth outing) balanced with his love of it — the contemplative tragic figure with the action hero.
Linked with the performance is the plot itself, which balances Logan’s ennui with the promise of one last ride, a mission that could offer him redemption. Compelled by fate and encouraged by dying old mentor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Logan must make a perilous cross-country journey to deliver young mutant Laura (Dafne Keen) to a safe haven away from government agents that relentlessly pursue her. This path leads the trio through the heartland of America where the film delivers its heavy-handed but affecting metaphors on peace, redemption, and ‘Murica.
The world-building of this future is another key component of its success. There is little sci-fi technology and an entire new lexicon of commonplace terms for us to catch up with. In many ways, the world is trying to forget that the now-extinct mutants ever happened and is attempting to piece itself back to the way it was before they arrived. Logan and Xavier’s moments reflecting on the glories and mistakes of the past are heart-wrenching when viewed through this lens. The future does not seem full of promise in Logan, a thought painfully visualized when seeing the once unflappable and ever-hopeful Xavier reduced to a shell of himself and angrily cursing at Logan and the world. Having been a fan of the X-Men films from their beginning, these moments crushed me.
On top of the gloomy atmosphere, Logan is peppered with moments of extreme violence which visually unleash Wolverine’s inner pain. These action sequences strike a fine balance between a fun superhero fight while still causing us to cringe and not take them too lightly. While not exceptionally shot, the action springs from character and it is much appreciated.The movie also contains well-observed jokes that sprout from good character interaction, so it is not entirely devoid of levity. The depressing part is that these gags are diamonds in the rough, and larger events that offer hope and mercy quickly dissipate into the black hole of despondency and violence.
Yet, the movie is a success because these elements ring true to a character who has lived a life of pain and violence in a world that could only fear him and his kind. There is an air of finality and closure that is missing in most superhero films, and the film acts as a drawn-out goodbye to the character we have spent seventeen years with. Goodbyes are painful, but they are also cathartic. Because Logan is a well-made farewell that stays true to the Wolverine, it is finding success. Though a victim to yet another Weapon X supermutant symbolic of Wolverine’s past self, the small cast and the delicate web of commitment and love that binds them is extraordinary. That hope cannot survive in the world of Logan, but listen to Sir Patrick Stewart romanticizing about Shane and tell me it couldn’t in ours.
4 stars.
