Logan

In 2029, most of the world’s mutants are dead. One of the few survivors, James “Logan” Howlett (Hugh Jackman), the Wolverine, works as a chauffeur in Texas and smuggles prescription drugs into Mexico to help treat his ailing mentor, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), a disabled telepath whose seizures can paralyze anyone nearby. Centuries old and finally starting to break down, Logan plans a quiet retirement, a plan that is disrupted when a nurse (Elizabeth Rodriguez) formerly employed by the Transigen corporation enlists him to transport a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) north to safety. It isn’t long before Transigen’s head of security Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) is on their trail and Logan learns that Laura is, in Xavier’s words, “very much like you.”

Playing the same character continuously for seventeen years makes viewer fatigue all but inevitable, so it’s quasi-miraculous that audiences were not overjoyed when Jackman announced that this would be his last outing as Wolverine. Of course, it helps that he’s given a slightly different interpretation of the character in each film, ranging from funny cameos (X-Men:First Class) to horrifying ones (X-Men: Apocalypse) and from rugged anti-heroes (most of the previous X-films) to romantic leads (the ill-fated and character-derailing X-Men: The Last Stand). In Logan, Jackman provides yet another interpretation of the character: older, breaking down, cynical, and weary but still capable of ferocious violence. If previously Logan was running in search of his past, here he is now running from it, or, at the very least, haunted by its painful lessons. This vulnerable, nuanced take on what was (in-universe and out) often regarded as a one-dimensional killing machine is not only Jackman’s best work in the role but arguably one of the best performances in a superhero film, period.

Of course, Jackman has two factors working in his favor. The first is a group of capable and often familiar collaborators. Director James Mangold not only helmed 2011’s The Wolverine but also the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and the Western 3:10 to Yuma. The dusty Western setting and the themes of redemption all weigh heavily here. Jackman is also joined by stalwart Stewart in his last X-outing as well. For those who grew up watching an unflappable, (mostly) benevolent Professor X, seeing a deteriorating, dementia-ridden 90-year-old Xavier is jarring, but Stewart’s multifaceted performance balances crotchety grousing with flashes of his still-extant idealism. The group is given a boost by relative newcomer Keen, who makes quite an impression despite little dialogue, achieving characterization through gesture much in the same way as Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown.

The second factor that makes Logan stand out is that despite its origins (the Old Man Logan and Innocence Lost comic book arcs), it is philosophically not a comic book/superhero movie. Previous X-movies (and comic book adaptations in general) were big-budget, high-action affairs, allowing for a certain amount of escapism even as they dealt with topical themes (mutants have been a way to explore America’s treatment of racial and sexual minorities). Logan, on the other hand, is a more grounded and more personal film. If the grim future of X-Men: Days of Future Past, for example, is established by the presence of Terminatoresque robot overlords, then the grim future of Logan is established by the fact that it resembles our present, but for the (even greater) horror of being one of the few who are different. As an added wrinkle, X-Men comics exist within the world of the movie itself, and Logan is quick to dismiss them as overly simplistic distortions, reminding Laura that “people died.” And yet despite their distillation of the truth, they serve as an inspiration for Laura and others in her precarious position, mirroring (in a more abstract sense) how works of fiction might influence those of us who identify them.

Despite forsaking giant robots and demigods, Logan lacks not for excitement. If anything, it plays like a thriller at times, aided by fight choreography that makes the most of the movie’s R-rating. The implications of facing feral, clawed combatants are made painfully clear here. Marco Beltrami’s score also contributes tension when needed, but it never comes across as intrusive and also works to heighten the film’s more poignant moments (such as those between Logan and Laura).

If there is one letdown that results from Logan’s more serious approach, it is the film’s bland villains. Whereas X-Men: Apocalypse featured a grandiose, overpowered foe, Logan swings too far in the other directions. The Pierce of the comic books is a powerful mutant-hating cyborg and a high-ranking member of the Hellfire Club; Hollbrook’s character is a Southern-accented mercenary with a robotic hand. He’s still unpleasant yet nowhere near as formidable. The same can be said for Transigen researcher Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant). His penchant for amoral experimentation weighed against his stated desire to act in the best interest of humankind add some nuance, but Peter Dinklage beat him to the punch as Days of Future Past’s Bolivar Trask. Even the surprise antagonist X-24, another of Rice’s experiments, though more of a challenge, leaves something to be desired: why not bring back half-brother/archnemesis Sabretooth or introduce a version of Logan’s crazed son Daken instead?

Bleak and brutal yet surprisingly moving and thoughtful in its characterization, Logan is more than just a suspenseful send-off for a popular character. It shows that a kid-unfriendly approach isn’t necessarily a losing formula, that an adult superhero tale can still be one worth telling.

8.5/10