LOGAN Spoiler-Free Review; "A Damn Fine Start To 2017's Superhero Movies"
Logan promises to wrap up Wolverine's story and Hugh Jackman's tenure as the iconic mutant, but does it deliver a satisfying finale for the X-Men character? Yes and no. Hit the jump for my verdict...
Like it or not, Hugh Jackman is done with Wolverine. The actor has donned the claws time and time again over the past seventeen years, but with Logan officially set to be his final adventure as the beloved mutant, he had to find a fitting story to go out on. For the most part, he and James Mangold have succeeded as they deliver a powerful and action-packed send off for the great X-Men character we first met way back when superhero movies were pretty much unheard of. So, why only mostly? As a comic book fan, it's impossible not to look at Logan with a wishlist of your own (never getting to see Jackman in that iconic costume is heartbreaking), but as it stands, this is still a damn fine way for the hero's story to be wrapped up and it's hard to get too upset about the what-might-have-beens when you just know that another version of Wolverine will no doubt grace the big screen at some point in the next decade. They'll just have a hard time on their hands topping what we see here!
Jackman is superb as the ageing mutant who has clearly lived far longer than he would have liked and endured more hardships than any one man should. With a failing healing factor and his many adventures finally taking a toll on a body slowly being poisoned by Adamantium, this is a Wolverine unlike any we've seen before and with that comes the actor's best performance in the role to date.
Patrick Stewart and Stephen Merchant are both also excellent, while Boyd Holbrook's Pierce makes for an entertaining bad guy (who is vastly more compelling than Richard E. Grant's Zander Rice, though much of that can be blamed on his lack of significant screentime). However, it's the young Dafne Keen who steals the show as Laura/X-23. Going into Logan, I was fully prepared for the character to be recast with an older actress taking over somewhere down the line, but now I just can't see anyone else being able to do the mutant justice whether she shows up in a solo spinoff or that rumoured X-Force movie.
However, the best part of Logan may very well be the action. With an R-Rating, Mangold is really able to let loose and it finally feels like we're getting to see THE Wolverine as a result. Limbs are torn off, heads roll (literally) and claws impale pretty much each and every body part. The violence is never just there for the sake of it, though, as the movie avoids the comical bloody violence of many other R-Rated releases to make what we're seeing as impactful as possible. Also, it just looks really freaking cool! Marco Beltrami's score is also outstanding, and while we've grown used to seeing comic book adaptations ignored come awards season, that definitely deserves some serious attention.
So, yes, overall, Logan definitely delivers everything we could have wanted from it. It's a tad overlong and it's not going to tick off every fan's bucket list of things they'd like to see Jackman's Wolverine do before he moves on from the role, but it's still a damn fine start to 2017's superhero movies. So, why the lack of a perfect score? The villains never really click and the introduction of a new foe for Wolverine really misses the mark. The decision to set the movie so far out of the X-Men Universe beyond some frustratingly vague mentions here and there is also strange and causes Logan to feel a little less satisfying than it otherwise might have. I also can't help but feel the ending could have been handled a little better, though it's definitely still powerful and moving enough to leave a lasting impact.
A strong ending to Hugh Jackman's tenure as Wolverine, Logan isn't quite a masterpiece but it definitely set a benchmark which the rest of this year's superhero movies may struggle to beat.
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