 Not your typical superhero movie, Logan pulls at the heartstrings. I’m giving it an A-. Set in the future, Logan (played by Hugh Jackman) is slowly being poisoned by the metal skeleton as his healing properties are failing. Plagued by chronic pain, Logan works as a chauffeur in order to earn money to purchase medication for Professor X who he is caring for in Mexico. When a woman asks Logan to drive her and her “daughter” to North Dakota, Logan becomes the target of a deranged doctor who wants to create the perfect killing machine.
Laura (X-23) was created using Logan’s DNA in a lab, along with other children. When the children are unable to become the killers they were bred to become, they are killed. Gabrielle, a nurse, along with others, sets out to save the children and enlists Logan’s help. Unable to walk away from the money and with the Reavers on his tail, Logan, Professor X, and Laura set out on an epic road trip to stay alive.
Logan is a dark and violent movie. With the R rating, the violence jumps on the screen both from Hugh Jackman’s character and Laura. Her moves mimic a ballet as she jumps, spins and tumbles through her action sequences. It’s a little off-putting to see such a young child, so violent. Dafne Keen is amazing in her first movie role. Her expressive gaze shows way too much of her soul.
Patrick Stewart reprises his role as Professor X, now an old man with a brain disorder. Only medication keeps him from having a seizure and killing others. Patrick does an outstanding job as the broken former leader of the X-Men, now coming to grips with his own mortality. His mind is still a powerful weapon but like many elderly, his focus drifts between the past and the present.
Hugh Jackman’s Logan harkens back to the earlier “I don’t care” Wolverine, a badass with an attitude. His body is failing and his world has changed. His relationship with Professor X is touching. He cares for him and yet resents him at the same time. It feels like a parent/child relationship where now the child is caring for the parent. Some of the best moments come from the two men’s interactions.
While the movie was outstanding, it had some inconsistencies which left you sort of lost. We know that the mutants are gone, but it’s never addressed as to how and why. It also alludes to something that Charles did one year ago which he is blocking from his memory, but is never really explained. It’s also poignantly sad that when the characters finally get a glimpse of happiness, the rug is pulled out from under them, leaving them angry and lost again.
Logan will be remembered as a turning point in the X-Men franchise and a wonderful send off for Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart who both have said that they won’t be portraying these characters again. It also sets up a new series with new mutants. Just remember this isn’t a happy movie and the R-rating is there for a reason. Don’t bring young children to it.
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Melissa KeirIt's all about the movies... Archives
January 2020
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