[projekktor id=’27240′]
Logan is rumoured to be the final instalment of the Wolverine standalone X-Men films and Hugh Jackman’s last appearance as the regenerating mutant with adamantium claws. If the rumours are true, then it’s a fitting finale for the character.
Taking place about 10 years in the future, mutants have become an endangered species. While a few still exist, they live in hiding, and there hasn’t been a new mutant in years. Think Children of Men but with mutants. We reunite with Logan, the foul-mouthed, reluctant X-Man in an American border town where he is using his given name, James Howlett, and is making his way as an uber-esque limo driver. His home base is a dilapidated Mexican warehouse where we discover he is housing an ailing Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). While most elderly men suffering from an unidentified neurological disorder (a mix of dementia and epilepsy) are cared for in homes, Professor X is imprisoned in a lead lined silo and cared for by Caliban (Steven Merchant), a former foe whose mutant abilities allow him to track other mutants but prevent him from being touched by sunlight. The imprisonment of Professor X is to keep the population at large safe. Given his awesome brain power, if Professor X has a seizure, everyone has a seizure, and while his psychic mind might survive, most others don’t. Literally a ticking time-bomb, Logan’s been hiding the founder of the X-Men away until he can afford to get them out into open water – the final dream. Logan himself isn’t faring well either. Time is catching up to him and his regenerative powers aren’t what they once were. Suffering from adamantium poisoning along with a host of other issues – including blurred vision – the tenacious Wolverine isn’t the fighting force he once was. A quiet portrait of aging heroes a la Mr. Holmes, this film is not. Instead it’s a western styled action packed adventure with a fatality clause – old men fighting for a brighter future. And that’s where Logan really excels. Sure the action is fun but it doesn’t carry this film like it does the franchise. The story is what makes Logan a winner.
The X-Man Wolverine is a folklore, a legend, a comic book character, but he’s not James Howlett. James Howlett is a man whose lived too long, and suffered too much as result. But he’s done now, he’s found a way out and he’s going to take it. This incarnation of Logan is the perfect anti-hero. He’s not a wise-cracking gun for hire, he’s a good man who fought for the losing team, and history is written by the winners. So when a mysterious woman calls him “Wolverine” and begs for his assistance he’s skeptical. He wants nothing to do with her mysterious young charge or their desperate quest to get to sanctuary. But the hero inside him, and the urging of his own personal Jiminy Cricket (Professor X), won’t let him turn down people in need. The mission to bring a young girl, a mutant who shares powers very similar to his own, to sanctuary is eventually accepted by the rogue and he sets off on a cross country adventure with a sick old man and a mute young mutant, Laura (Dafne Keen) who might provide salvation not only for their kind but for Logan himself.
If this is truly Hugh Jackman’s final romp as Logan, then it is a perfect send-off. Logan offers a character study unlike any found in the other X-men films, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine or The Wolverine. Logan is dependent on the rich story and character development which is a nice change from the usual effects heavy superhero action blockbuster. The production almost feels naked with the comparable lack of green screen set pieces and big budget explosions. Director James Mangold ensured that the medium reflected the message. He didn’t make a flashy, action piece because the story does not call for it. What Logan promises is heart – and it has plenty of that. The beautiful landscapes, impressive yet isolated, juxtaposed against futuristic technology, bring the struggle between the two lead characters to their surroundings – the jaded, weathered old man adapting to the innovation brought on by a wide-eyed child. Logan is sure of itself and what it presents, which is far from expected of a franchise that, despite its longevity, has failed to set a clear tone. There’s a gravitas to this film, one that should be seen in more superhero films. Logan offers Fox’s X-Men series something different, a passing of the torch, proof that superheroes have stories more powerful than their abilities.
Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.
