Movie Review : Logan

Logan. I am not really sure what I can say after watching it. Let me put it like this; after 17 years of playing the character Hugh Jackman, along with director James Mangold, has managed to create a film that completely encapsulates the character of the Wolverine and cements once and for all that no one can play the character better than Jackman.

I read somewhere that Logan was Marvel’s “The Dark Knight”. I disagree. Logan is a much more grounded character study that manages to make us care for the characters much more than the Dark Knight. I love the Dark Knight, and I think it is one of the greatest films of all time, but the film rested on the shoulders of the antagonist to make sure that the stakes for the hero were high. What we get here are characters with motivations and beliefs tied to what they have gone through which becomes the cause of the conflict.

I am not sure that I can do this movie justice without spoiling certain parts of it, so maybe this can be seen as an in depth  look in what makes Logan one of the greatest films that I have seen. The story revolves around Logan, a much older, weaker and maybe even sick Logan, who looks after a very old Charles Xavier, who has become senile. When we first meet Logan in this movie, you can see how broken he is. This is a result of the nature of the life he lived, from a very small age forced to fend for himself, fighting in wars along with his brother, being experimented on, made into a killing machine and through all this losing everyone he has come close to.

The only points in his long life that he has found some form of stability and happiness were the days when he was a part of the X Men, and that too disappears because of the nature of his mutation. He ages incredibly slowly and he outlives everyone he cares about. The character we get in this movie is a result of all the things that he has gone through.  You see a very selfish and closed off old warrior, who has been cast aside because he is no longer useful. You see a damaged soul trying to cling on to the only semblance of family that he has left, Charles Xavier.

The relationship between Charles and Logan is so beautifully and tragically explored in this film and it is in some of these character moments that the film managed to choke me up. When Logan was wandering aimlessly, Charles took him in, made him part of the X Men and gave him a purpose. Charles was, in essence, the only father figure that Logan had, and by extension the only family he has left. Logan is incredibly protective of Charles, and in many scenes the way he disregards everything to find Charles comes of selfish, but you understand why he is like that.

Because of his age Charles Suffers from seizures and, since he is one of the most powerful psychics in the world his seizures also affect people around him, sometimes even killing them. The only person who is impervious to being frozen when Charles has seizures is Logan and he smuggles medicines to make sure he doesn’t have any. The tragic relationship that they share, where the father has become the child is evident from the first conversation that they have. Charles is very possessive of Logan, and yet accuses him of waiting for Charles to die just like all the other X Men so that he can be alone and free. There is even a conversation where says that Logan might as well kill him and get over with it, which is so heartbreaking on so many levels.

Throughout the conversations in the movie you get a few small clues of what happened in this world and the story that you piece together is not a very happy one. The year is 2029 and most of the mutants are dead because of two main reasons which we learn through the course of the movie, and Logan shields Charles from the real reason the X Men are not alive anymore. In one incredible revelation scene in the movie we find out that Charles knows the reason and he is happy that Logan chose to continue taking care of him, despite the things that he did. And while this moment would have been touching it, takes a turn for dark when we find out that he isn’t talking to Logan and he may have even passed on thinking that Logan did kill him.

The farmhouse scene that is in the movie is so tragic that even thinking about makes me choke up. The way Logan rushes to help Charles and tries to tell him that it wasn’t him that tried to kill Charles, and you are left with the injustice of how Logan was robbed of the closure from the one man he saw as a Father and as a guiding light in his downward spiral that is his life. The next scenes do suggest that Charles did know it wasn’t Logan, but it is the ambiguity that hurts us so much.

Let me talk about another amazing part of the movie; X-23. Laura Kinney is a ferocious beast, and Dafne Keen the actress that plays here, has this haunting look to her. You know that this girl has gone through a lot more than she lets on she is so ferocious on the screen. She also becomes the person that makes Logan take on the role of a father figure, something that Logan does a lot of in the comics.  She also gives Logan a reason to go on after losing Charles and in the end something to fight for. Logan sees a lot of himself in this girl and he fights to make sure that she doesn’t have a life of a killer, like he did. Nearing the end of the film it becomes his only goal, and something he fights madly for.

This movie is a western Drama with brutal action in between. And, trust me when I say this, the movie earns its R rating; every fight is brutal and bloody and it never shies away from the carnage left behind both to the victor and the victim. The Killing happens for a reason and that makes it all that much more impactful. Technically speaking, the movie has three villains and while all of them are intimidating enough, it makes sense that they exist to create much more turmoil, both emotional and physical for the characters.

The acting, the visual effects, the writing everything in this movie is fine tuned to an insane degree and i cant love it enough for that. Who knows, maybe Dark Knight won't be alone for long, with an Oscar. One can only hope.

This movie is not faultless, but what few faults it does have are completely overshadowed by the incredible story and characters and acting on screen. I say this with careful consideration; despite having seen so many superhero movies, this is my favorite of them all, because while it is a “Superhero Movie” the heroes are so very human. Logan is the best possible farewell Hugh Jackman could have given the character and it is something every movie lover must watch, even if you don’t like comic book movies.

It almost seems criminal to confine this to a rating system, but since I have been giving movies ratings, I will give it a 9 out of 10. Good bye Hugh Jackman, you were the perfect Wolverine. Until next time;

Peace!!