Logan (2017) Review

Logan is the third and final stand-alone ‘Wolverine’ movie. I was not a fan of X-Men Origins or The Wolverine, but I enjoyed the hell out of Logan. This is the Wolverine movie we’ve been waiting for.

LOGAN manages to succeed at making an R rated superhero western set in the future. It would seem difficult to combine those different genres into a fluid movie but Logan does it brilliantly. Logan is old and sick, as is Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). They soon discover Laura, a young girl, who is, as far as they know, the first mutant child in over 20 years. They try and get her to a school at the US-Canada border where she will be with other mutant children and supposedly be safe. Along the way they are chased y the organization that genetically created Laura and is trying to get her back. The premise seems simple enough, but the simplicity of it seems to compliment the extremely complicated X-Men timeline.

For Logan the R rating makes all the difference and is really what sets it apart from the franchise. The fight scenes in the film are miraculously gory, especially considering Laura has the same kind of powers Logan does. The stabbing and slashing in the fights are so brilliantly bloody and completely awesome. It doesn’t go over the top, but is certainly not toned down at all. The fight choreography is also very fluid and beautiful. While there are parts that are fast cutting, some of the fight scenes flow very well. The humor is also very present in Logan, not as much as Deadpool obviously, but as much as any other Marvel movie should have. Logan is tons of fun and is also very heartfelt. It is the perfect send off for Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. It left me actually wanting more and wishing they could have made the last two Wolverine movies more like this one. The Deadpool teaser in the beginning is also hilarious. By the end of Logan I was relieved they didn’t put the Deadpool scene as a post-credits sequence because it definitely would have ruined the mood and tone set by the Logan ending. The acting in Logan was great as well, not only by Hugh Jackmman who portrays an angry, old version of Wolverine but b newcomer Dafne Keen who plays Laura. Dafne’s character doesn’t have any dialogue for the first three quarters of the movie. This means we had to read her emotions without her saying anything, which has got to be tough for a child actor. Dafne was absolutely phenomenal and I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of her.

Overall Logan has the perfect mix of gore, humor, violence and nostalgia. It’s a blast and I will sincerely miss Hugh Jackman in this iconic role. Logan is not only the best Wolverine movie but also one the best X-Men films as well as one of Hugh Jackman’s best. A

Directed by James Mangold

Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen