Green Goblin Reviews: Logan
Well, that’s it everybody. Pack it in. The X-Men movie franchise has gone off on a high note with Logan. Sure we’re gonna get another Deadpool and maybe another offshoot of some kind, but the mainline franchise? As far as I’m concerned, this is where they need to tap out. This is where the final curtain falls. I don’t want to see Brian Singer try to “save” the Dark Phoenix Saga. I don’t want to see Genosha or the Savage Lands or god forbid, House of M. If there’s one thing I want Fox to retain from this film, it’s that upscaling doesn’t really help them when the biggest hits of their X-Men films come from the two most recent small-scale film that manage to tell a simple story with a well-versed cast. I don’t want superhero movies to attempt to replicate this film either, because if it starts a trend, then the full impact of what this film does will be sorta tainted. And make no mistake, what this film does is pretty goddamn wonderful. Logan is the perfect ending to the X-men film franchise and if they announced tomorrow that they were shutting it all down and giving the rights back to Marvel, I’d be cool with it.
You may have heard by now how this film bares only a minor tangential connection to the comic “Old Man Logan”. You may have also heard that this is without a doubt a good thing, as the comic itself is…well, bad. They start from the same place, with Logan living out in the middle of nowhere and all of his former X-men teammates dead. His regenerative powers have started to slow, scars are forming, his claws are getting stuck and he swears about as much as you would expect of a 150-year-old war veteran. But rather than fighting inbred hillbilly Hulk offspring that have taken over half of the continental US (yes, that’s really the plot of the comic), this film find Logan put in charge of a mentally deteriorating Charles Xavier. Let me just say that one thing this film really nails is what it feels like to take care of a dying family member. I can speak from experience that it is frustrating to the nth degree; and not just in regards to the inevitable. You often have to deal with hostility, lack of cooperation, sleep deprivation, medication management, bodily functions and your own personal issues as time continues to go by. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart offer a stellar portrayal of this. I honestly was not prepared for how gut-wrenching these scenes would be, even with my repeated watchings of the trailers. Logan’s plan is to save up enough money to purchase a yacht and retire with charles out on the ocean. As luck would have it, a $50,000 deal lands in his lap when he’s tasked with taking a young girl from the Mexican border up to a sanctuary in Canada. The girl of course is X-23 (played by Dafne Keen), who gives Eleven a run for her money in the “girls who kick all kinds of adult ass” department (also, the “girls who linger on breakfast foods a bit too much” department). She is Wolverine’s clone (minus one Y-chromosome), created in a Transigen lab trying to reintroduce and weaponize mutants back into society as child soldiers. Obviously, Transigen is looking to reacquire this particular asset and hires a group of Cyborg mutant-hunting mercs known as the Reavers to do so.
The leader of the Reavers is Donald Pierce, played by Boyd Holbrook. And though I must acknowledge that he’s a solid actor that hands in an genuinely pleasing performance, it’s easy to see that he’s the weakest point of this movie as he is constantly overshadowed by the natural chemistry that Jackman and Stewart have playing off one another. Keen also fits in fairly well with the pair, though her muteness throughout the majority of the film might have helped with that. But this continues to push the balance of interest closer to the protagonist to the point where any individual bad guy would become interchangeable were it not for Holbrook’s dopey Southern accent or the establishing of a silly Final Boss at the end of the second act. Also, it’s honestly a testament to how strong the pacing, character development and overall plot is in this film about a man with knives coming out of his hands that it’s only just now dawned on me to talk about the action; which is to say that they outshine the action despite said action being the most enjoyably visceral in the X-men franchise to date. And I don’t just mean for Logan. Truth be told, X-23’s fight scenes are honestly even better. With her light nimble stature, she’s capable of doing flips and throws around adversaries that I never would have seen coming from such a young actress. Despite this being a hard R film, I predict a lot of X-23 halloween costumes this year for young girls
This film isn’t perfect. It lingers a bit in the second act but with the characters opening up in ways that previously haven’t been seen in the franchise before, it feels legitimately earned. I will say that the film benefits most from the fact that we’ve been able to see Jackman’s rendition of Wolverine on the screen since the start of the 21st century. I have literally been watching Hugh Jackman play Wolverine since before I started high school. So seeing how far he’s come as the character, the film dutifully leaves an impact that I honestly don’t think could be achievable with any other superhero film. I just really hope that studio execs realize this and don’t try to make the lightning strike twice. Sometimes, it’s just good to have a limited portion of something truly great.
9/10 Man, 2017’s looking pretty good from a movie-going perspective. Enjoy, bub.