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 (030617)
If Hugh Jackman really means it and this is THE last time he will ever portray
Wolverine, he has picked a perfect way to go out on top. His last hurrah as the
Wolverine is the best yet. “Logan” synthesizes comic book characters into the
real world in a way that’s only been reached in what Roger Ebert called the
“engrossing tragedy” of the “The Dark Knight.” Despite being the ninth addition
to the beloved Jackman Wolverine cinematic canon, feels like a quantum leap in
the character. Writer/director James Mangold understands the elemental make-up
of the Wolverine and Professor Xavier and uses mutations as dramatic
enhancements for this profound tale of redemption. Logan is not a superhero
movie. It’s a neo-western with a tragic, reluctant anti-hero feeling guilty for
using his unique ability to cause mayhem and destruction to help others avoid
the violence and pain all too familiar in his own life.
Mangold and his co-writers (The Wolverine and Minority Report screenwriter Scott
Frank and American Gods writer/show-runner Michael Green) have managed something
that’s been frustratingly rare over the past decade-plus of grim-n-gritty
superhero takes: they earn the tone by developing a rich, even nuanced emotional
landscape around their characters. And they show a rare commitment to the theme
by taking their story to an uncompromising, even horrifying finale. Plenty of
recent superhero films dabble in grimness seemingly out of a feeling that it
makes wish-fulfillment hero-fantasy more serious and adult. Logan tells an
actual adult story about despair, decay, and death.
“Logan” isn’t a slave to any particular comic book story, despite sharing some
aesthetic attributes to the comic book ‘Wolverine: Old Man Logan’ (written by
Mark Millar) and thematic similarities to ‘Wolverine’ (by Chris Claremont and
Frank Miller). “Logan” is a simple tale, one where once heroic figures have now
faded into obscurity. In 2029 mutants have all but disappeared. It appears that
genetic mutation has been eradicated and those that remain are in hiding. On the
U.S/Mexico borderlands Logan (Jackman) and Caliban (Stephen Merchant) are caring
for nonagenarian Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), whose grip on his supremely
powerful mind is slipping away. A mysterious woman appears to enlist Logan as an
escort for Laura (Dafne Keen), a young special girl on the run from robotically
enhanced Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) his soldiers the ’Reavers’. Compelled to
see the girl to safety, Logan, Charles and Laura get on the road to escape the
dogged pursuit of this shady organization.
Of course Jackman’s performance as Logan is stellar; he’s often been the
highlight of the Fox mutant franchise. In every frame of the film he’s
delivering a commitment to the performance and to character that he’s been
waiting for the material to offer. This is a deeply damaged soldier duty bound
to loyalty and mantles that he knows no-one else would be suited for. With
Charles’ condition, although Caliban is assisting, there’s no-one who can stand
next to this unstable atomic reactor of a mind. Jackman is raw, tough, wounded
and there’s nothing he holds back in this final iconic performance.
The chemistry between the central trio of characters Logan, Charles (Stewart)
and Laura (Keen) propels the film. Stewart and Jackman have been waiting to be
able to unleash the fury in their roles, without censorship training wheels.
When you hear Charles chastise Logan and drop a convoy of F-Bombs in frustration
at Logan’s means of care you feel like the relieving laughs are cathartic for
the entire series worth of performances. Stewart’s Charles in “Logan” is a shell
of the titan he was and it’s distressing. Stewart relishes an opportunity to
lose control of his weaponize mind. Mangold doesn’t allow Charles into our heads
in “Logan” and forces Stewart into a performance that casts doubt on whether
he’s able to harness any of his remaining power. A quiet interlude where the
trio are watching the classic film Shane in a hotel gives Stewart, perhaps one
of his best moments on screen. His recounting of seeing Shane for the first time
as a child is subtly melancholy.
Dafne Keen is the absolute stand-out of the film. Spending at least half of the
movie without saying a word; she’s got a fury, a terrifying force in a
diminutive package that makes her believably emotionally delicate and explosive.
A couple of meta-moments in the film allow Mangold to make some subtle
commentary on the state of the comic book. Both in print and in the mediums
movie translations. When we see Logan and Charles conversing with each other
about their possible future, while in a large, empty cistern, the symbolism was
not lost. Another less subtle scene involves Logan referring to comic books as
“ice cream for bed-wetters”.
There are some fantastic special effects but they’re crafted to intensify
moments of conflict. It’s a film that finally adds emergency room gore and
consequence to clashes between our heroes and those who would stand in their
way. Wolverine’s lightning fast healing ability has now slowed to a crawl and
his body is a mass of grizzled scar tissue. Watching him drag a stuck
retractable claw to its full length and tearing up his hand in the process shows
the extent of the degradation. The main use of digital effects is visualizing
Charles using its power as it’s slipping away. In a stop along their journey,
Logan is finding a replacement to their bullet hole riddled limousine. As he
arrives back at the Casino hotel, he sees Pierce’s ‘Reavers’ have descended and
just as he’s calculating what kind of violence that he’s going to have to dish
out to cut his way to Laura and Xavier the very air begins to shift and shake.
If you’ve seen Bryan Singer’s original X-Men, you’ve witnessed the peak of the
Professor’s power. In a flash when Bobby a.k.a Iceman and Pyro get into an
altercation that reveals their powers in a crowded museum food court the entire
population is suddenly frozen. Now in his 90s, his grip and control on his mind
is slipping. When Charles uses his power time slows, the air quakes and most are
stuck in a disorientating pulsing seizure. Logan, less impacted due to his
power, wades through the vibration, killing frozen foes all the way until he can
administer medication. Mangold and Stewart craft a relatable blight that is
usually reserved for what we see in characters suffering from dementia.
Mangold and Jackman paired up for two Wolverine tales. They represent the
morality, empathy and archetypal echoes of those begrudging rogue cowboys
compelled to do good; whatever town they come upon. Comic book movies have
desensitized us to consequence. Death is too often a passing fad, easily
corrected. “Logan” defies those limitations. Stripped of their pen and ink
testosterone, we can see them as human. It’s not as sexy as ripped muscles and
lycra tights, but it’s as real as the genre can get without sacrificing our
inner child on the cold altar of hard facts and undeniable mortality.
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