Film of the Week: Logan

The only way I can describe this film is it’s the most down to Earth superhero film yet, being that it doesn’t go out of its way to be a superhero film. Logan’s frail, his adamantium skeleton is slowly poisoning him as his healing factor is gradually failing with age. He can still heel from large wounds, but it takes much longer for him to recover properly.

Logan has purposefully separated itself from the previous films by keeping itself contained, even removing the end credit scene to cement the fact that Logan’s story has truly come to an end – but it keeps that continuity from the previous films by treating us like adults, not idiots who need everything explained to us in each scene. He’s tired, he’s been alive for so many years, he only wants it to be all over.

There are plenty of action scenes, and when Logan fights, there’s a sense of weight behind each punch, and when he gets hit, you wince too. In between the fight sequences aren’t boring talking segments, but instead are gripping scenes that you actually want to continue because another fight sequence means Logan will get hurt due to his age and illness. The franchise doesn’t just say goodbye to the character, but it’s filmed in such away, we, the audience, get to say goodbye as well; it explores the connection we’ve built up over the years and doesn’t disappoint by breaking it wrongly, but instead gives us an ending we all deserve.

Hugh Jackman has surpassed himself with his performance. He’s played the role for 17 years. He knows the character through and through, just as much as the fans of the franchise, and so is able to portray the character better than ever before. This film is a perfect send off to the character we’ve seen develop and grow for nearly two decades.

This isn’t the only character we get to say goodbye, but also Charles Xavier, portrayed once again by Patrick Stewart. His powerful abilities have become unpredictable with age – he needs plenty of medicine to keep himself under control, and he’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. We see Logan’s and Charles bond stronger than ever before. Charles is essentially the only reason why Logan wants to stay – he’s Logan’s closest friend and really the only mutant left in the world after the X-Men disbanded. Together, they are forced to go on one last adventure together when they discover a child who’s a mutant, but also possess powers identical to that of Logan’s. Laura Howlett, played by the extremely talented Dafne Keen, was a victim of experimentation at a secret base in an attempt to create mutants for battle. When the children stood their ground and broke free from the facility, they all run for the Canadian border, where they will be safe.

Their journey isn’t easy as they are pursued by what remains of Weapon X, a government experimentation lab that gave Logan is adamantium skeleton. These people are hunting down the children that escaped.

Logan also stars an unrecognisable Stephen Merchant. I know of Stephen from his comedy work here in the UK, working alongside Ricky Gervais, and is well-known for staring in numerous comedy films and TV programs. He does have that recognisable voice, and when I heard his character in Logan, Caliban, Speak, I had to second-guess myself and look up Stephen’s name to see if it really was him. This quite far from his comedy work with being an epic, emotional superhero film, but he plays his character exceptionally, adding another notch on his belt, and hopefully opening more doors for him in the future. I was pleasantly surprised to learn he was in Logan, and I do hope he is in more similar projects.

It is a wonderful send off to the Wolverine character, and so it will be a shame if and when they do recast the character. Being a world adapted straight from the comic books, anything can happen, and so his story can continue, but Logan’s story comes to an emotional and elegant, and with Hugh portraying Logan for 17 years, seeing someone else running around in Wolverine’s shoes would seem strange and abnormal, but that hasn’t happened yet, so there’s no point in getting worried about it. For the time being, I do highly recommend this film.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)