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| "Yep, 17 years of playing Wolverine certainly takes it out of you!" |
It’s been a whopping 17 or
so years (most places are touting 2 decades to make it sound more impressive)
since the first X-Men movie hit our screens and proved two major things. These
are a) that it’s not just Marvel that can actually make a brilliant superhero
movie and 2) that the casting agency are second to none. Wolverine and Professor
X are two roles that Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart were born for, and they
made a perfect pairing then (and still do) in what my girlfriend called Hugh
Jackman’s Wolverine retirement movie.
Taking elements for a number
of different genres and recent movies, Logan never quite sits with its
predecessors nor the MCU. As I watched I saw numerous echoes of movies I’ve
seen before over the last few years. Elements of Mad Max: Fury Road, Iron Man
3, Skyfall, Deadpool and more, this is not particularly original but for fans
of the character Wolverine, there’s plenty to be chewing on.
An older Logan is now
driving a limo for the pleasure of others and an ageing Professor X is holed up
on an old factory ground. Being a base of sorts for both mutants, they have a
third mutant Caliban (Stephen Merchant) whom looks after the area as best he
can. Relationships are strained, but they get along adequately for their needs.
As the last remaining mutants, Prof X, Wolvie and Caliban keep their heads
down.
This is not the end though,
as a reluctant Logan picks up a ride and it turns out to be a nurse, Gabriella,
and her mute daughter, Laura. Newcomer actress Dafne Keen plays Laura superbly
with a mix of innocent cuteness and angry chaos. But they are not all what they
seem. As the story develops this R-rated movie (clearly following in the
footsteps of Deadpool) garrottes, decapitates and f-bombs its way through action
and road trip respectively to take the seemingly innocent Laura to North Dakota
where she can meet up with some people just like her.
Logan is a perfect send off
to conclude the run of movies that started at the beginning of the century. Of
course, there is a point at which the actors who play these timeless characters
will need to pass the baton on, and this movie was the perfect vehicle to do
this. Jackman and Stewart end their involvement with just the right amount of
nostalgia, emotion and storyline to reach a satisfying ending. However, the
movie also suggests something more on the horizon which doesn’t spell the end
for the X-Men universe.
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| "Logan with his new wheels" |
Logan is nothing like the
other movies, and, although there are a few uses of superpowers, these seem to
be more of a hindrance than a help. Logan himself is left in a rather weakened
state but is still lethal, however limps around and coughs and splutters like
Leo DiCaprio after he has been attacked by the bear in The Revenant. Although I
realise that this is to show weakness on the parts of the two main characters
due to ageing and being generally tired, sometimes it can feel a bit too
laboured. I wanted Logan to suddenly get a new wind and start to fight like the
old Wolverine. Although there are some scenes which are amazingly choreographed
and are suitably grisly for the fact we have a guy with razor-sharp claws attacking
someone, most of the movie is seeing a grizzled, beaten up Wolverine who is a
shadow of his former self.
In a nutshell, this movie is
stripped back, bare and shows powerful characters with their weaknesses. Not
unlike the movie Mr Holmes, these characters have definitely seen better days.
More story and more thought is in this one, which is in direct contrast to the
action packed, fly with the action movies we are used to. It is still a good
send off for some of the most beloved X-Men characters, though... until the
next time of course.
POPSCORE:
7.5/10
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