Checked out Logan, the latest – but certainly not the most typical – X-Men movie. As you may have heard, this is a tough R rated Wolverine movie with graphic violence and swearing. This is, I think, a great example of Hollywood learning and applying a lesson smartly. Deadpool made them a lot of money as an R rated superhero comedy that didn’t cost a lot to make. They took that lesson, made a relatively low budget superhero flick with an R rating but they made an adult-oriented drama and not a comedy. A lower budget allows them to take more chances.
The tone is what makes this movie interesting and special. This movie doesn’t feel like any superhero movie before and certainly not like any X-Men film. It’s closest to the tone of The Dark Knight – a movie that takes place in a believable world that takes this super-heroing business seriously. This is one of the most mature, dramatic action superhero flicks I’ve ever seen and I love that. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good superhero film that feels comic-booky – basically all the Avengers movies are like that – but there’s something special when you take a movie ostensibly in one genre and you film it like another.
The basic premise is that it’s around fifteen years into the future and most of the mutants are gone. Logan/Wolverine is feeling his age, he isn’t as agile as he used to be, he isn’t healing as well, his claws are a look janky. He’s taking care of a very sick Professor X who is having mental issues (which is a problem for a psychic)… when a little girl with her own abilities comes into their life. The movie turns into a road picture and a western and kick-ass action film all the while being one hell of a movie for the actors to strut their stuff in a way no movie in this series has allowed them before.
Hugh Jackman is fierce, tired, and aged – you can feel the years on him and he hear the regret in his voice. He’s never been allowed to be this serious and this emotional in any of these movies before (hell, maybe in any movie). It’s a logical and mature progression for the character and the actor. Patrick Stewart is great too – he’s always a great actor but he gets to stretch a lot of acting muscle playing his aging Professor X. These two out-act anything they’ve ever done in any of these movies and even Stewart is doing things we rarely get to see him do.
The little girl is a newcomer named Dafne Keen (great name) and she’s seriously good too. She isn’t given a lot of emotional range due to who her character is – she needs to be stoic and fearsome for most of the flick. She does let in some more emotion as the movie progresses and she earns every bit of it. But mainly its her pissed-off attitude and great action scenes that drive her – but I think there’s more to the actress than is shown.
Speaking of that action, I’ve spoken about how dramatic and adult the movie feels… but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some awesome action scenes. The action is (as mentioned) very brutal in a way that you realize you kind of wished you’d had in previous Wolverine movies. But it’s also well-filmed and choreographed and there’s was only one moment where I thought I was looking at a digital actor. The sequences are filmed so you can follow them with reasonably long takes and with a lack of shaky-cam confusion.
So as much of a mature, adult, dramatic film that doesn’t feel at all like a superhero flick, it still gets down and dirty (and dusty) with some amazing and intense action. If this is, indeed, both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart’s last turn as these characters, they went out on a great note.
I should also add that the trailers gave away not as much as they usually do. There’s not a deep and involved story here but I don’t think everything was spoiled from minute one. Most of the trailers took place within the first 30 minutes of a 2 hr 15 minute flick so there’s certainly more surprises, action, and dramatic beats to be found.
And, finally, there isn’t exactly an end-credit scene. There is a pre-opening credit scene which is pretty neat itself. Probably not at the end of the movie because the tone would be all off. Plus there’s a use of music that must have been a real challenge to get – studios had to agree, money had to change hands. It’s pretty funny.
So there ya go. I highly recommend this movie as a showcase for acting and directing talent – as a movie that dares to up-end all conventions of its own series of movies. To be adult without being immature about it. This is one of the best films in its genre, and that’s saying something because its barely in its own genre while being completely a genre piece (action-wise). This is a strong recommendation
Score: 90