If you’re a fan of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the X-Men movie franchise, then it is pretty safe to assume that you should run, not walk to the theaters to watch Logan. I couldn’t recommend it more. Even if you are not, Logan still delivers a very enjoyable, standalone experience that offers up a good time.
In his final performance as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman delivers one of his best performances as Logan. If Jackman wasn’t synonymous with Wolverine in your mind before (seriously, why wasn’t it), then Logan will solidify it. The look and feel of the character have grown to a much greater extent in Logan and much of that is the result of the film’s ‘R’ rating. The rating has unleashed one of the X-Men comic’s most violent and visceral characters allowing Jackman more liberties in portraying Logan. Instead of getting the generic happy go lucky PG/PG-13 superhero, Logan delivers a flawed man coping with internal struggle and strife. Hopefully Hollywood will take heed that superhero movies need not be PG-rated family affairs.
The supporting cast led by Patrick Stewart (Xavier) and Dafne Keen (Laura) play their roles well in the movie. Both Stewart and Keen help Jackman bring out sides of Logan that have not been seen in prior movies before. Xavier draws out the close bond and loyalty of Logan while Laura helps to humanize him. While Logan will never be the kind caring parent type, the two main supporting roles let us see his internal struggle with the things he has seen and the future that he wants.
Action in the movie is not for the faint of heart. The scenes are gory but fit in with the overall tone of the film. Fans of the Wolverine will be happy to see their favorite hero come to life in a way the more closely resembles the comics than the prior films. This movie definitely portrays the action with much more grit and intensity that should be expected from the Wolverine.
The overall story could have benefited from some clearer direction. The audience is thrust into plot with no real background. New characters were introduced without any lead into them. If you were not a comic book buff, the audience may have been at a loss and would need to piece together the story for themselves. Besides that, the flow is decent and there did not appear to be any gratuitous scenes that were just stalling for time. Logan also tries to keep in line with the prior Wolverine and X-men films with many references thrown about. There are also a ton of easter eggs hidden in the movie for fans to keep an eye out for. I was able to spot approximately 5 myself but there are probably more.
If you’re a fan of the X-Men films, Logan will take you for a ride.
