Logan (2017)

Logan may be the first great surprise of 2017.  Logan stars Hugh Jackman in his presumed final outing as Wolverine with Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor X.  The cast also includes newcomer Dafne Keen as X-23 and Richard Grant as Dr. Rice.  The film takes place in an alternate version of 2029 and the plot centers around Logan doing odd jobs while supporting a dementia addled Professor X.  Logan, while on a job, encounters a woman named Gabriela who would like Logan to transport her daughter Laura to a safe haven because she is one of the last new mutants discovered by Professor X.  The problem is that before Gabriela can make the journey with her daughter she is killed and her daughter is kidnapped.

Logan is a tortured soul in this film.  He’s tired of doing good and only seeing bad come from it.  Throughout this film, he feels he has no responsibility to Laura but Professor X reminds him how similar the two individuals are to each other.  I love the fact that Logan is so bitter about the past because while none of the negative events that occurred in Logan’s life are directly shown it is implied a lot of good characters we love died because Logan couldn’t save them from a disastrous event that occurred years earlier.   Beyond being tortured Jackman correctly plays Logan as extremely bitter and this works well considering the events unrelated to this new timeline that we’ve seen Logan experience in the past.

The best actor in this film is Jackman without a doubt because there is so much for him to play with since he’s portraying Logan since the franchise’s inception. The other two standouts of this film are Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen.  Patrick Stewart like Jackman has been with the X-men series from the beginning.  The fact that the Professor now suffers from a neurological deficit and is not able to control his powers makes the dynamic between the actors and their characters different and far more interesting than the previous teacher and student relationship they once held with each other.  Dafne Keen is a find.  She does more with a glance or a sneer than many more seasoned actors are able to communicate with hours of dialogue.  What also makes her spectacular is that the twelve-year-old actress also equally embraces the brutality and physicality of the role which would demand an immense amount from any actress.  She performs with class and ease.

Redemption and the urge to connect are the biggest themes present within Logan.  Jackman is distant throughout much of this film and as a result the whole film feels like an homage to the western genre despite having a post-apocalyptic setting.  Essentially as an audience member I was consistently rooting for Logan to unburden himself from past mistakes and embrace the present.  Watching Jackman portray that evolution of the character in an elderly state is such a beautiful thing to watch over a two-hour period and it may just be Jackman’s finest work.

One other element of the film that cannot be neglected is the fact that this film is extremely violent at times.  Logan marks the only time the character’s bloody rampage has been adapted to the screen.  Because of this violence, do not take children who are a fan of this comic book character to see this film.  It will not only be too much for them but it may also tarnish the image in their head of the character they love.

Ultimately Logan is a redemption story as the entire film series of solo films have been since the beginning of the solo franchise.  Audiences consider Logan redeemed.