Logan Review

Justin and I saw Logan on March 4, 2017! When it comes to Marvel, the only universe I truly like is X-Men! Wolverine is in my Top 5 superheroes of all time! The X-Men trilogies are two of my favorite superhero movie installments. What Logan accomplishes is transcendence from a comic book movie to an action adventure, modern day western incorporating elements of the X-Men storyline based off the Old Man Logan comics. This is an amazing achievement in comic book movies, and is easily the best movie of 2017 thus far.

Hugh Jackman has done an amazing job in the role of Logan/Wolverine since 2000. Seventeen years in the role has shown Jackman make the character an extension of himself. In X-Men, Wolverine seems invincible due to his accelerated healing and adamantium skeleton. In Logan, we see a completely different side of him. He's battered, broken, vulnerable, and suffering with every step physically and emotionally. This was a performance that I personally would nominate for a Golden Globe or Oscar. Forget that it's labelled a comic book movie. Jackman's work in this movie really hits you hard. He's trying to navigate through the world feeling what human beings feel on regular basis: pain. He's struggling to deal with that. He's struggling with his health. You have to remember that nobody quite knows how old Wolverine really is. His bones, even with the adamantium skeleton, would be extremely brittle by 2029, which is the year this movie takes place. It's a performance that really combined the anger and rage brought out by his mutant side blended with the compassion and loving side in his human heart. It's a layered, complete performance that was the perfect swansong for the character. He has a mission of protecting Laura Kinney, Charles Xavier, and the future of mutants throughout this movie, while maintaining his health and sanity.

Where Logan is the focal point, we can't discount Patrick Stewart's performance as Charles Xavier. He was great in the original trilogy, and Days of Future Past, but his work here was some of the best work of his career. Xavier acts as a father figure for Logan. We watch Xavier suffer much like Logan is. He's the one telling Logan how to cope. He's the one telling him he still has a purpose (protecting the next generation of mutants and taking them to Eden), even if he's hard on him throughout the movie. He knows there's more to Logan, and it's been that way ever since he stepped into Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Logan has actually cared for Xavier more than any of his pupils in my opinion. While somebody like Cyclops or Storm were leaders and listened to his advice, Logan always showed how much he cared by coming back to the mansion or what he's currently doing making sure Xavier doesn't suffer in his older years. I like their bond. It makes sense that both would get frustrated at each other, but at the same time love each other to their core. You can sense it on all fronts.

Jackman was excellent. Stewart was excellent. However, the person that stole the show for me was Dafne Keen as Laura Kinney a.k.a. X23! This young actress came on the screen with such presence and fire that everybody in the theater was immediately enthralled. She already has a life time of pain and anger built up in her young life. The expression on her face tells us this. Her movements are quick and sudden, with deadly purpose. Each movement is necessary to protect herself and those around her. She's a survivor-extremely resourceful and extremely intelligent and assessing the situations around her. She has so many elements of Logan in her, but at the same time, her core is not as damaged as Logan. She is a brilliant, young actress that has a bright future. I was so amazed by her interactions with Jackman and Stewart. To me, it felt like a little family working together. You had Keen acting as the fragile daughter, Jackman acting as the father, and Stewart as the grandfather. There was so much natural chemistry between them. Everything just seemed to come naturally for Dafne. I loved the dialogue scenes with her and Jackman. I was really into their conversations in the car on the road to Eden, and during the finale of the movie (which absolutely brought me to tears).

This is a movie where performances of our heroes were some of the best you'll find in any comic book related movie. The action sequences were excellent-brilliantly choreographed, with magnificent brutality. The slice and dice combination of Wolverine & X23 is amazing to watch unfold whether it's in the compound at the beginning, the farm, or in the woods. I think they did a brilliant job of incorporating some subtle comedic elements-such as the dinner scene. I was laughing so much at Laura eating her potatoes with her hand, and Logan handing her a fork. This is an in your face, serious comic book movie that gives Marvel an edge that it sorely needed.

The performances, the action sequences, the mission, the dialogue, and the overall intense nature of Logan makes this a 5/5. It's one of those movies that will make you feel so many emotions-you'll laugh and you'll damn sure cry at what you see. I definitely did at least 3 times watching this. It's just an amazing movie that hit all the points it was supposed to and then some!