Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant and Dafne Keen
Director: James Mangold
Screenplay: Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green
Producers: Hutch Parker, Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner
Based on: 'Wolverine' by Roy Thomas, Len Wein and John Romita Sr; and 'Old Man Logan' by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven
Running Time: 2hrs 21m
Rating: 15
I'm baaaaaaaaaack! For what seems like the upteenth time, I'm relaunching Perfectly Honest Film Reviews. Since I do film studies and I go to a Sci-Fi and Fantasy Society, I decided to review the films I will subsequently watch a day after watching them. With that promise out of the way, here's my first comeback review: 'Logan'.
The X-Men franchise has had it's fair share of ups and downs but if any films have had the biggest downs in the franchise it will be the Wolverine films. Despite Hugh Jackman being terrific in the role and the only actor to appear in every X-Men film (unless you count Deadpool), his standalone films were pretty rubbish with 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' (Gavin Hood, 2009)being a gigantic convoluted mess and 'The Wolverine' (James Mangold, 2013) being boring and forgettable. With Hugh Jackman allegedly stepping down as the Wolverine and Mangold returning to direct, is this mini-franchise doomed or does it have a secret healing factor that can save it at the last minute.
What's the story? It's 2029, there are hardly any mutants left with most of the X-Men gone and no new mutants born for 25 years. James 'Logan' Howlett (Jackman), formally known as the Wolverine, has lost his healing factor due to adamantium poisoning and is slowly aging and dying whilst tending to an ailing Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart) whose degenerative brain disease cause him to have seizures that, because of his psychic powers, is a threat to humanity. When a nurse tasks Logan with helping Laura (Keen), a young mutant with powers very similar to Logan's, escape from Donald Pierce (Holbrook) and his army of Reavers, he must take Charles with him and get Laura to safety before Pierce catches up to them.
I'd better get any gripes I have with the movie out of the way first. I will say though that the movie's main problem is that it can get slow at points and whilst nothing is outright dull as every scene has a purpose both in the plot and with it's characters, the movie's length does get felt, particularly in it's final act. Other than that though, the rest of the film is pretty almost flawless, not only giving us the best Wolverine by far but maybe the best film in the X-Men franchise.
An impressive aspect of this movie is how little is explained. We don't exactly know why Logan is dying, nor are we explicitly told what happened to the X-Men or mutant-kind. Mangold and his writing team instead leaves clues for the audience to figure it out. This is a good thing because it demonstrates that Mangold trusts his audience to figure out what's going on without having the need to spoon-feed us. It's a very mature film in it's subject matter, content and it's treatment of it's audience and I respect that very much.
What's very surprising about this movie is how small-scaled it is, especially as it's Jackman's swansong. With most superhero movies, including those in the X-Men franchise, the world is usually at stake, there's an all powerful villain and the action sequences are very CGI-heavy. Here it's all stripped back. There's a limited cast, a group of children are at stake rather than the world and the action sequences are very grounded with minimum use of CGI. On top of that, the pay-offs to certain character arcs are intentionally anti-climatic to the point of possible disappointment. 'Days of Future Past' set up a brighter future for mutantkind but here, it's never been more bleak as what few mutant characters are left are at their lowest points. This isn't your typical X-Men film that's for sure.
This adds to the sombre atmosphere that accompanies Jackman's departure and it's strangely fitting. Logan is a man who's never felt peace in his life and nowhere is this more blatant than in this film. This isn't the Wolverine we're used to as he often staggers throughout the film with poor eyesight and an inability to break out his claws properly. As expected, Hugh Jackman is terrific here, portraying a broken and aimless Logan who has no hope for the future and this is a very fitting end to his time as the Wolverine. He's so synonymous with the role at this point that it's impossible to thing of a person who can take over and his portrayal is up there with Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool as one of the best Superhero portrayals in film.
That's not to discredit the rest of the cast who are all excellent here. Patrick Stewart portrays a very different Professor Xavier, one who is senile and a bit of a foul-mouth which is simultaneously amusing and sad since the once dignified professor has been reduced to a helpless old man and since it's Patrick Stewart, he just owns the role and he is certainly responsible for the film's more heartbreaking moments. Stephen Merchant is also very different as the mutant tracker Caliban. He has his stand out character moments and he has good chemistry with Jackman as he is basically Logan's voice of reason. It's very weird to see Stephen Merchant in such a serious role but he does very well here. Boyd Holbrook is appropriately slimy as the villain Donald Pierce though his character is sort of one note. Same with Richard E. Grant's Zander Rice who's an underdeveloped mad scientist. There is another villain as well which I won't spoil and though it's a perfect mirror of Logan's character and it has some good fight scenes, it's nothing special.
However, the standout actor besides Jackman is Dafne Keen who plays Laura. Laura is the only bright spot in this otherwise bleak film which is quite fitting since she actually has hope for her future whereas characters such as Logan and Professor X do not. Keen is wonderful in the film being very intimidating whilst nailing her more vulnerable moments as well as providing some of the very few laughs in the film. Her rapport with Jackman and Stewart is very strong and during the actions scenes... well let's just say in a film involving the Wolverine, she is the most vicious person on screen. She could give Hit-Girl from 'Kick-Ass' a run for her money.
Speaking of the action sequences, this is the first R-Rated Wolverine film and man does it pull no punches! The action is very brutal and no blood is left unspilled which is understandable as the main character has metal claws. The final act can dissolve into familiar comic-book territory which is a bit of a shame given how grounded the action and the movie is but it's thankfully nowhere near as jarring as 'The Wolverine's' climax. We also finally get to see Wolverine during berserker mode and boy is is satisfying to see!
James Mangold's direction isn't very flashy here but it still looks very good. The desert looks hostile with the use of harsh colours (though I hear the Black-and-White 'Noir' version is very good as well) and the cinematography is very well done with some stunning shots. There's no yellow costume or any superhero costume sadly but it helps add to the realism and Marco Beltrami's score is sombre and haunting. The effects are also very subtle with some impressive moments of violence as I've already mentioned.
Overall, this isn't a very fun film as it does wrap up the X-Men story in a rather underwhelming way but it's a very marvelous film! The actors, especially Jackman, Stewart and Keen are excellent, the film is refreshingly grounded, the action is spectacularly violent and James Mangold's direction is visually impressive despite it's limitations. Yes there are some weak characters and the film is a bit long but other than that, this film is the perfect ending for Hugh Jackman's time as Wolverine and a must watch for anyone that can stomach the violence. Oh and the final few moments are some of the most heartbreaking and will likely break both men and women. Thank you Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for giving us the definitive performances of your characters. You really were the two best parts of that franchise and I hope your future is brighter than your characters.
Side note: Whoever decided to use Johnny Cash as a major influence in the marketing of this film is a genius and should be promoted!
This film gets 4 and a half adamantium claws out of 5
What did you guys think of the film? Do you agree? Disagree? Sound off in any comments section below and be sure to like my Facebook page 'Joel Mole' and well as sharing this around social media outlets. Hopefully this will lead to more reviews in the future! Until then, fare thee well good people of the internet!
