18 February, 2017
And it's still just as badass as any Wolverine fan could want.
The film's opening chapter takes place along a heavily militarised United States border with Mexico, in the near future. There are so many human moments between Xavier, Laura, and Logan that we wish there was more. Gabriela's trying to protect Laura from a group of deadly soldiers - called "reivers" - who also have been harassing Logan. Our hero - appreciating the film frequently questions if he's a hero at all - needs a plan B. It's a small detail, a little subversion of a cinema cliché.
However, the road movie structure doesn't help the movie's biggest problem: It feels long.
While it's fair to grade a movie against the curve of its predecessors, in this case I think it undermines Logan to exclusively compare it to other X-flicks. He's a broken down hero with faults, but you understand his hatred of the world and why it's so hard for him to find the beauty in it. It's an anachronous headliner at a festival that also included the premieres of an unexpected sequel to Trainspotting and a 105-minute beachfront Stellan Skarsgard picture (Return to Montauk), but Logan holds its own, artistically, as the sort of superhero movie that feels uniquely suited to the worldwide moment. Every scene, be it an escape, siege, or brawl, is in the film for a reason and changes the characters in some way. Sure, there are F-bombs (right from the off), but it's the tone, and the visceral nature of the violence, that make this very much a grown-up film. We understand on a deeper level why this guy is exhausted of life among humans and why that drives him to make some of the decisions in this film.
It's certainly been a good run and we've seen him go up against big-name threats from the comics like Magneto, Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike. That's essentially telling any fan under the age of 17, "Look, kid, if you want to see a superhero movie, you should see The LEGO Batman Movie instead".
Heavy-handed at times, this is not a fun movie and you'll leave feeling a little battered and bruised yourself.
The press screening of Logan was greeted by whoops and cheers and the reporters that backed the press conference that followed were effusive in their praise for Jackman, co-star Patrick Stewart (who reprises his X-Men role as Professor Charles Xavier) and for director James Mangold. Some viewers may be frustrated by this, and that's understandable. Violent and full of naughty words from the off, as well as some brief nudity, James Mangold's film is as impressive and refreshing as last year's Deadpool. He's not concerned about how Deadpool would fit in or where Storm is. After the third or fourth time that you've seen the X-Men crew go up against a powerful supervillain and face off against a city- or world-destroying force (often accompanied by a blue beam shooting towards the sky), you begin to wonder whether this franchise still has new stories to tell. Later, though, the comics prove valuable, suggesting there may still be a place for them in our world, provided their stories are handled with the level of care given to Logan.
"Hugh has raised the flag that says goodbye". Easily the best Wolverine outing, Logan is The Dark Knight of the mutant-filled X-franchise, a gripping film that transcends the comic-book genre by saying something important - and for Logan, that means coming to grips with needing loved ones in his life.
But if you're just going for the action and the performances, you'll more than get your money' worth. The story is simple and purposeful, grounded and handsome, and so brutally violent-it's unlike any other movie in the franchise.
