Logan (2017)

Of all the comic book movie franchises, X-Men has been the most inconsistent. It ranges from legitimately awful (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Apocalypse) to mediocre (X-Men, Days of Future Past, The Last Stand) to pretty solid (The Wolverine, Deadpool) to pretty good (X2: United, First Class). Spanning nearly two full decades, the series partially responsible for kicking off the superhero movie craze has also survived almost exclusively on that craze. When the movies are awful, there's no concern that the franchise won't just continue on in spite of it.

After seventeen years of mostly Wolverine-centric stories, and some of the most perfect castings in comic book movies with Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, Logan might be the only installment worth considering "great" within the genre. Perhaps the biggest reason is that director James Mangold has embraced the fact that the X-Men timeline makes no sense. It has become an especially convoluted mess with Days of Future Past. Instead of trying to cram it somewhere in the larger universe and its timeline, Mangold and company decided to craft a story mostly independent of it. Yes, there are references to the first X-Men, but they are quick and subtle moments. There isn't a requirement to have seen it to understand.  And yes, this works especially well if you are familiar with at least the first film, in which you go in understanding that Wolverine and Professor X are mutants who have formed a bond. Still, that is pretty well implied from the get-go, regardless.

The story takes place in 2029 at a time when mutants have been dying out due to a mysterious virus. Wolverine is dying because the adamantium covering his skeleton is poisoning his body, and the virus is impeding his healing ability. Charles Xavier is in his 90s and has suffered degenerative brain diseases, making him incredibly dangerous if not properly medicated. Everyone else is long gone. The focus on a smaller cast of characters provided adequate time for the few central ones to develop and display proper arcs. When the two retired superheroes find a new mutant girl escaping from a lab creating mutant soldiers, they opt to help escort her from Mexico to Canada. Xavier, predictably, desperately wants to help. Logan, per usual, begrudgingly does. He wants to remain isolated.

Essentially, it's a story that combines elements of Mark Millar's (very overrated) Old Man Logan story and The Last of Us video game. A road trip movie in a bleak, but relatively grounded world, it sets up an emotional journey. The character arc for Logan is not an unfamiliar one - the rough, loner Wolverine reluctantly makes a connection with a young girl and becomes a somewhat protective father figure by the end, like in X-Men - but it is a bit different, and the parallels serve as a nice bookend to the Hugh Jackman take on the character. He starts off more angry at the world, and more reserved than he did in the first film, and he seems to try even harder to avoid making a connection with Laura (X-23). This actually highlights that he has been through an emotional roller coaster that ended with more lows than highs. We know he's been through the ringer at the start in 2000, but he's clearly been through a lot worse by 2017.

What makes Logan stand out above the fray is its lack of concern about "world building," or even making sure to fit into the larger cinematic timeline. Nerds can, obviously, argue about its placement, but the filmmakers clearly don't care much about it. They used the toys in the sandbox to create a unique story with a darker, yet more character-driven story, with no concern about putting the toys back. This allowed for creative freedom not really seen in the franchise before, and is sorely lacking in the superhero genre.

The action is violent, complete with decapitations, skull piercing claw stabs, loss of limbs, and plenty of moments that seem completely out of place for a genre that has played it safe in the world of PG-13. Additionally, there is no shortage of cussing (sometimes a little excessive and unnecessary and feeling a bit like they did it just because they could). There is even a moment wherein a woman flashes Logan. Suffice to say, this is not a superhero movie for kids.

And that's what makes it actually pretty interesting. The violence actually sort of serves as a deconstruction of the genre. Superheroes fight mostly because they have to. No one wants to see super-powered beings talk things over. There always has to be a fight sequence that ultimately feels rather safe for the main characters. Fisticuffs is the only way they can solve problems, and it kind of cycles into this idea that violence is fun. It's fictional boxing, basically. In Logan, the violence occurs because the heroes literally have no choice. They are vulnerable and being pursued by people who want to harm them. They would prefer to flee to Canada and live in safety. At the end, the new mutant kids take flight, only resorting to fighting when there is clearly no alternative. This is violence with emotion and with purpose, rather than just because it has to be there.

There is a weight to the action as well. At no point does it feel like the main characters are safe. By limiting the healing factor of Wolverine, even he feels exposed. When he gets shot or hit, there is legitimate concern. At the very beginning of the film, he is being subdued by a bunch of random car jackers who give him a limp just by kicking him a bunch. This is not the overpowered Wolverine of Bryan Singer years.

Logan might also feature the best acting in a superhero movie outside of the Nolan Batman trilogy. Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman have always been great as Charles Xavier and Wolverine respectively, but they put in such powerful, nuanced, and emotional performances that it makes you realize that they've never truly capitalized on that before. Their swan song before retiring the roles (barring any random cameos - both have said they will not be portraying these characters in a major capacity going forward), they could not have gone out on a higher note. Even Dafne Keen (Laura/X-23) was excellent, despite being silent for the first two acts of the film. And, of course, the world could always use more Stephen Merchant (who plays Caliban).

Where the movie ultimately struggles is in some of its pacing. One trope that it engaged with to its detriment was the random cutting back to the villain just to show him being one step behind. If ever a superhero movie did not need to do that, it was this one. It is clear from the moment Xavier and Logan flee Mexico that they will be chased. Rather than unnecessarily cutting back to the bad guy to remind us he's the bad guy and he's on their trail, they could have focused more of that time on the Logan/Laura relationship. That was mostly well done, but could have used another scene or two of them actually bonding in some capacity. Given the story was about the character arc of Wolverine and his connection with Laura, there was no need to show the villain doing villainous things in pursuit. The story wasn't about that, and those scenes broke up the pacing. For a film that also treated its viewers as intelligent humans capable of figuring things out through context clues, it felt a little backwards to then engage in this genre trope that slows things up and makes it seem like we can't figure out that this bad guy is a bad guy.

This was almost exactly the kind of thing I want more of in the genre: stories using well-defined characters in original stories that are complete. Continuity is fine sometimes, but the superhero genre is rife for awesome, original content. This need to fit everything into the "timeline" or the "universe" harms creativity of the filmmakers. Logan falls into some structural traps of the genre, but otherwise has its own unique vision and executes it well. Admittedly, some of the emotion is based around being familiar with Hugh Jackman's stint as Wolverine, and knowing this is his send-off, but it all still works well.

People raved about Deadpool last year, and for fair reasons, but Logan will be the R-rated X-Men connected film that stands the test of time.

REDUCTIVE RATING: Awesome!