Review of Logan (2017) by Nick C — 19 Jun 2017

Logan tells the story of Wolverine, or Logan I guess (I must confess I've never seen any of the other X-Men movies), in the near, dystopian future of 2029. He is played by Hugh Jackman, and is now an old, disgruntled, alcoholic. He spends his days caring for Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in an abandoned smelting plant on the Mexican boarder, along with Caliban (Stephen Merchant), who, like the rest of these characters, is a mutant, someone who possesses superhuman abilities.

One day, a Mexican woman comes to Logan for help, asking him to escort an 11-year-old girl, Laura (Dafne Keene), to a sort of mutant safe haven, Eden, in North Dakota. Logan is very reluctant of course, but with some coaxing from Professor X and some other external threats, he grudgingly agrees. From there, it develops into a cross-country road trip film, and all of the actors deliver terrific performances.

What I cannot give enough praise to is the film's tone. It is set from the very first scene in the film, and is bleak and encompassing. The film also has somewhat of a Western feel, complete with gorgeous visuals, which I really liked too. The combination of tone and visuals create a visceral that will not soon be forgotten; they are etched into the geography of my imagination like the South from The Color Purple.

The movie is well-paced, building climatically to its ending where Logan, who is very clearly dying throughout this film, must give it all to save the kids. The film is mercilessly bleak and depressing so that we may truly feel happy and excited when Logan comes to the rescue to save the kids in a scene that's all the more upbeat as the result of it's grand, encompassing shots of the natural wonders of North Dakota.

There is something that I do take issue with, though. And it's too bad, because this is really a four-star movie that I must knock a star from on account of this problem. It's the relationship between Laura and Logan. They hate each other basically the entire film. He doesn't want to have to take care of a little kid, and borders on being physically abusive towards her, and she clearly resents him for that. But then we get a very emotional ending that ends up coming off as cheesy because the movie refuses to develop their relationships. It never even hints at the idea that these characters could have any feelings but contempt towards each other, and presents an emotional ending without ever having earned it.

I have tried to get past this problem, but I can't. This is not simply a critical nitpick; this is something that truly held the film back from all that it could be. I realized watching the ending that I was curiously unemotional, and then trying to determine why I realized it was a direct result of their character development. Obviously developing them too quickly would be corny and unbelievable, but as a result of not even having a subtle relationship, the scene that attempted to be poignant and moving came off as being just as corny and unbelievable.

I can praise its bleak, encompassing tone, gorgeous visuals, and Western feel, but the character development doesn't work for me, unfortunately. If they could have made it work, if they could have made it for genuine and believable, and additionally pushed their poignant ending even further, this would have been a great movie. However, they do not, and I can't help but think it as a missed opportunity.

Ultimately, though, I enjoyed the film. The tone was mercilessly dark, bleak, and dystopian, and that alone had enough power to draw the audience in. Like I said, all of the characters were well fleshed-out and well acted, even if the relationship between Logan and Laura didn't pay off the way it should have for me. This is still a very good comic book movie.

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Rating: 3/4.