Can Wolverine’s final outing live up to the legacy?
Well, there we have it. Hugh Jackman’s swansong as one of the most enduring comic book heroes in modern cinema certainly packed both an emotional and literal punch. A grown-up, brutal, and strangely human crawl to the X-Men’s ultimate finish line in what is arguably one of the best comic book movies ever made.
After the huge success of Deadpool, 20th Century Fox were absolutely right to allow director James Mangold to paint a bleaker, grimmer, adult future for their beloved X-Men series. It was risky, sure, and five years ago this wouldn’t have even been entertained – the X-Men are Fox’s only consistently well-performing Marvel property. But Logan provides an essential counterweight to the colourful, Avegeners-esque outings in Days of Future Past and Apocalypse.
Incidentally, if you’re just as confused as I am about where everything sits in various timelines, this article goes some way(ish) into making things simpler.
Hugh Jackman is back in incredible form for his last outing as Wolverine. Aged digitally with remarkable realism, Jackman’s portrayal of an old, tired, reluctant hero complements a stripped-back and focused plot beautifully.
In Logan, we find ourselves some 10 years in the future in the dusty south of the USA. Logan is no longer an X-Man, and indeed the rest of the squad are nowhere to be found with the suggestion being that mutants are facing imminent extinction.
Charles Xavier (who must be like 150 at this point) is suffering from some sort of dementia, causing him to lose control of his super-brain powers to really quite terrifying effect. As a side note, one of the best things X-Men has achieved as a concept is shining a light on the complex nature of man, by looking at them from the outside. Interestingly, a similar approach is taken with Charles’s disease. While dementia is of course devastating for a sufferer’s family and friends, the internal destruction can only be truly felt by the afflicted. Because of his mutation, however, Charles’s bad spells are projected outwards to everyone around him, forcing a greater consideration of just how destructive the condition is.
Testament to Patrick Stewart’s portrayal then, is the fact Prof. X also provides some of the funniest moments of the film. He consciously switches between a frustrated old man and the kindly teacher-type we know and love on the turn of a dime. There were even moments where he reminded me of his American Dad character.
Dafne Keen provides an excellent performance as young mutant, Laura. Any criticisms that I have of her character are down entirely to writing – such as the seemingly unprovoked and instantaneous pivot from savage to civilized, and the unexplained South American accent. Regardless, Keen brings a determination and sincerity to the role, which contributes considerably to the overall heart of the film.
That sense of determined optimism has been at the core of the X-Men since its inception. Feared and distrusted by society, the mutants have been a long-standing analogy for any marginalised group; people of colour, LGBT+ people, and so on.
Yet there’s a sort of pessimism in Logan. We’ve now seen a timeline spanning generations of mutant heroics, yet here, well into the 21st century, they remain persecuted. While Charles and Laura believe in a better tomorrow (and as viewers we’re rooting for that for them too), there’s a feeling that, after so long, is that dream just naive?
You can’t help but wonder if the filmmakers are intentionally drawing a comparison to the global political landscape of today, where a resurgence of populist (and often unkind) politics threatens to paint humanity in a darker shade.
Writing in Empire magazine, Dan Jolin said, “It feels right that it should be the last one, but it also feels a bit of a shame.” I can’t help but agree with that. This is by far one of the best superhero films we’ve been treated to in a long time, and perhaps the best X-Men film of them all. There are some really interesting ideas in this film (mostly revolving around Laura and her colleagues) which I expect will not be picked up on in future releases – even though they could be super cool.
It’s a shame it took Deadpool – a film that came out eight years into this new era of comic book cinema – to make producers realise the public appetite for more grown-up superhero movies.
We got there in the end, it’s just a shame that it is indeed the end.
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