Thoughts on ‘Logan’ (2017)

Logan, a member of the X-Men, is a limousine driver earning money to support himself and the ailing nonagenarian Professor Charles Xavier. In a world where mutants seem to be extinct, Logan now has diminished healing ability, and the adamantium in his body is slowly poisoning him. He met a woman and a little girl asking for help transporting them to North Dakota. She said a group was following them and wanted the girl. Who is this girl, and what would be Logan’s role in the future of mutantkind?

Thoughts

I will try not to spoil that much. You’ve been warned.

I actively ignored all spoilers and trailers, so I came to the cinema expecting this to be a continuation of the X-Men franchise. I was initially disoriented because it was set years after the X-Men/Wolverine/Deadpool movies, with no direct mentions of those films in the first few minutes of this movie. I ignored everything and considered this a stand-alone movie in a parallel [fictional] universe. I enjoyed the movie after that.

The familiar character we have here is the titular character Logan, played by Hugh Jackman. In numerous interviews, he said this would be his last portrayal as Wolverine. After watching the movie, if this would be his last, it would be the end of an era. In this movie, Logan has a diminished healing ability. Because of that, his age is now showing; he became sluggish, and his claws prop out on command. Clearly, the adamantium is slowly poisoning him.

Sir Patrick Stewart reprises his role as Professor Charles Xavier. In this movie, he has a degenerative neurological condition. He frequently has seizures with a disastrous effect on everyone around him. Imagine the world’s most powerful mind is sick? You get the picture.

Also in this movie is Caliban, a mutant tracker sensitive to light, played by Stephen Merchant. We last saw Caliban in X-Men: Apocalypse but with a different actor.

New in this movie is Laura, played by Dafne Keen. She is designated X-23 by a sinister group that turns mutants into weapons. This group wanted her and the rest of the escaped children back.

Cinemas might classify this as an action film, but it is not, for me, at least. Sure, it has action sequences, but this is a drama piece. While I like those sequences, I loved the drama presented. The interaction of Logan, Laura, and Charles tugged my heartstrings. The revelation of what happened to the X-Men is thought-provoking. Then, the events towards the end. I will not spoil it.

Some say that this movie is based on the comic book story “Old Man Logan“. Well, the similarity is that Logan is old. This movie is more in line with the origin story of X-23.

With the success of this movie and Deadpool and the lukewarm reception of the other recent X-Men movies, I am not entirely sure how the X-Men movies should continue. I am still hoping that this franchise will find its way.

X-fan forever.

In short

Logan (2017). Quick review: This is not an action film. I love it. Quick rating: https://t.co/3LbwPUS91U pic.twitter.com/9TdXYFw3w2

— Eric Andrada (@icheb) March 8, 2017

Quote

“Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long.” –Logan

: https://promdigeek.blog/2017/03/11/thoughts-on-logan-2017/