Welcome to Logan, the Wolverine-themed remake of Children of Men. I should be more upset about how shamelessly stolen the basic premise was, but I can’t bring myself to hate a movie this good.

And this movie is more than just good. It’s amazing. While not without flaws, Logan more than manages to provide a fitting end to the story of the Wolverine.

What If?

Understand one thing when you watch this film; this film is not a sequel. Logan tells a version of the final Wolverine story. The version of the character seen here diverges from the one depicted in previous films. The film makes a point of calling into question the accuracy of in-universe stories about the X-Men, making a meta-commentary on previous X-Men films. Occasionally, an offhand comment will vaguely refer to an event from a previous film, but only in the broadest of strokes. This film means to be taken as a stand alone project.

In many ways, this liberates Logan from the weight of preconception. From the very first scene it plays with audience assumptions about who Logan is. This Logan doesn’t invite violence, but he embraces it closely it when it comes. Part of that is the R rating liberating the creators to explore more graphic parts of Wolverine’s skill set, but it feels like a character distinction as well.

The Story

The X-Men died. Metaphorically as an institution, but also, it seems, quite literally. Logan and Charles Xavier represent the sum total of the remaining X-Men, and they’re in no position to play superhero anymore. Xavier has lost control of the most powerful mind in the world, and Logan serves as his caretaker.

Things change when Logan comes face to face with a young mutant named Laura, possessed of powers suspiciously similar to his own. To save her from the forces chasing her, Logan embarks on one last mission to protect the mutant race.

Old Man Logan

Hugh Jackman delivers his magnum opus in Logan. He’s playing a tired old man, not a superhero. This Logan shows his age. His healing factor doesn’t work as well as it used to because of the heavy metal poisoning from the adamantium coating his bones.

This Logan gave up. In The Wolverine, Logan nearly lost himself after the death of Jean Grey. Here, he lost EVERYBODY. Logan only cares about caring for Xavier until the inevitable happens. He’s even considering killing himself immediately afterwards (before the poisoning gets him). Jackman nails that weariness and despair, especially early in the film.

Logan re-finds his purpose the same way he found it the first time, all the way back in the very first X-Men; in helping a young mutant in need. It makes for a nice bookend to his character arc. His inability to leave Rogue reflects in his decision to risk everything to help Laura/X-23.

The Cast of Logan

Patrick Stewart makes the most of his final turn as Charles Xavier. The film strips Charles of all his posh trappings, while leaving him with the drive and determination that define him. Of course, Charles has also been given a degenerative brain disease. The X-Men died because Professor X killed them during a psychic seizure. The tragedy of a teacher inadvertently killing his students underpins his whole arc through the film. It also informs, albeit subconsciously, Xavier’s pathological need to make amends by helping a new mutant child.

Dafne Keen makes an incredible Laura/X-23. She manages to keep pace with Jackman and Stewart without even being able to talk. Of course, she doesn’t miss a beat when she finally does get to speak up. The scene where she finally starts talking and immediately begins screaming at Logan in Spanish is one of my favorite scenes in the film. One of my great regrets regarding the Disney acquisition of Fox is that it probably squashes any possibility of Keen making further appearances as the character.

Stephen Merchant performance admirably as Caliban. He only gets three scenes worth mentioning, but he makes them count.

Donald Pierce suffices as the de facto main antagonist. He’s not given much to do, but his Southern drawl, fashy haircut, and general mannerisms and diction paint an effective picture of the kind of man he is.

Aesthetic Identity

This is easily the prettiest X-Men film. The film takes place across the North American interior, offering a unique flavor compared to the coastal focus of most superhero fare. It doesn’t hurt that the film was shot beautifully. Every single shot carries meaning.

The score may be my favorite score in any X-movie. It consists of a lot of quiet, meditative arrangements with lots of piano. But when the action starts, an overpowering, discordant horn section takes charge. Overall, the score supplements the visual identity superbly.

Logan: The Best There Is At What He Does

Due to the relative smaller stakes, the film relies primarily on practical effects. It pays off. The choice grounds the film more than most superhero films. There’s a realistic grit and grime to the characters that CGI just can’t replicate.

Logan needed the R rating. Honestly, Wolverine always needed an R rating. The world he moves in is too brutal to be captured by anything less. The biggest reason the film needed the R was for the fight scenes. Look: Wolverine’s most iconic feature is that he has unbreakable claws that come out of his hands. Previous films have worked around that to an unreasonable extent, preventing the audience from ever seeing the sheer violence of the character.

There are several standout sequences that exemplify this new ethos. One of my personal favorites involves less detailed choreography, but still deserves plaudits for inventiveness. Xavier has a seizure in a casino when armed men attack him and Laura. Logan has to slowly drag himself through the psychic scream while eliminating the soldiers along the way. Each soldier stands in place even after the fatal blow, held up by Xavier’s psionic might. The scene offers a tense, likely inexpensive alternative to more intricate fight scenes.

Not that I have anything against intricate fight scenes. The big finale excels particularly well at showing off the destructive capabilities of Logan and Laura. They coordinate with each other and a group of mutant children to finally wipe out Pierce and his soldiers. The scene is acrobatic and visceral, providing exactly what one would expect from an R-rated Wolverine film.

The Mutant Metaphor and Dystopia

Logan depicts a world where the mutants lost. After the mutants lost, so did everybody else. The Wall has been built and racism is on the rise. Mega-corporations have taken even greater control of society. Much like in the real world, the marginalized group (mutants’ fought on the front lines of the culture war. Polite society hung them out to dry, assuming they had no investment in the “mutant problem.”

But when the mutants lost, the forces that opposed them moved on to other targets.

What sets Logan apart from other entries in the franchise is that it paints mutants as an allegorical counterpart to a completely different group. The way it does so isn’t particularly subtle if you already know the metaphorical trappings of the X-Men. However, it’s something I bet a lot of people missed when viewing this film.

Logan is taking Laura to seek asylum. The mutant kids are literal asylum seekers, fleeing across the US to seek safety in Canada. The entire film models itself after the struggle of people fleeing violence in Central and South America. The visual of a paramilitary group hunting actual children fleeing for the border makes for a powerful commentary on the issue.

Problematic Depictions

Ultimately, we must remember that mutants aren’t real. They are not a real minority. They present a vector by which real issues may be discussed, but they offer no substitute for real representation.

This makes Logan’s treatment of actual minorities more than a little troubling. Almost every person of color that appears in this film ends up dead in service of the main characters’ story. The thieves at the beginning die to show how dangerous Logan still is. The Mexican nurse who rescues Laura dies to show how big of a threat Transigen represents. The black family who offers shelter to the main characters dies to prove Transigen’s danger again. The film expends black and brown bodies to make simple points. This becomes even more concerning considering how the overall franchise has frequently failed to provide adequate focus to the few people of color in the cast.

The only exception is the diverse group of mutant children. Unfortunately, we will likely never know if Fox would have actually capitalized on their existence to bring a more diverse array of X-Men to film.

Conclusion

Though not without flaws, Logan makes a strong case for being one of the greatest superhero films of all time. It may be the best, bar none. The aesthetic is unique, the action is stunning, and performances are exceptional. That makes it an obvious choice for the new #1 on the X-Men Rankings.

PS- If you read this piece and you liked what you saw, consider donating to my Patreon! Donations from readers like you make this site possible.

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