Logan

Adamantium claws aren’t something that you grow into, nor are characters unlucky enough to sport their own metal-coated, always-attached, flesh-piercing weapons. Across eight films in the now ten-strong X-Men film series, Wolverine has proven a somewhat unwilling force to be reckoned with — frequently brooding over his lot in life, and the pain and suffering that has come with it, to the point of eschewing his heroic accoutrements — but a definitive one nonetheless. His glare, his gait, his mood, his scowl: as audiences have seen in features that have charted almost six decades in the life of the mutant also known as Logan, they were there at the beginning, and they’re still there now. And yet, 17 years after he first played the role, there’s a sense of wearied vulnerability to Hugh Jackman’s final interpretation of his hirsute screen alter ego that goes a long way towards boosting Logan‘s fortunes.

Logan, the character, is tired. Logan, the film, wears that exhaustion tight and close, not quite akin to a superhero’s lycra suit, but more like the ageing skin lurking underneath. It’s a movie about a figure that can’t escape the weight of history because it’s part of its very fabric, and so both the feature and the protagonist take on that burden in a relatable way: forging a more modest path that isn’t defined by what has come before, though never completely letting the past slip from memory. Perhaps that’s what proves most surprising and gratifying, with director and co-writer James Mangold (Knight and Day) eager to set the latest Wolverine-centric effort apart from the rest of the pack not as a jaunty standalone action-packed adventure — Logan isn’t short on physical encounters, however — but by adopting furrowed brow of someone who has been there and seen that before. Having helmed the last solo episode that was 2013’s flimsy The Wolverine, the filmmaker has, just like the man and the franchise. 

The year is 2029, with Logan’s (Jackman, Eddie the Eagle) X-Men days far behind him. In fact, in a world that hasn’t seen a mutant born in 25 years, and in which their former leader Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart, Green Room) is hidden away in an old water tower for safe keeping, the X-Men’s days seem to be far behind everyone. Logan gets by drinking, driving a limousine and looking forward to the darkness at the end of the tunnel, though amassing enough cash so that the two former heroes can literally sail off into the sunset is the ultimate plan. When he’s approached by a woman (Elizabeth Rodriguez, TV’s Orange Is the New Black) offering to pay if he’ll help transport 11-year-old Laura (Dafne Keen, The Refugees) to a safe space, the money is his motivation — but then the gun-wielding Pierce (Boyd Holbrook, Morgan) comes calling, and ties to Logan’s past become evident and inescapable.

Dwelling isn’t the movie or the man’s modus operandi. Rather, each Logan does what needs to be done. Carving a path across a desolate, unfriendly America in what becomes a surrogate family of three isn’t an easy task, nor is cutting through nearly two decades of bright, shiny, popcorn-friendly baggage to craft not just something that’s entertaining in a by-the-book manner or knowingly irreverent as per fellow X-mould-breaker 2016’s Deadpool, but actually earns narrative and emotional engagement within its grainy frames. The parallels between the feature and its point of focus continue, and they’re as by design as the reluctant yet comfortable odd couple connections crucial to both, but that doesn’t make either any less fulfilling. The choice by Mangold and co-writers Scott Frank (A Walk Among the Tombstones) and Michael Green (Green Lantern) to favour the obvious cross-country-trekking, lone hero-championing package by fashioning their latest addition to the fold after the western genre, even to the point of sitting characters down to watch 1953’s Shane mid-film and throwing in numerous subsequent references, doesn’t either.

Instead, and somewhat unexpectedly in this age of beloved comic book personalities battling each other for the scantest of reasons, series instalments existing purely to whet appetites for future films, and characters never allowed to say goodbye, Logan feels just as it should. Concerned with the here and now rather than with what will come, it’s the cinematic equivalent of a long life brought to its natural conclusion and given a meaty, meaningful send off. That doesn’t just apply to the combination of rampant slashing and genuine sentiment that engulfs the main mutant in a wholly apt whirlwind of violence and sorrow, but to the star and portrayal at its centre. Stewart and Keen, turn in astute performances that bounce off of their lead in just the right way, one moving while still laced with amusement, the other fittingly wary and surly in miniature; however Jackman remains the only reason everything Wolverine has managed to get this far for so long. 

Just as the movie relishes its farewelling task in its dusty images, as it does spending time with rather than merely emphasising the destructive traits of its protagonist, finally serving up material and a mood to match Logan’s demeanour, and exploring the bonds that define him beyond his weaponised status, an appropriately grizzled yet still gruffly charismatic Jackman follows suit. His glare might be steely, but sincerity growls beneath that growl and glower. The stripped back air of the feature suits him well, and makes for all the more raw and resonant viewing experience. Stretching out his X-Men swansong a little too long, throwing in a few formulaic developments and leaning on well-worn dynamics might dull the resulting sheen slightly, but even adamantium can’t puncture the hard-fought satisfaction of the final product.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Logan
Director: James Mangold     
USA, 2017, 137 mins

Release date: March 2
Distributor: Fox
Rated: MA