Hello Rejects, sorry I’ve been out for so long, my hiatus was one of a sad note due to a personal loss and writing has been hard in these dark times, however I think the worst is over, and the watchword is positivity! I’m looking forward to a bright future with endless possibilities, please live your beautiful lives to the fullest-you’re the only one that can do that for you, also read my stuff it couldn’t hurt. Lol.
I’m glad to be back with you beautiful folk. So let’s get it on with my first review for a 2017 movie with Logan aka The Wolverine 3 aka Old Man Logan aka Hugh Jackman’s sendoff party/movie.
I had quite little expectation of what to expect going into this one, save for what I had seen in the teaser trailer and I think that turned out to be such a good thing, The trailer was quite explanatory - A weary and worn Logan taking care of the aged and ailing Professor X and then this little mutant girl comes into their lives, if only it were that simple.
"Wolverine has been the flag carrier of 20th Century Fox’s own ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ spearheading even the X-Men movies"Another reason I wasn’t keen on seeing this movie was probably because I felt it wasn’t required, Wolverine has had two solo movies since his screen debut in 2000’s X-Men and I never truly appreciated either of them, scratch that…I hated the second one, the one in Japan, you know the one were that old dude wanted to drain Logan’s powers for himself, the one that bombed like Hiroshima (pun intended) yea that one, based on that I thought another Wolverine movie was certainly out of the question; the character has certainly been the flag carrier of 20th Century Fox’s own ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ spearheading even the X-Men movies (He’s basically what Batman is to Warner Brothers) and for a 200 year old mutant ex-assassin, you’d think there’s so much material that they could never get it wrong but Fox seem to keep finding new ways to disappoint, anyway I digress, back to the matter at hand- do I still think they should have made this movie? NO! But did I enjoy this movie and do I think it’s the best Wolverine movie to date and a really good movie overall? FUCK YEA!
Logan is set in a not too distant future in the X-men universe (I’m guessing a long time after the outcome of X-men: Days of Future Past) where the last natural born mutant was born 25 years ago, mutants have seemingly become an endangered species, as the species is more or less going extinct, save for those who have gone under the radar and are attempting to lead somewhat normal lives such as Logan. The reason for this is really not explained save for a passive remark in the 3rd act of the movie, what we can assume though is that Homo Sapiens Superior are not the next step in genetic evolution as it was generally believed by Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto).
"The R Rating for this movie doesn’t feel like an excuse to just unleash glorious gory mayhem, it feels natural and is part and parcel of it."Logan quickly takes the initiative with a quick serving of violent hors d'oeuvre in the opening scene; Logan asleep in his Limo, is awaken to the sound of some ‘Bad Hombres’ trying to steal the wheels of his rent-a-limo, he comes out to talk and dissuade them until for little or no reason at all is pumped with a load of shotgun shells into his chest cavity, healing factor present; he gets back up on his feet and makes another diplomatic attempt to handle things like a pussy, that is until they mess up his paint job (you done fucked up now bub!) leading to a very angry Wolverine dishing out some bloody retribution! Step aside PG13, Rated R has got this! We are quickly reminded that Logan is the best at what he does (slicing, dicing, stabbing, maiming, killing etc. if you didn’t know) and what he does still isn’t nice!, The R Rating for this movie doesn’t feel like an excuse to just unleash glorious gory mayhem, it feels natural and is part and parcel of it.
Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart reprise their roles as Wolverine/Logan/James Howlett and Charles Xavier/Professor X respectively while newcomer Dafne Keen who I think is simply fantastic, plays Laura Kinney/X-23 Wolverine’s much younger female clone. Her chemistry with Hugh Jackman is quite heartwarming; a reluctant father figure and a child who needs a father, it’s a somewhat mirrored relationship to Logan’s relationship with the Professor, The lost Sheep, The prodigal son who has not always believed in Charles’ vision of the world but believes in Charles nonetheless and the fact that Logan devotes his last years to taking care of the ailing professor is heart tugging.
Caliban also gets a look-in in this one, remember him? Psylocke’s boss in X men: Apocalypse, you know before she joins Apocalypse. He however is portrayed in this outing by a different actor in the form of Stephen Merchant, Caliban acts as a Nurse to the sick Professor and a liaison between him and Logan.
Boyd Holdbrook plays popular X-men Villain and Cyborg Donald Pierce with his band of Reavers who are hunting down ‘assets’. Holdbrook makes for such a charming and likable guy, you might forget he’s a bad guy here, sure he’s an asshole and a murderer but you can’t help but like the guy, you love to hate him and hate to love him.
"A very good watch if you want to watch a ‘different’ superhero movie"Logan isn’t your usual Superhero joint, its drama meets comics in this simple but compelling story which will tug at your heart strings. I found it relatable in light of my recent loss and as much as you may have initially written this film off it certainly is a very very good watch if you want to watch a ‘different’ superhero movie. Its feels very grounded in reality which is quite ironic, since we’re talking about a super hero movie here, but the script is so decent that you can literally swap Logan’s claws for a gun and it’d still be good as it allows the Director tell a real story beneath all the special effects. In a paradoxical way it’s an apocalyptic story for mutant kind and also the dawn of a new beginning (The New Mutants, New X-Men, The New Wolverine maybe?), even the end of this movie has some poetic irony to it as Wolverine’s greatest enemy turns out to be Wolverine himself.
It may have not been necessary but it’s a part of Wolverine’s story I’m glad I got to see, I reiterate, It’s the best Wolverine, maybe even X-Men movie and if anything, it shames its predecessors, It might not be comic book canon but it’s a decent end for Logan’s chapter and a beautiful and emotional send off for Hugh Jackman in his last portrayal as everybody’s favourite feral mutant, it marked his 10th time playing the character on the big screen, a rarity in the Super Hero genre and in fact any genre at all, it’s not often we get to see actors retire the cowl on screen (Wolverine actually wears a cowl, no thanks to Brian Singer) and I’m sure it will take a while before Wolverine is cast again, not too long I hope. Thank you Hugh for 17 years of awesome Wolverine.
Logan’s appeal is so broad spectrum because everything just comes out great. The cast is great, the script is fantastic, the special effects and action scenes it’s all so lovely when put together, and the fact that there are only a few super powered individuals to build upon helps its case, it isn’t distracted and it doesn't try to be anything it isn’t, it just tells its story; the story we all ask ourselves every now and then-what will our legacy be? I have little or no qualms with the direction this movie went with. For the first time in a long time I and Rotten Tomatoes agree on something, albeit not entirely, but arguing it would be embarrassing yourself.
Till the next review, see you later Bub.
Reject Rating: 9/10
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