Logan
In 2029, Logan (Hugh Jackman) is scraping a living as a driver for hire in Texas, occasionally driving to Mexico to deliver prescriptions for Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who is in the care of Caliban (Stephen Merchant). The development of mutants has laid dorment for years but a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) emerges, who possesses some very familiar characteristics. Xavier feels duty bound to protect her, whilst Logan begrudgingly agrees.
As I said, I'm interested in superhero movies that break away from the usual cliches and this seems like a logical continuation for Marvel into R rated/15 features after the success of Deadpool last year. Logan feels more like a Western, a comparison made more explicit by footage from Shane at one point in the film. Wolverine is the tired gunslinger who is clearly getting too old for this shit and it's a strong performance from Jackman as he enters the psyche of an ageing, mortal Wolverine.
It's a typically excellent stuff from Stewart too, as Xavier copes with "a degenerative disease inside the world's strongest brain", bringing some much needed levity between action sequences that feel brutal but never gratuitious. Merchant feels miscast for a number of reasons. You may feel that one of the X Men can have a West Country accent, but I don't. Outside of the comedic genre, he feels a little out of his depth. Richard E Grant, who it feels like I've not seen in an age, is pleasingly sinister as the head of the organisation hunting Laura down. It's also a fine introductory effort from Keen, who displays the sort of badassery not seen from a young women on screen since Chloe Grace-Moretz's Hit Girl in Kick Ass.
It all builds to a satisfying finale to a long running series which as I've come to expect by this point, leaves the door open for a new generation of X-Men. This bleak, brutal film appealed to my more cynical side. Marvel, more of this sort of thing please.
As I said, I'm interested in superhero movies that break away from the usual cliches and this seems like a logical continuation for Marvel into R rated/15 features after the success of Deadpool last year. Logan feels more like a Western, a comparison made more explicit by footage from Shane at one point in the film. Wolverine is the tired gunslinger who is clearly getting too old for this shit and it's a strong performance from Jackman as he enters the psyche of an ageing, mortal Wolverine.
It's a typically excellent stuff from Stewart too, as Xavier copes with "a degenerative disease inside the world's strongest brain", bringing some much needed levity between action sequences that feel brutal but never gratuitious. Merchant feels miscast for a number of reasons. You may feel that one of the X Men can have a West Country accent, but I don't. Outside of the comedic genre, he feels a little out of his depth. Richard E Grant, who it feels like I've not seen in an age, is pleasingly sinister as the head of the organisation hunting Laura down. It's also a fine introductory effort from Keen, who displays the sort of badassery not seen from a young women on screen since Chloe Grace-Moretz's Hit Girl in Kick Ass.
It all builds to a satisfying finale to a long running series which as I've come to expect by this point, leaves the door open for a new generation of X-Men. This bleak, brutal film appealed to my more cynical side. Marvel, more of this sort of thing please.
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