The Old Man finally gets his due.
It has
been seventeen years since Hugh Jackman first suited up as the Wolverine, but
in all the X-Men films that followed, one crucial element was always missing from his character: the
guilt. Logan has long been haunted by remorse for all
the carnage that he has inflicted not only on his enemies, but also on his
friends. At his lowest point in
this latest entry, Logan tearfully pleads with another character to not follow
his path because bad things always happen to the people that he cares about. While Logan’s mutant healing ability has
greatly extended his lifespan and made him nigh-invincible, it has also utterly
isolated him. All Logan’s friends are now either dead or missing in action, so he has severed the emotional ties
that time inevitably wears down and destroys. Logan can no longer tolerate the wounds that never fully heal.
The weight and depth of Logan’s outcast existence suffuses every scene of this film with pain and regret. The
world seems to have largely forgotten about mutants, and Logan would appear to be just fine with that. Yet he drinks
relentlessly, and the decades of mental anguish and alcoholism have etched deep creases into his now craggy face. This is because Logan's healing ability is failing, and he is barely
able to care for Charles Xavier, who is also tormented by his own advancing age
as his telepathic powers are spiking wildly out of control. The perpetually setting sun and the lengthening shadows surrounding Logan’s decrepit desert hideout signal more slaughter,
for some humans have not forgotten mutants, and seek to weaponize their powers
regardless of the obliteration of the innocent.
Though Logan claims to be past caring about the lives of others, he gets pulled back into the final fray when he learns of a diabolical new plan to make literal super-soldiers by harvesting mutant
DNA and then injecting it into children. Logan also discovers that he has a crucial connection to
this killer-from-a-crib program in the form of a young,
seemingly mute girl named Laura who has powers much like his own. Their lives become inextricably linked as Logan repeatedly leaps to Laura's defense against the ruthless mercenaries now pursuing them both. Logan desperately desires to also rescue Laura from the misbegotten life that he has endured, while she finds
in him the only positive paternal influence that she has ever known. Thrown together in turmoil, they both rise to
meet their fate with a familiar ferocity.
The R rating of this film has been much ballyhooed, and while there is certainly more blood and violence than in all previous X-men entries, it is not overindulgent. To the contrary, the spurting jugulars and shattered bones are actually eclipsed by the lean, kinetic storytelling, the stunning cinematography and the superlative ensemble cast. The vast majority of the film’s running time is instead devoted to investing the audience in the lives of these characters, which makes the brutal action scenes convulse with the kind of galvanic excitement that had me whooping and clapping at the intensity of the psychological catharsis rather than the physical butchery. It must also be stressed that amidst all this
chaos, there are a few terrific belly laughs to be had. While much of the story is indeed harrowingly grim,
it is not without a few precious moments of joy.
“Logan” is one of the best X-men films and also one of the best
superhero films ever made. This
character’s sojourn across the silver screen mirrors his course through the comics:
a long and lonely road fraught with continual peril, with only the solace of a few friendships and cold brewskis to set against the unrelenting assault of a mean and mistrustful world. The final
scene packs a serious gut punch, because it is not only a heartbreaking
farewell, but also a stark and beautifully visual tribute to the duality of the
Wolverine. Logan is a tremendously
tragic character, and yet the resolution of his story is so damn well done that I told my wife as we walked through our front door that we had just come home from a really good wake.
