Dying mutant meets his daughter and goes on a road trip

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2017)

LOGAN
The polar opposite of Deadpool yet similarly unique, I loved how the movie was simultaneously gruesome and emotional. I have been suffering from sort of an exhaustion after the mass proliferation of superhero movies. Every month seems to bring along a new addition to the now uber popular genre. And after the very meh X-Men Apocalypse, Logan was a refreshing entry, defying the conventional nuances that constrain most comic book movies. With a much more considered approach compared to its prequels, Logan establishes characters with touching relationships in a rather realistic setting. No scenes of mass destruction or villains with crazy powers. When it was indeed clobbering time, man the action choreography was majestic. The fighting scenes were very well portrayed with brutal punches and slashing. Laura stole the spotlight with her first action sequence. Seeing grown hard ass military men cowering in fear of her claws was sooo gratifying.
The premise is initially difficult to understand. Disconnected from the previous X-Men and Wolverine movies, we are only presented with two familiar characters. Whatever that has happened to bring them to this scenario is mentioned but not given much The pace picked up once X-23 bared her claws. Then it became more of a pondering period with Xavier playing the mentoring role he has been playing the entire series, Logan the decision maker and Laura the main source of drama. Xavier's fatherly contribution to Logan's development as a character is given due emphasis. Xavier even jokes how Logan was once sort of a delinquent student at his school. Yet fueled by Logan's loyalty, their poignant connection has survived to this day. All this adds to the heart wrenching death of Charles when a Wolverine lookalike kills him, just as he was recounting his past mistakes. Logan's hesitation between saving Laura and checking on Xavier's wellbeing is emblematic of his emotional indecision. He isn't sure whether he should leave his past behind and embrace a new future. Halfway the movie seems to lose bit of its steam. Once the premise has been established, the clash between the heroes and villains fails to gain much traction. The characters take on a retrospective outlook and while the fight scenes are still gold, the emotion comes off as facile and pretentious at times. The conclusion ends up being rather predictably with Logan and Laura fighting off their assailants together, a brilliant partnership between father and daughter.
While it faces problems with its pacing, Logan is way more sophisticated than its action packed predecessors. The previous 2 Wolverine films depicted him as more of a savage hero. Someone who could take down any opponent and obstacle if he gritted his teeth and consequently punched and clawed hard enough. In this edition, mostly stripped of his healing factor, his emotional vulnerability and turmoil are laid bare for us. Isolation, illness and Xavier's mental senescence all lead him to question his life choices till this point and the meaning of the existence of mutants. The introduction of his offspring and her torrid past brings in more drama to the equation and Logan can barely handle it all. The slow and considered pace aids in this introspective outlook, Logan taking on a Batman-esque role in Marvel comics.
Hugh Jackman is phenomenal in his portrayal of Wolverine, a character he has played for nearly 2 decades. Previously a role that required mostly grunting and brawling demands much more of an emotional quotient here, and Jackman delivers beautifully with gravitas. The unreal hype generated by this movie had me expecting something similar to Nolan's Batman trilogy. Despite its awesomeness, it fails to reach those dizzying heights. An uplifting tale with copious amounts of gruesome bloodshed, it is a welcome addition to the superhero collection. The best superhero movies are those which seem realistic depictions of our beloved characters in a comic book setting and Logan pulls this off with panache. While it doesn't transcend its genre, Logan and Jackman does proper justice and bids farewell to an iconic character in style.