The Legacy of A Legend

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2017)

Logan isn't really what I'd call a superhero movie it's more of a neo-western meets a road trip movie meets a family drama and it worked exceptionally. I was not as excited for this movie as much as everyone else, the trailers just weren't truly speaking to me but the final product absolutely did and is one of the most bittersweet movies I've ever viewed.
The direction they took the character of Logan in this film was not something I had expected, we've seen him at his absolute lows and his points where he was truly without hope but never like this, we've never seen him suicidal with absolutely nothing left to fight for and it made his arc in the film all the more satisfying. To see him Ben forced back into helping someone one last time but in himself old and weakened state was at times hard to watch but at the same time very captivating knowing that this truly is his last fight. Another character who's direction surprised me with the direction that they took was that of Charles Xavier, to see someone we've seen be a beacon of hope and an inspirational figure as a now weak and frail old man was not what I signed on for when I started watching this movie but i greatly admired what they did here, to see him in a light we've never seen before truly showed us that this film was going to be different.
As much as I was excited to see Hugh Jackman play his signature role for the final time I was saddened by the fact I would never see him take up the claws again but Jackman absolutely nailed it one final time. He brought a real harshness, sickly and vulnerable presence to this performance in both a physical and a emotional way, he truly gave one of the greatest performances ever in a comic book movie. The same can be said for Patrick Stewart one gave such a heartbreaking performance that often left me saddened yet captivated by the complete commitment to his final performance as this character. Newcomer Dafne Keen absolutely held her own in this movie in a very physical performance match with her great chemistry with Jackman and Stewart.
I've never been an advocate of R-Rated comic book films, or for any film really, I just don't like the idea of needless violence and excessive language being put into a film needlessly but I truly loved how this film used its R-Rating. It made truly apparent that this was different from any of the other films in the franchise, it made it feel much more gritty and real and allowed director James Mangold to take the action to its full extent by fully exploiting the capabilities of the titular characters powers, this film is plenty bloody and violent but is used as a tool to show the reality of the situation for its characters and against all my worries was not something I found to be an unnecessary addition to this film.
Like I said this film isn't like other comic book movies, it has a real slowness to it as well as a good heart and grit. Plenty of scenes are devoted to simply interaction among characters and their conversations all of which feel like valuable conclusions and added something to this movie. Is definitely one of the more slow paced films of this franchise but never feels boring or uninteresting as it's full of characters we've come to know and love which makes it feel more valuable knowing that it is there final few hours of screen time.
I don't think this is a perfect movie, I did have a few issues with it. For one the villains, I really enjoyed Boyd Holbrook in this movie he was a very charismatic character he wasn't very deep but he had a nice presence to him that made him enjoyable as a character. The same cannot be said for Xander Rice or The Reavers, I found them to be extremely conventional and generic. The Reavers were expendable foot soldiers who only served to see Jackman and Keen in full R-Rated fashion. Rice was a fairly bland character who had iffy motivations and didn't really do anything of consequence on screen.
I also found the last act to be a bit mixed, now the last 10 minutes were incredibly, extremely emotionally fulfilling material, but before that felt very rushed, as if the filmmakers had established so many plot lines that they desperately needed to wrap up before the film ended. I didn't particularly care for the new characters they introduced here and felt like a bit an underwhelming addition.
While it's not my favourite if the X-Men franchise it is most definitely the most emotionally satisfying and fulfilling. It had a nice heart and message, fantastic action, performances and character arcs that truly wrapped up the character of Wolverine in a masterful fashion that made me realise just how much a cherish the characters of the franchise and how much I'll miss them now that they time is at an end.
8.8/10: A- (Fantastic)