Almost great, but falters in the end.

Rating: 6/10 (3 March 2017)

I like James Mangold as a director. He's made some very fine movies. I even liked 2/3 of the last Wolverine movie he directed. I liked this one too, but I'm sad to say that just like "The Wolverine", this movie lost me in the end. I was a little disappointed when it was over, which is a shame, because otherwise "Logan" is just great. Mangold made a movie for adults, so I will judge it as such.
"Logan" feels driven. The script seems solid, direction as well, and the actors are doing a great job. Cinematography is excellent. This feels and looks like a real movie, not a calculated studio product. Humor isn't forced, themes are handled with taste, the serious vibe of this movie feels natural. Marco Beltrami's music is beautiful and atmospheric. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Dafne Keen are all excellent. I can't say enough about these three, they were so good. Hugh gave it his all, Sir Patrick Stewart brought tons of heart into the movie and Dafne Keen, despite being a child actor, was excellent in what she did. Acting-wise, admirable.
"Logan" is almost like a road movie. It's very confined, nothing is too much of a spectacle. Even when some really brutal violence kicks in every now and then, it seems to fit. Everything supports the narrative and the tone. It trusts the audience to understand the language of grown-up movies, and there's even real heart to it. It's like the Wolverine movie that I always wanted. For the first 90+ minutes, that is.
And then...then something happens. I don't know what. Did the writers just not know how to end the movie, or did they not have time? Did Mangold drop the ball? Because the narrative starts to stutter. Out of nowhere, we get some amateur-level storytelling, bad plot devices and clunky transitions. Themes that were handled so well until now, are now almost hammered to your head. This movie stopped being smart and surprising, and started to be a little more clichéd, obvious and pandering.
At the same time we're introduced to a bunch of new characters that I could not care less about. It wasn't an intimate movie anymore. The tone and pacing seemed to suffer, and the last battle became a schlock-fest, along with a few campy shots of Hugh Jackman running like an ape and roaring like it's a B-movie. What was first a great and impressive Wolverine movie, was now a mediocre X-men movie, unsure of itself and desperate to impress. The whole situation is suddenly cartoony, almost turning our main characters into cartoons as well. What happened? It went so well for so long, it was perfect. I was so invested, but suddenly I couldn't feel anything anymore - even when the seemingly emotional (and admittedly good) ending hit the screen. That's when I should have cared the most. That's the worst of this movie's sins: Many things that made this movie great were pushed to the side in the end. It didn't stick to its guns all the way, which is a bit of a shame. It didn't trust itself (or the audience) enough.
Did the last 30 minutes ruin this movie? No. The last part of the film isn't inexcusable crap in itself. It makes sense story-wise, and most of my problems with it come from strictly comparing it to the amazing first 90 minutes. It's just so disheartening for me to not be able to love "Logan" until the very end. I wanted to have that great ending, I wanted to be invested all the way. I didn't and I couldn't, but I'm hoping that after seeing this movie again I can be more at peace with it.
That said, this is still a quality movie. "Logan" is a charmingly simple film. It's focused on characters instead of complicated stories. It's beautifully made, violent, often heartfelt, even naturally funny at times. It's a genuinely good Wolverine movie with elements that we haven't seen before. It's not interested in setting up other movies, and as much as I disliked the change of tone and quality in the end, this one actually has an ending - which is a plus. It is a movie of its own, not a cynical advertisement for other movies.
To summarize: "Logan" is a great, well-crafted movie full of character, structure and intimacy until it decides to be something else just when it's supposed to count. What it does right, it does absolutely right and what it does wrong, feels worse than it is because of the things that it got right. It's well worth seeing and arguably a lot better than the last Wolverine movie, but it could have been a great movie through and through. In the end, it's "just" a good movie, which is nothing to scoff at. It's not "the best superhero movie out there", which is what some critics are saying. Not even the best X-men movie - that title still belongs to the amazingly solid X2. "Logan" came very close, but Mangold and his writers (who all did a really good job otherwise) just couldn't pull off that last mile. Worthy effort in any case, easily succeeding in many things that are quite hard to accomplish. For those of you looking to be more invested in characters and confined little stories rather than ensemble pieces with world-ending threats, "Logan" will be a very special treat. I will add this one to my blu-ray collection.
Thank you, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, it was nice having you in these movies. You both went out on a high note. I have a feeling that I'll be seeing plenty of Dafne Keen after this, so no need for goodbyes on her part yet.