A Very Well Made Redemption Story

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2017)

Logan hits its audience with the hardened fist of a seasoned prizefighter in his last match. The feeling is elating, intense and at times too brutal to bare. At once the film feels like a last hurrah and the culmination of every claw, every jab and every wound the Wolverine has received or doled out over nine films. Embodied in its solitary, grizzled and tired titular character however is an uncommon weight. Movies like this have been made before, that much is obvious - and while it's easy to predict Logan's every plot-point to a T, rarely has a movie like this been bolstered by so much, already laid cultural cache. In that specific regard, this latest X-Men movie (2000-Present) is a resounding success.
Logan takes place in a distant future (we think), where all of mutant kind has been wiped out (we think) except for a few unfortunate souls. Among them is Logan (Jackman) who at this point works as a part-time limousine driver and full-time caretaker for the ailing Professor X (Stewart). Apparently something serious happened back at Xavier's School, forcing the nigh untouchable Professor to take refuge in a hollowed out water tower south of the border. Only the Wolverine and a mutant named Caliban (Merchant) are there to witness his slow slip into senility. Things however take a sudden turn, when a desperate nurse (Rodriguez) tasks Logan and his compatriots with taking care of a very special little girl; a girl who just may hold the key to Logan's ultimate redemption.
Redemption is an ongoing theme in this film, not just for Logan but seemingly for everyone involved. Logan takes care of the aging professor not out of compassion it would seem, but rather as a form of penance for regrets of the past. Likewise, Caliban, Xavier and even the nurse are trying their best to right past wrongs and ultimately put a lot of their stake on the mute and instinctual Laura (Keen).
She comes, of course, with a dark and complicated past which is likely to put fans of the comics in a tizzy of anticipation. Those not in the know however will see much fault in the myriad of plot details that, on their face, are as patently ridiculous and as they are cloyingly persistent. Anyone who has ever listened to more than five minutes of conspiracy theory radio or knows anything about the Birch Society will be rolling their eyes as the big baddie comes in to explain his complicated web of intrigue.
Yet what makes Logan so refreshing, so new, and ultimately worth a recommendation is its fidelity to story and character. Aspects of characters' powers, an all-important fixture in superhero films, could just as well be replaced by guns or samurai swords. The things this film actually cares about - the internal conflicts, the understated pacing, etc., exist and persist regardless of how many times Logan bares his claws or X reads people's minds. There are frantic chases and grizzly fight scenes, sure, but they're just icing when compared to Logan's gradual shift from a man of solitude to a man of compassion.
This of course frees up the movie to move at a much slower pace than its briskly-paced predecessors. There are a handful of moments where the movie just seems to stop and smell the fertilizer. These moments don't so much serve the plot in expected and slavish ways, but rather gently bends to the film's weighty themes, in a way feels like a reward for sticking with the X-Men for so long. And while it's not necessary to know everything about the other films to enjoy Logan, those who quite literally grew up with the character well get everything they ever dreamed of and more.
This includes of course, a hard R rating that enamored fans will likely point to as decisive proof that these kinds of movies are more than just entertaining trifles. And yes it's true while DC movies like Batman Vs. Butthead (2016) folded under the pretentious smuggery of fanboys screaming "look mom comic books can be smart too!" Logan actually takes that same ball and runs away with it.
Kinda like when critics reference old movies no one has seen! Yet I wouldn't be so fast to mark Logan as the best comic book movie since The Dark Knight (2008). We have come to a point in the genre where shared universes and constant sequels, prequels, spinoffs and post-modern Deadpool (2016)-like meta-commentaries have yielded a nearly closed ecosystem. One in which those outside of the hype may not get some or even most out of the story. Within that context, those on the outside will simply see a pulpy, competently made if ultra-violent redemption story that overstates its importance with one too many Shane (1953) references.
In today's throwaway culture finding a comic book movie this outwardly risky is actually quite a surprise. It antes up most of its cultural stockpile and bets big on a forcefully adult story, then bets big on fan's goodwill and patience. What results is a movie that doesn't "transcend (the) comic-book genre," as USA Today so carelessly asserts but rather transforms the genre in new and exciting ways. I'm anxious to see where this leads and worried the inherent goofiness of the genre will be wiped away completely like so much Spider-Man 3 (2007). For now though I'll just say Logan is worth a look and keep my sense of dread to myself.