Alright. I have never liked the X-Men. Even though I am a huge comic nerd, geek, and dork, I have never enjoyed anything that had to do with those ‘Mutants’. I never saw the original trilogy from the early 2000’s, haven’t really cared for the most recent installments, and literally could name only a handful of members of the supergroup. They have always just felt like the ‘other’ superheroes, the ones that aren’t as poplar or cool as Batman, Captain America, or even someone like Dr. Strange. However, the one character that has been able to stand the test of time and popularity is none other than Wolverine.
Perhaps amplified by Hugh Jackman’s uber masculine performance, Wolvie’ has been around for nearly two decades. But after a handful of team-up movies, and after surviving a pretty less-than-stellar reboot of standalone films, we have finally come to Logan, the end of the road for this mutant. But does Jackman’s last movie provide closure and clarity for a character seemingly always in the dark and fighting personal demons? In short, hell yes.
The story picks up in the near future, following Old Man Logan as he battles alcoholism, inner turmoil, and a rapid decaying of his vital organs due to his Adamantium skeleton poisoning himself from within. We are introduced to both a pretty lackluster villain and an entirely exciting new protagonist named Laura, a young girl who seems to have the same powers as Wolverine - even though, supposedly, the world has been ridden of Mutants for years now.
The story follows Logan as he attempts to not only save this mysterious little girl, but also save himself in the process. Taking place across the midwest and the Dakotas, the movie feels much like a western. A tale of love, loss, sacrifice, and redemption. Eventually we find out that there is a secret facility where the bad guys are breeding mutant children as soldiers (I know, not that original), but after a breakout all of those kids have escaped and are fleeing to “Eden” - a place just across the Canadian border in hopes of safety and freedom. One of the smartest aspects of the movie is that it recognizes that Logan is a superhero, citing Eden as a fictionalized safe-haven from a decades old Wolverine comic book. Its pretty cool to see on-screen, honestly.
Now eventually Logan and Laura fight their way North, and after one final bloody confrontation, Wolverine explodes in a wave of youthful power and force thanks to a sketchy green formula in his blood stream. But the antidote quickly wears off, he comes down from his slasher high, and faces a final confrontation with a younger version of himself (literally). This fight takes everything out of him, and forces him to all but sacrifice himself to save and protect Laura - who ends up saving him, briefly. Finally, in a wave of closure, Logan takes his final breath. The children burry him in the mountains, and place a makeshift cross as his headstone. But just before the kids journey to the border of Eden, Laura rips the cross from the ground, turns it on its side, and places it back at the grave. This time in the shape of an “X”, a fallen cross.
Logan is so much more than traditional superhero movie, and that is why is succeeds. While having a ridiculous amount of blood and gore, it feels very much like The Dark Knight Rises by attempting to be grounded in reality as much as possible. For the majority of the film, it truly accomplishes this. Now the villains are generic, the storyline wasn’t great, and the sheer amount of violence was over-the-top at times. But while it might not be as ‘good’ as the Nolan trilogy of Batman movies, it does provide an antidote to modern superhero movies. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and provides fans what they deserve: A True ending chapter to the Hugh Jackman Wolverine story.
We get closure with Logan finally overcoming his own inner demons to sacrifice himself for someone else, and a sense of clarity is brought to his character that has never really been focused on before. We come to find that despite all of the trauma he has suffered and all of the fighting his body and soul have survived, despite his lone wolf mentality and struggle with genuine emotions, he truly becomes human, which is something that he has been fighting for since his inception. We are introduced to a side of the character that we've never really seen before, to the true Wolverine.
Once and forever a Mutant, but an outsider no more.
