Film News

Logan Reviewed

Published

9 years ago

March 1, 2017

Admin

Logan’s Run

♦Logan, starring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, is out in UK cinemas from today and Tripwire’s Editor-in-Chief JOEL MEADOWS took a look at it. Warning: spoilers ahead…

Logan
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine since 1999 and Logan, the third Wolverine film, is the eighth time he has portrayed him on screen. So he has said publicly that he shall be hanging up his claws after this one.

Logan is based on the story Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and is set in a near future where the X-Men are no longer a going concern. Logan (Hugh Jackman) tries to live a lowkey life away from the superheroics and finds himself on the outskirts of society. His only connection to his past is that he tries to help an ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart), who lives incapacitated near the Mexican border with only his carer Caliban (Stephen Merchant) for company.

Logan finds himself drawn back into his past existence when a young mutant Laura (Dafne Keen) comes to him for help to find a place where mutants can live freely. Laura is pursued by dark forces and so Logan is coerced into finding his old skills to protect her and recapture some of his past passion and ardour. He has to battle a very familiar figure, who forces him to come to terms with his own demons, which are tearing him apart.

There was a big deal made that Logan is an R Rated film in the US, which means that it can be a little bit more violent and more adult than its progenitors. For fans of X-Men on screen and fans of Jackman as Logan, there is quite a bit to recommend here. Jackman has this innate ability to come across as likeable on screen and he capitalises on this here. Mangold and production designer François Audouy have created a world here which is a slightly off kilter version of our world and visually it is very strong. Keen as young mutant Laura is a real find as she has a vulnerability and an empathy that does connect with the audience. Stewart feels a little wasted here but his presence does help to lift the film.

Logan is intended to wrap up the story of the character and there is a definite conclusion to his arc. Not every character survives the film, although this is comics so we all know that death isn’t always final. Jackman conveys the world-weariness of the character with a little flair and panache, Mangold keeps the plot moving and there is enough action to satisfy the adrenalin junkies in the audience. People who have enjoyed the X-Men films will get a lot out of this. It is testament to the cultural dominance of superhero and genre films that they can sometimes subvert their origins. Logan doesn’t quite do that but there are moments when it rises above its slightly moribund source material. Logan is the strongest of the three Wolverine films and probably the best X-Men film since X-Men: First Class. A decent end to the tale of Logan.

Logan is out from today, 1 March, in UK cinemas and out in the US from Friday 3 March.