Review of LOGAN (2017)
Article by RABID TRIBBLE
Actor Hugh Jackman is now ready to hang up his claws, calling it quits playing his most recognizable character, the Marvel superhero Wolverine, which he has portrayed over 17 years and in 9 films, starting with X-MEN (2000). Although his departure will leave some very big shoes (claws?) to fill for the next actor who will inevitably take on the role, at least he is doing so in style with the new movie LOGAN, somewhat based on the graphic novel "Old Man Logan".
It is many years in the future, and an aging Wolverine, AKA Logan, AKA James Howlett (notice the pun?) is starting to feel his advancing years. His incredible healing powers have kept him looking young and in good physical condition for some 200 years, but now he heals slowly. His hands bleed whenever his claws come out from between his knuckles, and his strenght is diminishing. He is slowly dying of adamantium poisoning, due to his weakened healing abilities. He is one of the only mutants left in the world, since most have died out and very few have been born in the last twenty years. Logan has long stopped his superheroics and lives a quiet life, driving a limo for a living, and taking care of a senile 90-something Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who sometimes experiences seizures that painfully affect in the literal sense everyone around him. The most powerful brain in the world has now become the most dangerous brain in the world. If Logan doesn't ensure that Professor X takes his medications, everyone in the vicinity will be uncomfortably aware of it.
Logan's attempts at a relatively normal life soon come to an abrupt end when he finds out that some young mutants have been kept hidden in some secret facility and experimented on. He, along with the professor, and an 11 year-old girl Laura, known as X-23, who possesses the same mutant powers as Wolverine, set out on a cross-country mission to find the other young mutants.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film, and a worthy farewell from Jackman to the fans. It's one of the better films in the X-Men franchise, and delivers what audiences want---a pulse-pounding adventure with some visceral action. It is rated R, and certainly earns its rating. Probably the most violent superhero movie ever made so far. For the first time, we truly see how devastatingly brutal those 8-inch claws can be. The film doesn't gloss over the consequences of those nasty adamantium weapons. Laura is terrifyingly ferocious, maiming and eviscerating the bad guys with a primal scream. A mini-Wolverine.
LOGAN has its quiet moments too. There are some heartbreaking moments, and an emotional ending that's quite haunting. It is probably one of the top ten best superhero movies I've seen, but I definitely would not recommend taking children to see it.
