Logan English Movie

Feature Film | 2017 | Action, Sci-Fi
Critics:
Audience:
Logan is a low-key superhero fare but a fantastic action drama, powered by a sinister take on the franchise and Hugh Jackman's coup de grace as the veteran mutant.
Mar 3, 2017 By Vighnesh Menon


If you are sick of the recent bombardment of formulaic superhero flicks, if you are craving a transposition of the sub-genre, look no further. Logan is the answer to all your worries. The final chapter of the 'Wolverine' trilogy is also the X-Men franchise's best installment in a decade or so.


The timeline may still be notoriously convoluted, but if the audience can view Logan as a standalone film, that will get rid of a lot of discomfort and disbelief. Here, director James Mangold generates interest through a different look at our beloved superheroes. Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine(Hugh Jackman), is apparently among the last of his species left on planet earth alongside Charles Xavier(Patrick Stewart) after the latter's volatile seizure wipes out most of the mutants a year earlier. He is ageing rapidly and is no longer invincible. Later, Logan is forced to take care of a young girl by the name, Laura(Dafne Keen), who shares his DNA and superpowers. There are villains in the story. But, they only play second fiddle to Logan's and Laura's inner demons, which weirdly enough, works in advantage of the film.


Logan is less of a CGI-heavy superhero spectacle and more of a gritty drama. Some people would liken the realism to The Dark Knight and rightly so. Since The Dark Knight, the superhero sub-genre has expanded as the most bankable section of films in Hollywood, with competing studios, massive interconnected universes and plenty of overlapping subplots and characters. Mangold shreds that comfort zone to make a gory tragedy by humanizing the iconic mutant's adventure.


Logan's three biggest assets are actors Jackman, Stewart and Keen. The child actor is perfectly cast as Laura, for whom her somber facial features come in handy. Stewart and Jackman are equally uncompromising as the ageing mutants. The former gives his best performance to date as Professor X while the latter convinces the viewers to care for the twilight of his character's life. He has left his eventual successor humongous shoes to fill.


Curtains have fallen on Wolverine's legend. But Logan has left a lot of prospects for the next set of superhero films. The character-driven script, intelligent visual storytelling, memorable dramatic performances, R-rated action and great irony are bold steps toward a reinvention of modern blockbusters.


Vighnesh Menon

   

MOVIE REVIEWS