Today I went to see a movie that I have been debating, partly because I already knew how it ended, and partly because I didn't want it to end. Growing up my first cartoon crush was Optimus Prime, yes, he is a car but hubba hubba. My second cartoon crush, and my first comic book crush, was Wolverine. It has always been Wolverine for me, even before Hugh Jackman played him in the movies. There has always been something about him, his strength, his personality, the way he trims his facial hair, he was it for me. The reason I read comics, the reason I was willing to watch superhero movies, the reason I cared about a fictitious world. His love for Jean, his caring for Rogue, his actions as a unwilling but necessary superhero have always made Wolverine the best superhero, and anti-superhero.
LOGAN follows Wolverine after the mutants have come and gone, in a world where mutants are the enemy and any mutant still living is hunted and killed. In this movie he is no longer Wolverine, he is just Logan, a man on a mission to save those he has left, the only people in the world who understand him. With him are two companions, Professor X and Caliban. Professor X is a skeletal hush of his former self, being given meds so he doesn't explode and kill all of humanity. Caliban is a soft spoken albino who takes care of Xavier and has special powers that will eventually be used against Logan and Xavier, but at the end Caliban is a hero.
There will be spoilers, so if you have yet to see this movie, I suggest you stop reading this review now. Logan is greeted by a woman named Gabrielle, who wants him to help her and a young girl named Laura. It turns out that Laura is Logan's daughter, created through stolen DNA. She has the same implants as Logan does, with a few exceptions. Logan is dubious about helping, as he just wants to live a quiet life on a boat with Xavier. Plus, Logan is sick, the metal in his body is slowly poisoning him, he no longer heals as fast and coughs up blood.
This movie was hard for me to watch since I never really thought the X-Men universe would come to an end. With everyone dead but these new laboratory mutants there isn't really a chance for a continuation of the series, although I could see a reboot with new mutants. I do wonder if their mutations are genetically transferred, and I do wonder what the plans might be for the series. I haven't read the graphic novels in a long while, and wonder if they are going to follow something that was written in them. It is hard because I can't imagine the movie series continuing without Professor X or Wolverine. Anyway, I digress. The plot of the movie is to protect Laura and get her, and several other mutant children, to a safe haven where they will be free from the crazy doctor who is chasing after them.
This movie is incredibly touching, and true to the story of Wolverine. He continues to be a reluctant hero in this movie, and in the end his guilt over the deaths of others follows him to his own death. He tells Laura that she doesn't have to become what he is, she can be better. The loss of Xavier to a Wolverine clone is devastating, and hard to watch. He is a broken old man who must depend on Logan for everything. When he dies he is spilling his heart out about things that happened in the past. We see Xavier as the broken husk he has become, but we also see the strong X-Man he used to be.
In the end, Logan loses his life to save Laura, and his death is one of the saddest deaths I have seen in a while. I never really expected to see Logan die, and I was devastated when it finally came. It was wonderful, however, to see him remain true to his character. He hesitantly comes to the rescue of the children as they are chased and captured. He hesitantly kills and you can see he doesn't like killing, but he does it because he feels like he must to protect the kids.
This is a stand-alone movie. You don't have to watch the previous X-Men movies to feel for the characters or understand what is going on. It does help with some of the references to know some of the background of the characters, and the mutants, but if you have followed the mutant history you would already know how hard life has been for them. From the death of Jean to the dismantling of the school to the horrible way the government has treated them, mutants are basically extinct.
I recommend this movie, it has a lot of action, heart, and story. It says a lot without saying everything or being repetitive. It was a really good movie.
LOGAN follows Wolverine after the mutants have come and gone, in a world where mutants are the enemy and any mutant still living is hunted and killed. In this movie he is no longer Wolverine, he is just Logan, a man on a mission to save those he has left, the only people in the world who understand him. With him are two companions, Professor X and Caliban. Professor X is a skeletal hush of his former self, being given meds so he doesn't explode and kill all of humanity. Caliban is a soft spoken albino who takes care of Xavier and has special powers that will eventually be used against Logan and Xavier, but at the end Caliban is a hero.
There will be spoilers, so if you have yet to see this movie, I suggest you stop reading this review now. Logan is greeted by a woman named Gabrielle, who wants him to help her and a young girl named Laura. It turns out that Laura is Logan's daughter, created through stolen DNA. She has the same implants as Logan does, with a few exceptions. Logan is dubious about helping, as he just wants to live a quiet life on a boat with Xavier. Plus, Logan is sick, the metal in his body is slowly poisoning him, he no longer heals as fast and coughs up blood.
This movie was hard for me to watch since I never really thought the X-Men universe would come to an end. With everyone dead but these new laboratory mutants there isn't really a chance for a continuation of the series, although I could see a reboot with new mutants. I do wonder if their mutations are genetically transferred, and I do wonder what the plans might be for the series. I haven't read the graphic novels in a long while, and wonder if they are going to follow something that was written in them. It is hard because I can't imagine the movie series continuing without Professor X or Wolverine. Anyway, I digress. The plot of the movie is to protect Laura and get her, and several other mutant children, to a safe haven where they will be free from the crazy doctor who is chasing after them.
This movie is incredibly touching, and true to the story of Wolverine. He continues to be a reluctant hero in this movie, and in the end his guilt over the deaths of others follows him to his own death. He tells Laura that she doesn't have to become what he is, she can be better. The loss of Xavier to a Wolverine clone is devastating, and hard to watch. He is a broken old man who must depend on Logan for everything. When he dies he is spilling his heart out about things that happened in the past. We see Xavier as the broken husk he has become, but we also see the strong X-Man he used to be.
In the end, Logan loses his life to save Laura, and his death is one of the saddest deaths I have seen in a while. I never really expected to see Logan die, and I was devastated when it finally came. It was wonderful, however, to see him remain true to his character. He hesitantly comes to the rescue of the children as they are chased and captured. He hesitantly kills and you can see he doesn't like killing, but he does it because he feels like he must to protect the kids.
This is a stand-alone movie. You don't have to watch the previous X-Men movies to feel for the characters or understand what is going on. It does help with some of the references to know some of the background of the characters, and the mutants, but if you have followed the mutant history you would already know how hard life has been for them. From the death of Jean to the dismantling of the school to the horrible way the government has treated them, mutants are basically extinct.
I recommend this movie, it has a lot of action, heart, and story. It says a lot without saying everything or being repetitive. It was a really good movie.
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