Logan (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Logan (2017) – J. Mangold

I confess that I haven’t seen many superhero films (including none of the X-Men films that I can recall) but this recent Hugh Jackman Wolverine film got such positive reviews that it attracted my attention. So, bear in mind that I watched this cold, without much awareness of the X-Men backstory (apart from anything I may have gleaned from looking at other kids’ comics during summer camp in the 1970s) – your mileage may vary.  Of course, setting aside some of the supernatural elements, the film can be read as the story of an aging and disillusioned man, potentially dying of some unknown illness, drowning himself in drink and drugs, but then called upon to assist in a moral imperative whereupon he rediscovers an important part of himself and/or his deeper values.  This may not be Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey but it is certainly a story arc we have seen before.  The fact that it is a child who brings the hero to his senses is also familiar.  So, adding the supernatural elements to the mix may be what has refreshed it.  In this version, the weary old man (Logan; Hugh Jackman) has razor sharp adamantium claws and the young child is a new mutant developed from his genetic material (played by Dafne Keen) who sports the same weapons.  She has escaped from the facility that created her (run by Richard E. Grant) and needs Logan to help her to escape to “Eden” located on the Canadian border.  It is a long way from the Mexican border – especially with X-Men leader Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), now 90 years old, and experiencing seizures that can kill others, in tow.  There are some military-styled bad guys to fight along the way and the film earns its R-rating for violence.  The final fight, in a North Dakotan forest reminiscent of the setting (and moves?) for the Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot, feels old-school rather than CGI, which I appreciated. And it was hard not to identify with a grumbly superhero who wears reading glasses!  This said, I’m not sure I need to watch anything else from this franchise.