2017 was a banner year for comic book movies -- 'Thor: Ragnarok' brought a measure of hilarity to the Apocalypse; 'Wonder Woman' managed the dual feat of being a critical darling and a box office sensation (putting to bed the idea that bad films are bad because women are leading them); 'Spiderman: Homecoming' proved that apparently people did want to go see yet another incarnation of the web-slinger; and 'Justice League'... well, the less said about that bloated mess the better. However, one film stood out even in such a crowded field as a truly brilliant piece of comic book-based movie-making -- the latest installment in Fox’s 'X-Men' universe: 'Logan.'
In fact, it may well be the best film of the year. We certainly thought it memorable upon a first viewing and review a few months back. But since then (March) the movie has only grown more iconic in retrospect.
It would be very easy to draw up a simple list of reasons as to why 'Logan' is so captivating an experience. It’s dark. It’s gritty. It takes beloved characters in unexpected directions. It starkly contrasts with the also excellent but very different brighter interpretations of comic book characters currently popular and artfully demystifies an ethos (are you listening, Rian Johnson?). But, as is becoming increasingly clear, being ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’ by itself is not an indicator of quality. Adding a bit more death and destruction and making your characters miserable, is not, in and of itself, great art. 'Logan' succeeds not simply because it tells a darker story than 'X-Men' films usually do, but because it knows exactly what it wants to do and does it well. In that sense it recalls contemporary pieces like Clint Eastwood’s ‘Unforgiven,’ Christoper Nolan's 'The Dark Knight,' or even the highly acclaimed ‘cinematic videogame’ ‘The Last of Us’ by ‘Naughty Dog,’ all tightly-focused tales with simple, clear story through-lines which resonate with genre-agnostic audiences.
One aspect of the film that is handled skillfully is its raw depiction of violence. 'Logan' is far from the first film based on a comic book or graphic novel to be given an R rating, and such a designation is not inherently necessary to tell a violent story -- 'The Hunger Games', for example, relates an extremely violent story without quite enough blood on screen to warrant such a rating. What makes 'Logan' stand out is how well it deploys that level of violence and onscreen gore. For the first time, the film depicts just how someone with the sort of weapons Logan has on hand (pun fully intended) might battle and the sort of damage they might inflict. It’s a visceral experience that plunges the viewer thoroughly into the movie’s violent world. It’s also an important story decision. So much of the plot of the film focuses on Logan’s physical decline, and the giving and receiving of physical pain, it becomes an integral part of the experience that we are really made to feel every blow, kick and slice in a way we haven’t in other X-Men or superhero, movies.
There is so much more to this film, though, than just a bit of the old ultra-violence. The 'X-Men' franchise has been supported, from its 2000 inception, by the "tentpole" performances of some great actors, foremost among them Hugh Jackman (who appears in some form in all 10 films, albeit the 10th is on a magazine cover) and Patrick Stewart (who appears in 7). This film is their swan song, and what a farewell it is. One character's ending is utterly shocking, hitting the audience with the full force of a punch in the gut; the other is anticipated yet more prolonged, offering more closure, rounding out both the film and the franchise to date. Both are the end of long journeys we’ve taken with these people, so it's all the more appropriate that their final adventure is a road trip. The characters will go on –- Charles Xavier will reappear once again in the form of James McAvoy in 2018, and Wolverine/Logan will inevitably morph into a new incarnation eventually -- but these versions of these characters, played by these actors, are given a farewell to remember here.
This core are also surrounded by a group of fantastic performances from newer faces. We know that the great Patrick Stewart can act everyone around him off the screen –- part of the appeal of the 'X-Men' movies lay in matching him up with Ian McKellen and by so doing giving him someone equally brilliant to play off. While McKellen may be absent from this film, Dafne Keen makes a stunning debut and brings a fresh new dynamic to Stewart and Jackman’s well-worn familiarity. Jackman himself is as strong and as likable as ever (despite his character being at an even lower point than we’ve seen before) and Stephen Merchant rounds out the X-cast with a wonderfully nervously twitchy performance as Caliban.
'Logan' is not an unending nihilistic exercise in misery –- there is black humour here, and while the lead characters may all be unconventional, we still like them and care about them. What makes the film work is that there is still plenty of heart in these worn people battered but never broken by life and in the story. The experience of watching the film is tense and shocking in places, with a middle section that feels like it’s dropped straight out of a horror film and into this franchise. But there is love and hope too, and reason enough to want to see these characters keep fighting, and to see some kind of light at the end of a very dark tunnel. The whole thing comes together to produce a violently beautiful, gut-wrenching and elegiac work of cinematic art.
* Note: for our full-length 'Logan' review, please search the Archive.