I'm starting a new segment today highlighting movies and TV series I enjoy. And what better way to start than with the best X Men movie, James Mangold's Logan. Hugh Jackman once again don's the feral facial hair and adamantium claws as our titular hero. For all those of you who know me, Wolverine has been my favorite Marvel character since the beginning. Surprise, surprise it's not Ironman. Fox studios has pumped out a number of X Men movies over the years, and frankly they have been pretty meh, with the exception of maybe X2 and Days of the Future Past. These are great summer popcorn flicks with little substance. So imagine how surprised I was after watching Logan. This is by far the most in depth examination of Logan aka the Wolverine's fractured psyche.
The movie opens with a broken and run down Logan driving people around and just trying to make a living.He gets jumped by some thugs and has to unleash the beast within. But is this the Wolverine we have all become so familiar with? Not at all! We find out all is not well. His claws don't extend properly, and his healing factor is failing. Logan is dying of adamantium poisoning. We also discover that the X Men are no more, and Logan is caring for an ailing and cranky Charles Xavier, who suffers from terrible psychic seizures. Logan watches over Charles with the help of Caliban. He wants nothing to do with world affairs other than living out his existence. Logan is, however once again dragged into action when he is contacted by a nurse from an experimental facility with a little girl in tow. Laura has mutant abilities similar to Logan.
There is so much to dissect here.Logan has to deal with mortality for the first time, and his disillusionment with the world at large. He is a broken man and is tired of fighting. The drab color palette used by Mangold throughout the movie perfectly captures the sombre mood.The choice to focus on the relationship between Logan and Charles, and later with Laura was perfect. We get to follow the individuals and get into their headspace. The characters felt more fleshed out as each received a great deal of screen time. And we definitely got Oscar worthy performances from Hugh Jackman, Sir Patrick Steward and even Dafne Keen! This movie felt more like a drama and less like a summer superhero movie. Definitely the best comic book movie out there PERIOD!
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