James Mangold's Logan is a worthy send-off for Hugh Jackman, an actor who has spent nearly two decades personifying the Wolverine, a fitting conclusion to a character who finds a sense of purpose again, and eventually peace from his tortured, animalistic nature, and past, that has led him to see nearly everyone he cares about perish. Set in the near future, 2029 to be exact, James Mangold's Logan introduces us to a character in Logan who has reached the end of his rope, caring for an ailing Professor Charles Xavier in a hide out on the Mexican border. Slowly drinking himself to death, Logan is a man who has excepted defeat, borderline nihilistic and ready to leave a world that has caused him so much pain. Logan's attempts to live off-the-grid, where he isn't reminded of his legacy as an X-Men, are up-ended with the arrival of a young, mysterious mutant, who desperately needs his help. From the very first scene of James Mangold's Logan this film reminds the viewer that this is not a film for kids, featuring an extremely violent sequence that finds Logan drunkenly shred a group of local thieves who picked the wrong car. The sequence vividly announces that this film will be different, not only due to its blood-soaked R-rated carnage, but also in its depiction of Logan, a man who can barely stand due to his alcoholism, defeated, and having little interest in anything but his own demise. James Mangold's Logan isn't devoid of the tropes of the comic book genre entirely, but it certainly carries much more weight than many such films, being a story that deconstructs the hopelessness in a character of Logan who has lost the will to live. Surprisingly humanistic for a superhero movie, James Mangold's Logan is a redemption story for this tortured character, a journey to find hope again for a character who has lost all faith in humanity, uninterested in human connection due to the vast pain it has caused him in the past. Through this journey, which plays out much like a chase film, the relationship Logan slowly forms with this young mutant begins to give him a purpose again, finding himself slowly recalling the importance of human empathy and connection. Ending in a way that only feels right for such a tortured character, James Mangold's Logan finds this character sacrifice himself for the greater good, a sharp contrast to the nihilistic character we were introduced to at the onset of the film, as the film itself captures Logan finding his way back to the light, embracing the need for optimism and hope in a world that has given him very little of either.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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