Gonzalez 1

Kevin Gonzalez

Carrie Hatfield

ENGL1301

12 June, 2018

Logan review essay

Logan is a 2017 film directed by James Mangold, set as the tenth installment

in the X-men film franchise and the final Wolverine solo film starring Hugh

Jackman. The film set the record for highest grossing R rated movie of all time in

March (Box office Mojo). The film sets a different tone compared to previous

entries from the very start. In this X-men movie universe, the main protagonist

Logan has had his bones coated in a fictional, unbreakable metal called

"Adamantium". The metal, combined with his mutation of three boned

protrusions from the gaps in-between his knuckles give him razor sharp weapons

that he has used all throughout the series to defend himself. However, the reason

he has survived throughout all the fighting, is his ability to self-heal almost

instantly, slowly bringing old age when compared to people around him, causing

him to outlive all the friends he has gained along the way, leading directly into

Logan. The film starts off introducing to the viewers an old, battered Logan. The

adamantium coating his bones, now slowly poisoning him has overwhelmed his

healing factor, leading to wounds becoming scars instead of brand new skin. It is

now much harder for him to get around, and he is stuck having to take care of his

former mentor, Professor Xavier. At one point the smartest, most powerful

mutant, able to communicate with anyone around the world, Xavier is now forced
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to take medication to suppress his mutant abilities which become lethal to

anyone around him during one of his seizures. The duo cross paths and set on a

mission with a new mutant, strange being that no mutants have been born in

over twenty-five years. In the film, she goes by the name Laura, or X-23, her lab

name. She is a female replication of Logan, having his healing factor and

adamantium claws. The three must find their way to the border of Canada to

meet up with other new runaway mutants and seek refuge from a murderous,

imperfect clone of Logan and the organization that created these mutants. Logan

has set the precedent for future comic book movies and raised the bar in terms of

quality that should be expected from Hollywood producers, permanently

affecting the comic book genre landscape.

Movie studios overseeing production for Superhero movies have always

prioritized the financial bottom line. As a result, many movies have been held

back from their original source material, becoming much lighter in tone and

being reduced to a pg-13 rating to appeal to a wider audience. Logan instead took

a risky approach and decided to focus on a niche audience of die-hard fans who

for the longest time have pleaded for a no hold bars wolverine adaptation of the

popular "Old Man Logan" comic. This fan service rewarded at the box office with

an over two hundred-million-dollar increase from the previous Hugh Jackman

Wolverine solo film "The Wolverine" (Hughes). This showed production

companies that consumers spend more to support well built, faithful adaptations

compared to blatant cash grabs.

Throughout Logan, uncensored violence is used to reinforce the grim tone of

the film. To some, the rating is seen as a cop out. For Curtis Silver of Forbes
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magazine, it is viewed as "pandering to a fan base who wanted to see Wolverine

curse and get blood on his claws" (Silver). By midway through the film, it is clear

that Logan, Laura, and Xavier are being hunted, and the people they interact with

along their journey meet a grim death. Despite this, professor Xavier insists that

their group settle down for the night with a family of three in the countryside.

Xavier justifies his actions by stating that Laura needs this family bonding

moment to grow in a way that can allow her to feel normal. A lighthearted dinner

scene including the farmers commences, giving Logan, Xavier, and Laura a

chance to finally laugh and banter in the way regular folk would, taking a break

from their outside problems. For the audience however, the scene only brings a

sense of unease as the impending doom of an attack sets in. The group chasing

down the mutants arrives, bringing a clone of Logan to fatally wound Xavier and

to capture Laura. In the process the entire family from the farm is killed, the son

gutted on screen and the mother left with her throat torn open.The R rating

allowed for the heartfelt dinner scene to be abruptly interrupted with quick and

brutal violence, bringing an end to the main characters sliver of enjoyment to

replace it with the reality of their situation. The lives of people they cross paths

with will end in brutal fashion. This takes a break from conventional comic book

movies that portray the main characters as heroes who can save all those in

danger. The reality showcased in Logan, possible only by its R rating, gives a

chance for further films to show a more realistic side to the genre.

The themes shown in the film stand out as it draws direct parallels to the 1953

western "Shane" in which a lone wanderer, constantly followed by his murderous

past actions draws his gun once more to bring peace to a family and a valley once
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and for all at the cost of his life (Robinson). Logan echoes these themes by having

the main protagonist leave his day to day life caring for Xavier to help a reflection

of his younger self, Laura, have what he never could, a peaceful life. At the end of

the film, Logan fights one last time to help Laura escape the team trying to round

her up along with the other runaway mutants. In doing so, he destroys the clone

of himself and the man responsible for creating said clone. The fighting leaves

Logan mortally wounded, his final words to Laura being "don’t be what they

made you" (Logan). He tells her this because he was once subject to government

experiments as well, except he never got the chance to live a normal life in the

way that Laura now can. The newly freed mutants bury Logan and march on.

Having the film end with such permanent impact to the character of Wolverine as

this gives the ending meaning. The main character dies along with his lifelong

mentor, all to give a child everything they could never have. Not a happy ending

by any means, nor is it a resolution on a worldwide scale in the film universe.

Instead, this raises the films status, allowing it to set an example for future

directors and storytellers, showing that a story should never shy away from

permanent repercussions and that a small, well contained story is just as effective

at conveying weight and loss as a worldwide conflict.

"Logan" is a film that breaks the mold for superhero movies and sets new

standards in the way of movie storytelling. Becoming a shining example of how to

give characters and their choices weight, while at the same time keeping the story

and its events small scale. The box office records do not lie in this case. Audiences

want more serious films and Logan proves just that.

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Works Cited

Mangold, James, director. Logan. 20th Century Fox, 3 Mar. 2017.

Silver, Curtis. “Review: 'Logan' Stumbles, Broken And Bruised, To Its Inevitable

Ex-Machina Assisted End.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 Mar. 2017,

www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2017/03/06/review-logan-stumbles-

broken-and-bruised-to-its-inevitable-ex-machina-assisted-

end/#6e6de4875f77.

“Logan (2017).” Box Office Mojo,

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wolverine2017.htm.

Robinson, Tasha. “Logan Isn't Just the Bloodiest X-Men Movie, It's Also the

Saddest.” The Verge, The Verge, 17 Feb. 2017,

www.theverge.com/2017/2/17/14652584/logan-wolverine-x-men-movie-

review-hugh-jackman-patrick-stewart.

Hughes, Mark. “'Logan' Is The Fourth-Highest Grossing R-Rated Film Of All

Time.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 15 Apr. 2017,

www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2017/04/14/logan-is-the-fourth-highest-

grossing-r-rated-film-of-all-time/#308030fe25ba.