Review | Film review: Logan – Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine takes the violent path in X-Men send-off
In the gritty, visceral episode of the X-Men series, a tired Wolverine hides out in a near-future Mexico, looking after an ailing Charles Xavier
3.5/5 stars
Emboldened by the success of last year’s Deadpool , Hugh Jackman and writer-director James Mangold look to push the boundaries of the superhero genre even further with Logan, achieving new levels of onscreen violence in its opening moments. Discarding the spandex and playful camaraderie of the X-Men for a grizzled, dustball future where mutants are all but extinct, it is also the series’ most nihilistic chapter.
In the year 2029, a haggard and booze-soaked Wolverine (Jackman) hides out in Mexico, his regenerative powers waning while his disdain for everything else grows. In his care is an elderly Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), whose failing mental health is triggering potentially lethal episodes.
Despite their best efforts to stay under the radar, Logan and Professor X are forced into the open when Laura (Dafne Keen), a young girl displaying violent mutations similar to Logan’s, is thrust upon them, pursued by Richard E. Grant’s rabble of vicious mercenaries. Vague references to an earlier catastrophe, as well as Laura’s laboratory origins and a mythical paradise where all may find salvation linger at the film’s periphery.
