*Major spoilers in this review*
Ah Logan, you did it buddy. You made people care more about you, made em love ya. For that I say thank ya. The beginning Deadpool trailer pretty much felt built into this movie. Hilarious and awesome homage to Superman. Love the run down theater in the background playing Logan.
Now, one of the first things I liked about the movie is Logan getting into a bloody fight pretty much right away, firmly establishing that R rating. The tone of the film is established right away. I don't think I even remember a title sequence. Lots of yellow and orange in this movie, just like in the trailer. Logan takes care of Professor X who is going through a kind of dementia. In-between the f-bombs, which is fun and hilarious to hear Xavier say there's some good touching dialogue between the two characters that has always been implied but never said. With the exception of Logan saying them, the swearing felt a little forced at times instead of it being more organic to the dialogue and story. There is an art to cursing.
When Logan gets dragged into the inevitable conflict things start to accelerate. I gotta be honest, I thought it was pretty hardcore when Logan told Caliban to off Pierce in the middle of the desert. Logan takes no prisoners in this one. Stephen Merchant is perfectly cast in this one (just wish he had the hulk-out power from the comics). The casino scene is pretty incredible effects wise with Xavier having a breakdown, causing everyone to freeze in place including the villains out to get him.The effects in this are pretty top notch and I think that's mostly because they don't overdo it. There's no buildings getting thrown around and giant aliens or monsters, it's all pretty minimal.
In the final act, Logan must face X-24 (spoilers) his evil doppelganger, grown in a makeshift Weapon X lab in a hospital in Mexico City. That's a bit of a strike against the movie, c'mon, they grew a Weapon X24 in a hospital in Mexico and he's super badass? It all seemed very thrown together and cheap. The original Weapon X (Logan) was carefully made and trained in a Weapon-X high tech facility, and they expect us to believe that he can be beat by him? It's very thin, but I guess the director and writer were going after the metaphor of his younger, primal self fighting his older, wiser and human self so I kind of get it. I still think I would've preferred Sabretooth returning in some capacity, heck, maybe he was going to in some way but negotiations fell through with Liev Schreiber. Omega Red would've been great but would've been out of his element in Texas/North Dakota. Logan fighting himself is a big more poetic I suppose, just wish he didn't seem so cheaply made. Have the Weapons be made in an underground facility or something, not a hospital. So the film has just a couple of small flaws, just really missed opportunities to me.
It succeeds at paying tribute to the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics but that's mostly about it. I found it interesting that Xavier probably killed the X-men and not Wolvie, that was a surprising liberty with the material that worked! You CAN stray from the original material, but it's gotta work and it's gotta be good. Take notes Wolverine: Origins. It takes the theme of an unwitting soldier having to come back out of retirement, takes place in the west and the X-men were killed but that's about where the similarities end.
The final scene where Logan has to come out into his old natural forest environment for one last showdown is great and it somehow looks like exactly where they shot the similar scene in X-men 3. There's just something about Wolvie running around in berserker fury that gets me going. He doesn't the same leap move he did in X-men 3. Huge deja-vu here.
Major ending spoilers start here. When Logan has his final tussle with his younger self. It's tough to watch the final death blow. The fight is gory and well down effects wise. Probably one of the best fight cgi scenes in quite a long time. Extremely ferocious. Kinda of reminded me of the T-1000 vs's T-800 at the end of Terminator 2.
As a final note, I'm a bit biased when it comes to X-men and Wolverine movies since Wolvie's my favorite superhero. I've already watched him die in the comic and now in the movie. It's been a bit profound to watch one of my favorite characters die again onscreen. It's been a bit traumatic, that's why this review is so long. Trying to process it all hasn't been easy. It's the end of the Jackman era. I remember getting so geeked to see X-men 1 and how much suspense there was in seeing the character done right. I still get chills when I see Wolvie smoking a stoogie in a bar in Canada. He really nailed the character in that scene. X-2 the whole invasion scene in the mansion where the tank top look is firmly established. Him leaping over the mansion balcony, roaring, arms jacked and claws out, the fastball special scene in X-3, The showdown with Sabretooth in X1 and in Origins (God forgive me), in The Wolverine where he takes on The Hand and the human samurai, Days of Future Past the mob showdown scene, just so many memorable scenes from each film. Really loved that Logan finally called Xavier 'Chuck' like in the comics, so glad they finally acknowledged that. It's the end of his cinematic story arc. All the movies have led to this movie and the final moments of his death. No easter egg after the credits and it all seems so damn final.
The Man Comes Around is so fitting and perfect for the end of the movie, so glad they had a Cash song in it, especially that one.
I would've liked in a better costume, the brown and yellow, the yellow and gold (even the ones from X-men First Class). I would've liked an amazing showdown with Omega Red and maybe just one more fight with Sabretooth (either incarnation). I would've loved an Alpha Fight appearance in this one or a backstory on them in some capacity. I would've liked more of the characters trademark sayings. Sadly those things weren't mean to be, not with Jackman. He held the torch and held it high with what he was given. Can the character be performed other ways? I certainly think so, but the odds are slim that it'll be better then Jackman's performance and presence. I'd like to see a Daniel Day Lewis kind of performance that's a bit more of an outside-in method. Someone who can take it a little more over-the-top and come back to make it grounded again. A gruffer voice closer to the cartoon and a lot more cockiness. I believe it's possible. Until then though Hugh you were the best at what you did and what you did was pretty darn good!
8.9 out of 10 claws -almost perfect!! Good enough!-
-Chris C.-
