Movie Review: Logan is ahead of the pack
Do not expect the glossy, colourful, CGI-heavy movie that we have come to expect from the superhero genre.
This latest Wolverine outing, Logan, is - dare I say - more like Manchester By The Sea in terms of tone and vibe.
Logan is a serious drama. It is also the most emotional and revealing Wolverine film.
Not only do we see a lot more of Logan, or Wolverine, X-Men leader Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X, is fleshed out well too.
It is refreshing to get a glimpse of our beloved superheroes in their twilight years.
Logan is way past his prime. He is a broken alcoholic coping with aches and pains. And get this - he needs reading glasses too.
Xavier is now delusional and bedridden.
The once most powerful mind in the world is now a ticking time bomb due to his constant seizures, which must be controlled with drugs.
Both heroes are among the few remaining mutants in the last 20 years.
So when Laura - the lab rat created from Logan's mutant genes - shows up, Xavier finds a new sense of purpose, and what ensues is a sweet - though ultra violent - road trip.
Jackman and Stewart are exceptional, playing off each other's vulnerability effectively.
But the revelation here is newcomer Keen, who is so compelling in both the dramatic and action scenes.
Her Laura, also known as X-23, is so raw and magnetic that there are rumours the young British actress may be getting her own spin-off film.
There are some amazing action sequences, but this is, at its core, a melancholy tale about a dysfunctional family.
Heartbreaking yet touching, Logan is a fitting farewell to an icon.
Do not feel bad if you are teary-eyed at the end.
Rating: 4.5/5
STARRING: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
DIRECTOR: James Mangold
THE SKINNY: The year is 2029. Logan aka Wolverine (Jackman) is working as a limo driver so he can buy medicine for an ailing Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart). When Laura (Keen) mysteriously shows up at their doorstep, Logan is forced back into the mutant-killing world he had desperately tried to hide from.
RATING: M18
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