I haven’t seen an X-Men since X-2, and I’ll be honest, I remember nothing about that movie or the original. So it was a bit strange to watch Logan – seemingly the end of the journey for Wolverine. I’m sure there’s a lot of history and back story that populate this movie. But since I didn’t know any of it, the movie felt like an abstract character study full of hidden depth. I actually think it was better to watch this with no context. I didn’t mind that there were gaps of information. And I’ll just say it – I’m not going to go back and catch up on these X-Men movies. So for what this was, I enjoyed Logan. I think the acting was actually really impressive. Hugh Jackman puts in work here. It’s also nice to see a look into the lives of super heroes after they wash out. Modern super hero stories are much more concerned with humanizing these super beings. In some ways, that’s starting to get a little old. But in the case of Logan, this actually felt pretty refreshing. With this being an R-rated movie, they were able to show the effects of prolonged battle – The gruesomeness and carnage involved with being a hero. Maybe it was a bit much in parts (watching a tiny girl massacre people – gore included – is a bit disconcerting). But overall, I thought this was a creative way to flip the whole genre on its head.
3.5 out of 5 stars