Logan: Why Kids and Telepaths are Nothing but Problems. Image credit 20TH Century Fox.
Yes, I am a fan of Marvel comics and have an extensive collection of X-Men and Wolverine issues dating back to the mid 80’s and some going back a decade earlier, so I was somewhat elated to see the supposed last Wolverine movie Hugh Jackman is starring in. As always, there will be spoilers ahead-
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Logan takes place a few years into the future in 2029, and things don’t look too good for mutants in general as most of them are gone, and there haven’t been any born in the last 25 years. It seems Logan has fallen on hard times with a faltering healing factor and as a result has started to age. The movie doesn’t FULLY explain what happened to all those mutants or why Logan has aged and has lost most of his healing factor, however, my guess is that his metal skeleton and claws have been slowly poisoning him as it was in the Old Man Logan comic series.
At any rate, he now works as a chauffeur in Texas and lives with the mutant Caliban (Tomas Lemarquis), who can psychically sense other mutants. Both also live and care for a dilapidated Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) who is afflicted with a neurodegenerative disease that makes him lose control of his telepathic powers from time to time.
As fate would have it, Logan runs into a nurse from the Alkali-Transigen Corporation who wants him to take her and 11-year old Laura (Daphne Keen) to a place they call Eden in North Dakota. He refuses but then relents after finding the nurse dead. A few things that should be noted before moving on are that the Alkali-Transigen Corporation is a biotechnology firm that specializes in breeding mutants using DNA taken from other mutants. The other thing to note is that little Laura is one of those mutants and in her case, was created using Logan’s DNA.
Pierce and his cybernetically enhanced Reavers. (Image credit 20th Century Fox)
As you could have guessed, the corporation wants to get their property back and send their security chief Donald Pierce and his band of Reavers to get the job done. Both the chief and his band are cybernetically enhanced with robotic limbs such as arms and legs. Seeing them reminded me of the thought-controlled robotic limbs created by engineers from the Johns Hopkins University, which uses remapped nerves to send brain signals to the prosthetic to move it.
Reavers were a group of non-mutant cyborgs, at least from the comic. It’s interesting to see them in this film. I used to like them as villains. They would upgrade and fix themselves in the comics, I found it kind of cool from a robotics aspect. Logan does a good job of representing the characters.
Anyway, the Reavers track down Laura at Logan’s residence, and a fight ensues with the little girl popping her claws and going into an animal-like rage. Like father, like daughter I guess. Logan, the Professor, and the girl manage to flee, leaving Caliban behind and captured by the Reavers who use him to hunt them down.
Laura laying the smack-down on the Reavers. (Image credit 20th Century Fox)
A cat and mouse chase ensue, ultimately leading up to an encounter between Charles and a mutant clone of Logan known as X-24. This was an emotional scene as Charles thinks that X-24 is the real Logan and tells him about a seizure he had suffered years before where it killed several humans and a few of the X-Men. X-24 then kills Charles while Caliban sacrifices himself by setting off grenades in the Reavers van where he was held hostage. It was at this point I knew why the movie had an R rating.
Logan and Laura on the way to Eden. (Image credit 20th Century Fox)
Logan and Laura manage to escape and make it to Eden where he finds a camp populated by mutant children who managed to escape the Corporation. Of course, the Reavers aren’t far behind and use several drones to spot their location. This leads to the final confrontation between Logan, Laura, and X-24. In the end, the movie gives you a unique look into different characters from the Marvel Universe and provides an emotional connection to them that seemed deficient in the other X-titles.
On the down side, I feel there could have been less use of the F-bomb, repeatedly said throughout the movie. It seemed so out of character for Charles to say it that I actually cringed, not so much for Logan, though. It’s also intensely graphic and probably not suited for younger kids, which is ironic considering the movie centers around a young child.
I give this movie 4.05 out of 5.00 stars as it does have a great storyline and portrays old characters in a new light. For a "FoX-Men" film, it's pretty decent. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and do so, you won’t be disappointed.
