It is the near future and Logan (Hugh Jackman) is putting his days with the X-Men behind him, working a regular job as a chauffeur, trying not to kill people. He’s also caring for an ailing Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), the world’s most powerful psychic mind who is now suffering from dementia.
Strangers seek out his help, but it isn’t until an injustice is done to someone that can reach him that the Wolverine comes out. That stranger is a little girl named Laura (Dafne Keen).
We say, “Logan redefines what a comic book movie can be.”
HOWE: This might possibly be the best comic crossover movie ever. The acting alone is worth an Academy Award nod. Well, maybe not, but it is a vast improvement over the regular superhero movies. It may have something to do with two class stars, in the way of Jackman and Stewart, actually being able to act and put some emotion in their roles.
TAYLOR: It also helps that this is a character driven movie. A good portion of Logan is a road movie with our three would-be heroes dealing with each other’s bad memories. Other superhero movies try to have gravitas by way of volume, in terms of sound and lives lost or saved. Logan has heart instead, which makes it much more involving and valuable.
This is not The Avengers, which I think is the pinnacle of fun, summer blockbuster superhero fare. This is a sad, dark, realistic movie about a haunted man near the end of his life and a haunted child at the beginning of her’s. Having said all that, it still featured a great deal of very interesting and exciting action.
HOWE: The action scenes were very well done. Sometimes movies try to overdo it, yet Logan keeps it simple, keeping the fight scenes clean and classy. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few things along the way that didn’t make sense, but they are just little things that I can let slip.
TAYLOR: There are always logical problems with superpowers, because if you could do X or Y now, why didn’t you do it then? I’m with you on letting these things slide. They are inherent in the type of story being told.
HOWE: Logan actually made me emotional. It caught me by surprise a couple of times. By the end of the film, I did tear up. In fact, it felt like I was saying goodbye to Stewart and Jackman as their characters were like a couple of old friends that I won’t be seeing anymore. It’s an excellent movie and a classy way to end a franchise.
TAYLOR: It might be the end for Stewart and Jackman, but not for these characters.
Howe gives Logan 4.5 toe spikes out of 5.
Taylor gives it 4.5 muttonchops out 5.