It’s a weird thing to review a third of a film, but should the rest of the film follow suit, Logan will certainly be the best Wolverine movie and, maybe, the best superhero film yet. Since I’ve only seen 40 minutes, and the film doesn’t come out for another two months, I’ll keep the review spoiler free.
As far as first acts go, Logan‘s is fantastic. The Marvel film quickly establishes the new world the characters are living in and provides us with a good bit of action. Yet there’s no way of knowing whether the remainder of the film will continue the momentum the first act started. Should I have just seen the first act of The Avengers, I likely would have been fairly disappointed; the first act of that film is its weakest aspect. Yet with Logan, the first act leaves me wanting more in the best way possible.
Furthermore, the film delivers on the promise of an R-rated Wolverine movie as best as it could. The brutality and gore of Wolverine are on display in full-force. The only disappointment as far as seeing Wolverine go full bloodbath is Logan’s getting old. Due to Wolverine’s age, he isn’t able to slice through enemies with the same efficiency he potentially could have. An R-rated Wolverine film set in the character’s prime would have been a far grander adventure. Yet despite Wolverine being a little sluggish, X-23 is there to show him up. X-23 provides us with the true brutality fans have wanted from Wolverine for years. She slices through and decapitates foes with ease. The beast inside her is in its youth, providing a great counter to the older Wolverine. Dafne Keen will be a breakout star for her performance.
Caliban is likely the weakest link of the film, with his power to sense mutants barely utilized. Yet this is likely due to Caliban being in very little of the film itself. While he may be the weakest part of the first act, anything not perfect would be; that’s just how good the first 40 minutes are. Speaking of the other mutants in the film, we don’t get to spend much time with Professor X in the first act, but his state is dour.
The villain of the first act also seems more like the villain of a western than the villain of a superhero film– which could be both good and bad. While he may seem a bit on the weak side to some expecting an extremely powerful presence, he works. The added drama the villain, and the central conflict, provides help elevate the film. We’re truly getting a film with superheroes on a similar level to The Dark Knight.
I left wanting to see the remainder of the film immediately, and couldn’t stop thinking about Logan for weeks. If this is truly both Hugh Jackman’s and Patrick Stewart’s last X-Men outing, it was a job well done. Both actors truly deliver in every scene, you can tell Jackman and Stewart want their final performance to be their best.
