And Logan tries to disavow his legacy, shooing off anyone who might recognize him: through angry, gnashed teeth, Logan reminds everyone he is not the Wolverine any longer.
With its dusty and burnt amber hues, Mangold isn’t exactly hiding his influences. “Logan” is replete with gritty Western flavor and the movie — shaped more like drama than action superhero film — feels the mutant version of Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.” “Logan” is akin to the tale of a run-down, once-famous, now-forgotten gunslinger. A lonely drunkard alienated from society, he just wants to be left alone and finish his final days drinking in peace. But the cowboy is compelled to put his spurs back on one last time for the sake of an orphaned girl who needs help. “Logan” is one more shoot out at sundown and if it sounds corny on paper, Mangold does his best to make the darkened affair feel ragged, dirty and visceral in its depictions of anguish and suffering.
Mangold’s movie also appears to be rescuing Wolverine from the cartooniness of the comic book movies — one of which Mangold has made. Perhaps “Logan” is an apology film, which would be welcome considering the dreadfulness of the third act in “The Wolverine.” The filmmaker attempts to strip Wolverine down to his core essentials. Gone is the goofy hair, the dumb mutton chops, the cigar-chomping wise-ass and the unfunny quips. What’s left is a man with few shreds of dignity left trying to forget the vestiges of the X-Men glory days. While it’s seemingly the trend of the moment, for better or worse, this is a dark and gritty Wolverine movie that’s intended for adults. And unlike, say, “Rogue One” a “Star Wars” movie made for grown-ups, “Logan” is hard R in shape, tone and mood. There’s a textural quality that’s appreciated too. Blood actually stains, rain is miserably wet, and the dirt and dust gets trapped in the eyes — Mangold is trying to do everything to uglify the film and let the audience know this is going to be a very different Wolverine movie.
A recent logline was revealed — In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces — and that’s really captures what’s in the first 45 minutes of the film.
Without spoiling too much, the introduction of Laura Kinney begets a full-on huge scale attack on the mill where Logan, Caliban and the young girl must fend off Pierce’s assault and protect Professor X at all costs. And there’s a feral quality to the mutant scampering around that is vaguely reminiscent of the wolfboy in “Mad Max: The Road Warrior.” Upon escape, their mission leads them from New Mexico to North Dakota, but the bad guys won’t be far behind.
Mangold and Jackman appear to be doing the best they can to earn that R-rating. “Logan” is bloody, F-bomb riddled, morally dubious and psychological dark (hearing Patrick Stewart dropping fucks as Xavier is pretty amusing too). It’s possible kids would be traumatized by “Logan.” Who is this gray-haired, angry drug addict and what have you done with my superhero?” they might ask.
Co-written by Michael Green (the pen behind Denis Villeneuve‘s “Blade Runner 2049” and a co-showrunner of Neil Gaiman‘s “American Gods”) and Scott Frank (“Out Of Sight,” “Minority Report” and “A Walk Among The Tombstones”), both men are extremely talented and it seems what they have created is shining through. If there’s one concern here it’s James Mangold. The director has made two terrific dramas (“Heavy” and “Copland”) and one spectacular action western (the underrated “3:10 To Yuma” remake) which seem like great resume references for “Logan.” But Mangold still has to live down the previous film, “The Wolverine,” a movie that started out with darker sensibilities like “Logan,” but turned cartoonish and ridiculous by the end. So, we are cautiously optimistic, but we are not forgetting that we were burned once before. Still, the lean and mean “Logan” looks pretty damn primal and grim in the best ways possible.
“Logan” opens in theaters on March 3rd. You can watch the new trailer here.