Yes, I teared up a little to a comic book movie.
While Deadpool might have proved that people will pay money to watch R-Rated comic book movies, Logan proved that some stories can only be told in an R-Rated movie. How else can you do a movie where your heroes are nearing the end of their lives? How else can you do a movie where Professor X’s own mind makes him a danger to everyone around him? How else can you talk about Wolverine’s depression and haunted past without sugar coating it?
One of the aspects I liked in The Wolverine were the moments of introspection. The quiet moments that helped define Wolverine as a character as he thinks about his life. Playing to their strengths, Logan is pretty much all introspection and character building. It’s the little moments between the main characters that help make this one of my favorite comic book movies.
The violence and action are raw, visceral and sometimes shocking but I was watching it to see how X-23 (who absolutely should get her own movie by the way) gets on Logan’s nerves. The villain might be the most cliche and evil villain possible but I was watching it for the tragedy that was Patrick Stewart, slowly losing his mind, which was once his most powerful asset. It was watching Logan’s pain as he lost his reason to fight on and his reason to live on. It was watching Logan find that reason within X-23, the closest thing to a daughter he will ever have.
Logan is a powerful movie. Powerful in it’s simplicity and powerful in its subject matter. This is a story that is an all too-human story told with characters from comic books. If ever there was a sign that comic book movies have matured, I think Logan is that sign.
Tim Lilly 