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“Logan” is the third X-Men film focusing on the Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), a mutant who can heal from any injury and who was experimented on and had adamantium, a nearly indestructible metal, grafted to his skeleton. The first two Wolverine films were disappointing, so I wasn’t planning to see this one until I heard good things about it. Then I somehow managed to miss its theatrical run. I just watched the DVD, and it was very good. The tone is completely different from the films that came before it.
“Logan”, based on the Old Man Logan books, is set in the near future. Logan, Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Caliban (Stephen Merchant) are the last mutants who haven’t been hunted down and killed. Logan’s plans to buy a boat and live on board it are interrupted when a woman tracks him down and promises him money to take a young girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), who has mutant abilities, to North Dakota.
Naturally, there are bad men after her, led by Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant), the son of the man who experimented on Wolverine. Wolverine and the Professor take Laura on the road, but they must face adversity, and not just from their enemies, but from the Professor’s own powers, and Logan’s waning abilities.
This film is dark and gritty. It is not a happy film, but is truly moving in places. It seems to take place in the same time line as the original X-Men films, calling back to the events of those films, and so presumably the bleak future it portrays need not be the only one. And yet there is hope for the future even in this story. If you are a fan of the X-Men, I highly recommend watching this one.
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