In 1998 I enjoyed a
delightful evenings entertainment at the National Theatre. With the
company of my family I was taken to see a revival of the Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! Let me tell you, a grand old time was
had by all. My initial youthful scepticism of this
southern fried song and dance schtik was thwarted immediately by the
promise of a bright golden haze on the meadow and a good old
fashioned hoe down. The cast gave us their best Oklahoma hello and we
left with a spring in our step and a song in our hearts. When asked
if I had enjoyed it afterwards, my enthusiasm was taken in a positive
light because, as I was shortly told, the star of the show was about
to play a lead role in a Hollywood movie that I wanted to see! “Oh
yes?” I asked, “and what would that be?” Well...
Ladies
and gentlemen, I give you the embodiment of grizzled snark and
bezerker rage. If I could go back in time to observe my reaction I
would tell my younger self to have a healthy glug of water first
because it would have created a spit take for the ages. This prancing
cowboy was going to play Wolverine?! Luidcrous. How could anyone have
conceived this? You could have marked my words, it would surely never
work.
Well
that first X-Men film came out in 2000 and here we are, 17 years
later with Logan, the concluding chapter to the epic saga of The
Wolverine. The James Mangold directed film takes it's inspiration
from the comic arcs of Old Man Logan and X-23 and once more finds
Hugh Jackman bringing Wolverine, aka Logan, to life, but not in quite
the same familiar fighting fettle.
Set
in the near future where the world is slightly further along its
natural progression towards becoming a dystopic wasteland, the ageing
mutant now finds himself as a full time limo driver and part time
care assistant to the even more decrepit Professor Charles Xavier,
played with crotchety grace as ever by Patrick Stewart. Given the
combustible results of aged degeneration on Xavier's dangerous brain,
Logan is doing his best to maintain a low profile, but trouble
inevitably has a funny way of finding them and when his path is
crossed by a battalion of mercenaries, he suddenly finds himself
tasked with the care of a mysterious young girl who possesses some
uncannily familiar vicious traits. Soon enough the trio find
themselves on a road trip to find a safe haven, from the Mexican
border in Texas all the way to North Dakota, and along the way
traversing the treacherous terrain of... Oklahoma. Yes really.
Logan
is a film about legacy. The legacy of a past you can never escape and
a thankless future left for the next generation. This is the case
both on and off the screen, not simply serving as the conclusion for
the character but for the man playing him. You can not overstate the
significance of Hugh Jackman's history with this role. Superhero
films are so significant in the realms of 21st
century cinema and he was the figurehead of the film that started it
all. DC well and truly dropped the baton in the pile of dung that was
1997s Batman and Robin but Marvel picked it back up, polished it down
and took off sprinting. Whilst 2002s Spider-Man was the bigger box
office hit, the fact that within the same time frame we are now on
our third on-screen iteration of that character, speaks volumes.
Jackman and Stewart's laudable longevity just goes to show there is
something to be said for getting in right the first time.
Thankfully,
if this is indeed to be his last outing in the role, he is certainly
going out in blaze of gory glory. Unshackled from the restrictions of
family friendly film making, thanks in no small part of the success
of last years gleefully obscene Deadpool, Logan gives the character
free reign of self expression and when he is let loose, well you
better hold on to your sideburns because he does not hold back.
Whilst the proliferation of profanity and blood splatter is notable,
it doesn't feel jarring. It flows so seamlessly in to his aesthetic
of hard bitten cynicism that the surprising aspect comes only in
remembering that we haven't seen him portrayed like this before.
This
is definitely striving to be regarded as a grown up film, and it
largely succeeds. Much has been made of this 'new direction' for a
superhero movie but it achieves this largely by not limiting itself
to simply being a superhero movie in the first place. Whilst the
archetypes of a superpowered individual coming to the aid of someone
in need are still in place, this film is far more interested in
reflecting on a blood soaked past. The classic 1953 western Shane is
used a repeated touchstone, from the hero's moniker serving as the
title right down to the closing speech. If the film has a weakness,
it can be that it almost leans too heavily on this at times. It gains
so much heft from the evident burden of the violent legacy of bodies
in his wake and this is given an extra dimension through the
investment of the audience in to the history of Wolverine over all
these years. The balance between the styles of film making is handled
with commendable delicacy on the whole but occasionally feels like in
its quest to be taken seriously it slips slightly too far from its
roots in the Western territory and this can occasionally leave it
feeling close to earnestly mawkish.
Overall
though the film feels like a great achievement by being a great film.
X-Men showed all those years ago what a superhero film could be and
now Logan shows what it doesn't have to be. Whilst the version of the
character he is playing may be weakening after years of toil, the
hold that Hugh Jackman has over him is only getting stronger. It is a
bittersweet farewell as this only goes to further demonstrate his
capacity to break ground and this would never work if the audience
believe in him so fully. The film serves a testament to the legacy of
the character and the overall body of work serves as testament to the
legacy of the performer. It is naïve in this day and age to think
that film studios would consider any character portrayal untouchable
so there will inevitably be a reboot in time. That said no matter how
many times we get a fresh take on the role, you can sure as hell bet
your adamantium claws that his will always be the definitive one.
