Wolf Pack

******* The review that follows is the same as the one posted on March 17th, 2017, but proceed to the bottom of the critique to find an added feature that analyses the Logan Noir version that accompanies the original, full-colour Blu-Ray. *******

It’s funny. As I chatted with my cousin while on the way to see Logan, I mentioned one of the most frustrating aspects of comic book movies – that it is somehow expected that the newest effort has to outdo the previous one, which is then interpreted by going bigger in the realm of special effects and mind-numbing final battles that end up feeling more than ludicrous (even for a sci fi fantasy). That is why I was so pleasantly surprised by James Mangold’s 2017 offering; a more personal, pared down feature that, at its heart, is about learning to live with your past, as well as recovery and redemption.

Taking a page from the popularity of last year’s Deadpool, Logan does not hold back in the realm of violence, profanity, and one small moment of nudity. Set approximately a decade into the future, the opening shot may be jarring to some fans of the X-Men franchise. When we first see Hugh Jackman’s titular character – his big, bushy beard (not the perfectly trimmed mutton chops) and hair flecked with grey, it is an aged Wolverine like we have never seen. He more closely resembles a modern day Mel Gibson (perhaps after a lengthy bender) than the regenerative, sarcastic being we know and love. He is haggard, depressed and has lost a step. . . maybe even two. It is a world that has not seen the birth of a mutant in quite some time, and these gifted individuals are dying out.

Working as a limo driver, he smuggles drugs across the Mexican border to an equally drawn Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) – now in his nineties. Hidden from the world, it is clear that something is wrong with the powerfully brained former leader of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Being cared for by a pale, Nosferatu-like mutant named Caliban (Stephen Merchant), the two give the wheelchair bound Professor a cocktail of drugs to keep him in a more lucid, controlled state of mind. For, when things go bad with him, he is termed ‘a weapon of mass destruction’.

Soon, Logan is approached by a frantic, panicked woman named Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez), who always has a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) at her heels. Brushing them off, his mix of pained apathy and stress revolving around his father-figure pushes everything else to the side. Yet, a small amount of interest is piqued in the man when a hired hand for the shady Transigen Corporation, Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), comes asking about the same lady.

As these things go, Logan and Xavier find themselves the guardians of this young ball of confused anger (it turns out she has a similar set of skills to Wolverine – and a curmudgeonly attitude like him as well, perhaps making her Wolverina?), which places a target on their backs. Hitting the road for North Dakota, they aim to reach a supposed safe-zone for mutants – called Eden. Travelling with Pierce is an unscrupulous doctor – Rice (Richard E. Grant), and a hoard of armed baddies on their tail; things won’t be easy for the ragtag team. Will they be able to make the trek, finding a safe haven and place to heal, or is there no rest for those who have an arduous, checkered past?

A fitting, emotional ending for Hugh Jackman’s turn as Wolverine, James Mangold fills his tale with pained crises, turmoil and angst that would find a logical place in an intense award’s season run. Utilizing drugs and alcohol as a way to self medicate, Logan is a sick, deteriorating superhero, more flawed human being than unstoppable mutant. And though he is more than reluctant to take on the arduous task of adopting this pint sized kindred spirit, taking her under his fractured wing, it is within this tortured young soul that he finds some sort of normalcy, solace and redemption. Though he fights it, this child’s empathy and desire for a real life (despite her unimaginable past) is able to bring forth a long buried emotion; not rage, frustration or anguish, but a sort of caring love (that he is unsure of how to use or show). It is Stewart’s Xavier who better understands this, that living without family and love is a pale shadow of what life can be. Thankfully, there are several moments of levity to lighten the heavy, melancholic mood.

Though the movie is more grounded than other comic book films, it is still packed with its fair share of wolvish, claw-filled fight scenes. Filmed with an eye for action, each set piece is wonderfully choreographed to get the most out of the edgy sequences – some of the moments when Logan and Laura team up are especially impressive.

It may seem a bit odd, but this movie (at least to me) is a sort of blood relation to Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 picture, Children of Men. Both films feature a disenchanted protagonist, each with no semblance of hope. Both are set in the future, children in the earlier feature and mutants in the current one, nearly extinct. Yet, it is this sole anomaly (in 2006’s – a baby, in 2017’s – a young mutant) that spurs the two flawed men on. In Men, the elderly father figure is played by Michael Caine, while Stewart takes on that role in this movie. Their experience and mentorship attempt to direct their protégé’s down a more righteous path. There is even intriguing action sequences involving cars in each. For those of you who have seen both motion pictures, you will clearly see many other similarities that I will not mention here. I must also throw in the classic 1953 western Shane. For those film buffs out there, upon your first viewing, you will immediately notice that Professor Xavier is watching it and references its importance while they hunker down in a hotel room while on the run. It echoes many of the motifs of Logan, perhaps most evidently the friendship with a child and a good hearted man who is willing to help, despite his shady past. One of the western’s iconic lines is even recited to great effect later on in the story: “There’s no living with. . . with a killing. There’s no going back from one. Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand sticks. There’s no going back. Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her. . . tell her everything’s all right. And there aren’t any more guns in the valley.” It rings true to the Logan character, a wandering loner, never getting too close, never letting down his guard – branded with a cripplingly dark past, though, deep down, a caring, wounded soul.

In many ways the end of an era, the X-Men franchise has been around for seventeen years now, but this feels like a proper place to leave these characters. It adds soul to a franchise that has often become bloated – failing to re-achieve the quality of X2: X-Men United. So, take a journey to discover the emotive treasure found in this surprising big budget comic book feature – X most definitely marks the spot.

******* Referenced in the original review above, Logan is comparable to several other features. Children of Men and Shane are mentioned. . . and somewhat along the same lines of the former, Mad Max: Fury Road also shares some similarities. Logan has a dystopic quality, a dark vision of the future, in many ways echoing the struggles that Max is battling. Their themes are intrinsically connected, and both also boast a chrome toned black and white version. Whether these two movies will usher in a new era of post produced monochrome spins, we will have to wait and see, but it definitely adds a different vibe to these bright, desert filmed action adventures.

Some have latched onto the word ‘noir’, protesting that the comic book film does not carry the themes of the cynical, apathetic, femme fatale filled classics of yesteryear. This perhaps may be, but Logan Noir’s shadowy version connects to another era of the cinematic past – the early Hollywood western. Carrying the same themes of those John Wayne starring, John Ford directed motion pictures (or insert any other western star or director – perhaps Gary Cooper and Fred Zinnemann for High Noon), there is a direct correlation to the sun baked, sand covered, and rock formed landscapes of both. The locations found in these iconic westerns, as well as in Logan, both share the possibility of finding bloody violence round the next bend, depict personas with checkered pasts (multi-faceted characters who fall into a grey milieu), and complex quests for the leads. The heroes, usually tortured souls, still have a duty – a gravitas, or dignity, that drives them forward to help those in need. Those who have been kidnapped, unjustly wounded or harmed in some other way are the catalyst for this tormented person, many times a loner or wandering soul. Through their actions (often going to great lengths), they bring respite and peace to those under attack. It is this selfless majesty that is so evident in Logan, providing a logical connection to this Noir add-on.

Impressively expressionistic, the textures, ranging from rich blacks to bright whites (and varied shadows in between), speaks on a different level to that of the bright, colourful original. That is not to say that either version is better, it just adds a different mood, the magic that comes from watching a black and white picture. Shadows adorn characters faces, adding new meaning to their nuanced performances. Vivid cinematography further brought to life by the sharp distinctions between the monochrome colour – the artistic quality more striking due to richer depth of field, texture, tone, and shadow – adds something not attainable in the colour version. The dual tone is never more evident than in those scenes shot in the bright light of day or the shadow-strewn pitch black of night (also evident in dark rooms).

A worthwhile side venture, Logan Noir provides a different landscape for those beloved X-Men characters we have watched grow over the last seventeen years – shedding a new light onto their richly woven, flawed personas. *******