‘Logan’ Wolverine Movie: Non-Spoiler Look At Hugh Jackman’s Last Wolverine Movie
The Logan Wolverine movie is something X-Men fans have been eagerly awaiting since it was announced it would be R-rated – as well as Hugh Jackman’s last outing as the character. Even though most fans love Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the ever bloodthirsty Wolverine, the previous solo Wolverine movies underwhelmed. So what’s the general opinion about Logan?
The consensus seems to be that Logan is awesome. Virtually all of the critics who had early viewings of Logan say not only is it the best Wolverine movie so far, but it is also one of the best movies in all of the X-Men franchise.
R-rated Logan Wolverine
Movie ratings aren’t an indicator of whether a movie is good or not. But there’s no denying Hugh Jackman’s previous Wolverine outings – because of their PG rating – couldn’t show the character in all of his grim, bloody comic book glory. So, most fans were hoping that an R-rated Logan Wolverine movie would allow the writers, the director, and Jackman himself to present the real Wolverine.
As reported by Collider, this seems to be exactly what they’ve accomplished with Logan. In their own non-spoiler review, the folks over at Collider suggest that Logan can be viewed as a Western. This makes it very different from either the previous Wolverine stand-alone films or any of the other X-Men movies.
The R rating of the Logan Wolverine movie – most people acknowledge – was only possible this time around because of the tremendous success the R-rated Deadpool movie enjoyed only last year. As reported by Box Office Mojo, Deadpool pulled in almost $800 million worldwide on a budget of only $58 million.
Before Deadpool, there was a stigma against R-rated superhero films with the studios, with the feeling being that an R-rated superhero movie like Logan would be losing a portion of its audience – particularly children – who wouldn’t be seeing the film. But Deadpool‘s tremendous box office success seems to have put this concern to bed.
Old Man Logan
Wolverine movie reviews in the past have noted how far away from the character in the comic books Logan has actually moved. It’s not that Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine is bad – on the contrary – it’s that the plot, structure, and rating of the X-Men movies limited what he could do.
But most reviewers of the new Logan Wolverine movie agree it draws many of its themes – as well as its tone – from the highly popular Old Man Logan series in Marvel comics. In the Old Man Logan comics, we see a nearly apocalyptic world in which Logan is one of the few remaining good guy mutants and the villains have taken over the United States.
But as noted by everyone who has seen the movie and reviewed it, the Wolverine in Logan is facing a somewhat different situation. For instance, a number of the characters featured in the comic book version weren’t available for use in this movie.
Decades ago when it was close to bankruptcy, Marvel sold off the rights to the X-Men to Fox, but they did not sell the rights to the Hulk or Hawkeye or any of the other Avengers. However, in the original Old Man Logan story in the comics, both the Hulk and Hawkeye play a major role.
Without giving away too much of the movie, it’s no surprise that much of the role of Hawkeye in the comics is now being filled in a slightly different way by Professor X – played by Patrick Stewart. And speaking of Stewart, reviewers of the Logan Wolverine movie – while highly praising Hugh Jackman for his portrayal of the feral Canadian Wolverine – have noted that Logan offers us with one of Patrick Stewart’s most powerful performances in years.
[Featured Image by Fox]
