The finale of the Wolverine trilogy and Hugh Jackman’s last performance as the most-popular X-Man; same goes for Patrick Stewart playing Professor X. It’s also their best portrayals but I readily admit I’ve never seen the previous two films so I guess it’s not an accurate assessment. I do know that this is an excellent and worthy superhero flick with an R-rating. I just couldn’t like Deadpool since I felt it was dirty for the sake of being dirty.
In the near future it appears the X-Men have disbanded. They’re either in hiding or most of them are dead. New mutants are no longer being born neither which forces Logan, Caliban and the Professor to go into hiding in Mexico. Logan spends his days as a limousine driver around El Paso in order to earn money to support the other two. The titled character isn’t faring well lately. His regenerative ability is slowing and he’s showing signs of aging.
One evening, Logan is approached by a woman with a young girl in tow. She begs him to transport them to North Dakota. From there, they can flee to Canada. He refuses saying she is talking to the wrong person, he’s not a hero anymore. Obviously Logan has a change of heart when the woman is killed and he discovers that the girl wasn’t her daughter but something resembling him. Another factor convincing Logan to protect the girl is the arrival of the Reavers, cybernetic mercenaries working for the secretive government project responsible for the girl and others like her, possibly his alteration.
Logan earns its R from the very graphic violence. His trademarked adamantium claws are shown cutting off limbs and making headshots. Hearing Prof X drop an F-bomb was funny. For me, the bigger question is where does this story fit in the larger storyline involving the X-Men? Days of Future Past “corrected” the timeline by “erasing” Last Stand. Is it an alternate timeline? Either way, it was a very satisfying story and tear-jerking farewell to these actors playing iconic characters. James McAvoy will probably carry on as Professor X. The bigger question will be who will take over Logan/Wolverine.
Alamo Extras: Trailer to Paper Moon, Léon; X-Men toy commercials; Mashup of Wolverine scenes to music; Hugh Jackman fumbling on a zip line and sucking at cricket; The X-Cats; Person in a restaurant using knives and napkins to look like Wolverine; Amateur videos of Wolverine stuff; a Street Fighter parody; Robot Chicken doing a reality show with Wolverine and Jean Grey; Comedy bit of two guys getting just Wolverine’s retractable claws.