Early ‘Logan’ Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying
“Logan,” opening March 3, is reportedly Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as the mutant Wolverine, a character he has portrayed for 17 years.
According to a majority of critics, “Logan” does a solid job at rounding out the standalone trilogy of Wolverine films. Critics widely commended Jackman’s ability in refining the character over the years, embracing the fact that despite his powers dwindling away, Wolverine maintains credible superhero status even as he tussles between embodying both man and mutant.
Some of the most general criticisms noted that the story within “Logan” sometimes felt “stitched together from other films,” as Variety critic Owen Gleiberman phrased it. Nonetheless, the film is being praised for its fulfilling weaving of violence and sentimentality.
“It’s Jackman who holds “Logan” together and gives the film its glimmer of soul. He has been playing this role, more or less nonstop, for 18 years, but he seems startlingly not bored by it. Better still, he’s a more refined actor now than when he started, and in “Logan,” he gets to play something rare in comic-book cinema: a powerhouse of animal rage who is slowly, agonizingly slipping away.”
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Sheri Linden
“Seamlessly melding Marvel mythology with Western mythology, James Mangold has crafted an affectingly stripped-down stand-alone feature, one that draws its strength from Hugh Jackman’s nuanced turn as a reluctant, all but dissipated hero. That he rises to the occasion when a child is placed in his care is the stuff of a well-worn narrative template, yet it finds a fair level of urgency in this telling.”
“Whether or not the ‘Wolverine’ movies have a future — Jackman swears this is his last go-round — ‘Logan’ is an exceedingly entertaining one. Given that 2016 gave us the rollicking and raunchy ‘Deadpool’ and the bafflingly boring ‘X-Men: Apocalypse,” it seems like a no-brainer for the mutant movies to get wild and crazy if they want to survive. This outing feels like a step in the right direction.”
“‘Logan’ is a Marvel movie with a bit of soul and some true grit. Presumed to be the final outing for Wolverine, it plays more like a late period John Wayne western than it does like a conventional superhero film.”
“Logan is a punch in the gut in all the right ways. Onscreen, the X-Men series has always found ways to morph and expand, from time-traveling fantasy to social allegory to political thriller. And it’s done so as other comic-book franchises have ossified, with the DC movies (foolishly) doubling down on flamboyant gloominess and Marvel proper (lucratively) committing to jokey spectacle. Constant redefinition may be more risky financially — you never quite know what you’re going to get — but when it works, it can be beautiful. In Logan, we have an example of a superhero story taken to new extremes and a franchise to a spare, sad, apocalyptic finish (or “finish”), with R-rated action scenes that are both rousing and unbearably violent.”
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