Wow, where do I even start with Logan? Holy fracking s***!!!! Let me start by saying that I have wanted to see Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine in theaters for a while now, but something has always come up previously. Knowing that Logan was my last chance, I made every effort to see this film as soon as possible and it was totally worth it!

Now, normally when I discuss a film I’ve just seen I hold nothing back regarding spoilers, but…based on what I saw, I cannot find it in myself to spoil this film completely. You really need to watch this film for yourself (if you haven’t already). However, there a few things I NEED to talk about…: *various spoilers follow from this point*

The film is set in 2029 in a noticeably dystopian future (I should point out that this is not immediately obvious, but it plays into the plot at a crucial moment). Logan (for a host of reasons) is working as a limo driver, ferrying all kinds of people to where they need to go. When he’s not working jobs, he lives south of the border taking care of Professor X, who is not well. It is mentioned (and this made my jaw drop) that for reasons unknown (even to Professor X), no new mutants have been born in 25 years; Logan is of the opinion that the mutant gene has died out. Well, that isn’t entirely true…because one day Logan runs into Laura.

Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23: In the world of comics, I didn’t learn of X-23’s existence until just a few years ago (she “guest-starred” in a Black Widow comic). From then on, I was fascinated by the existence of a female Wolverine (I love the retractable claws), and when I learned that the young girl in Logan was X-23…well, that cemented my need to see this film.

Watching Logan and Laura interact was one of my favorite parts of this film. Having Logan confronted with suddenly having a daughter (and a feisty one at that) told a great story, one that I wish could have been continued past this film. My favorite fight scene is towards the end when the pair team up and fight in the woods against a team of bad guys (the moment where she launches off of Logan’s back is as awesome as you think it is).

It turns out that Laura is an escapee from a hidden project that had been attempting to artificially create mutants, using genetic material swiped from various mutants (including Logan). The “X-23” program is deemed a failure when the children are found to be uncontrollable past a certain point and once the “X-24” project is completed, the children are going to be executed until an organization sympathetic to the children helps them to escape the facility. Logan is (reluctantly) hired to take Laura to a place in North Dakota identified as “Eden”, which proves to be a launching point for a final run to the Canadian border, where the children are to be granted asylum, IF they can get across that is. See, the agency that created the children wants them back, desperately, and they’ll stop at nothing to get them.

I don’t want to reveal too much more, but I will say a few things in general:

• this film absolutely needed an R rating to tell this story properly, there is no way Logan would have worked as a PG-13 film
• if you haven’t figured out the identity of X-24, the reveal is very well done and generated an audible gasp from me
• Dafne Keen absolutely KILLS it as a younger, female version of Wolverine. I would be genuinely happy to see a standalone X-23 film (with Dafne continuing to play the character).
• Patrick Stewart’s performance as Professor X deserves an Oscar, as does Hugh Jackman’s performance as a noticeably-past-his-prime Wolverine.
• Marco Beltrami’s score for the film is excellent (he rarely disappoints me)
• Logan is a well-executed conclusion to the Wolverine saga, though I am very sad to see Jackman exit the role. He will always be Wolverine to me.
• Boyd Holbrook’s character has one of the best “bad guy gets his comeuppance in spades” scenes that I’ve seen in quite a long time. Just goes to show that one should never piss off a group of mutants.
• While this IS the conclusion of the “old” X-Men as we know it, I believe there has been a hook left to follow a new generation of mutants (and I don’t just mean the recent films following younger versions of the classic characters), which would be exciting.
• One last note: be prepared to cry at the end.

I’m so happy I went to see Logan, it did not disappoint. Have you gone to see Logan yet? What did you think about it? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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