‘Logan’ howls a gritty end to Wolverine spin-offs

To talk about “Logan” in the same breath as “The Dark Knight” would be too much than what Marvel, in its latest attempt, actually accomplished.

Hugh Jackman portrays Wolverine for the last time in Logan as a has-been of brute force that is slowly, excruciatingly fading away.  (Photo by Ben Rothstein)

This is not to say the last Wolverine spin-off didn’t impress. Its raw brutality, perhaps as flawlessly executed as in “John Wick: Chapter 2”, arrests attention while its gutsy stunts throw you into this bleak dystopia, pushing you at the edge of your seat and treating you into a visual feast without going overboard on CGI pyrotechnics. While this R-rated film drives at an analog pace, “Logan” actually takes viewers to a path darker than most X-Men movies usually go, where every explosion of violence staged satisfactorily scratches a primitive itch.

The rave reviews are understandable, but insofar as darkness go: James Mangold’s James Howlett was simply neither as dim-witted nor as twisted as Christopher Nolan’s Bruce Wayne in “The Dark Knight”, which earned $1 billion in worldwide box office in 2008. The closing chapter of “Logan,” raking $254.6 million worldwide gross following release this month, lacked moral dilemma which are just a few of the aspects that Batman grappled with to survive. And even though the Uber-driving mutant bore the heavy burden of taking care an ageing Professor X, he was only concerned about survival – a replay of Wolverine’s backstory only this time, set in 2029, a period when X-Men are close to being extinct.

But whatever “Logan” lacks in conscience (or a more worthy opponent other than Dr. Zander Rice), he makes up with heart and grit.

It’s a heart-warming drama shot in a language that looks almost classical. It is the most human of all the X-Men films we’ve seen. The harder it was to watch a disintegrating Logan gets beating after beating, the more natural it was to see him find strength in his weakness and transform into a protector and mentor of Laura, the 11-year old mutant prodigy who we’re told to have sprung from Wolverine’s own DNA.

A cross between Mickey Rourke’s “The Wrestler” and George Steven’s “Shane”, the 2 and a half hour-long storyline felt a little bit “stitched” on to its predecessors and isn’t even as darkly exciting as “The Wolverine.” What holds it almost single-handedly together was Hugh Jackman, who was able to portray the tough mutant in way that is rare in any superhero movies: a has-been of brute force that is slowly, excruciatingly fading away.

The end of “Logan” is touching, reminding us that his tenacity is what made his character enduring and as memorable as Jackman first played him 18 years ago.