Logan Defined What a True Hero Was Right Up To His End

Did you get a glimpse of what comes inside the DVD/Bluray/Digital release of Logan? It had been rumored right after the film was released in March that a Noir version of the film would accompany the at-home release. I picked up a copy on release day and I can proudly tell you that it sure does.

After watching Logan (the noir version) last night, it got me thinking about the movie as a whole. Sadly, I only saw it once in theaters. Because of this, I didn’t get a proper chance to really dissect it.

Can you blame me? I was far too caught up in the action and violence to pay attention to the subtle intricacies of the film. This time was different. This time I was focussed.

In its purest form, this movie was about pain. The pain of life. The pain of death. And the pain of living through it all.

Normal life

In reality, all Logan wanted to do was lead a normal life. As we saw in this film, this was the furthest from what happened.

Logan has spent most of his life doing one of two things:

1. Running from his past
2. Attempting to be cohesive part of the X-Men

Neither of which ever pan out.

In each of the others ‘X’ movies, we saw him attempting to be a team player. He would put on the spandex, “listen” to authority, and do his best to be a true hero. And through it all, we knew that this wasn’t right.

However, Logan was so much different. If you have ever watched Best of the Best, there is a line said by James Earl Jones, “A team isn’t a team if you don’t give a damn about one another”. Finally, in this movie, Logan was the team and didn’t have to give a damn about anyone. In “Logan” as much as he pretended to not care, he did. And that’s part of what made it so beautiful.

Father figure

I don’t necessarily condone some of the actions he took with Professor Xavier. He treats him as though he is a friend, mentor, and a child. He looks up to him, yet at the same time looks down on him. Xavier is a hindrance and would probably be better off without him but does everything in his power to care for him.

What should have been an easy and well-paying job (that would land him and Professor Xavier on a sort of utopian boat) turns out to be an event that would cause him more pain than he would ever experience.

The easy and well-paying job would not only signify a changing of the guard in Fox’s X-Men franchise but it would also be the one to send one more dagger into Logan’s heart.

Midway through the movie, Logan arrives too late and his longtime friend, mentor, and hindrance, Charles Xavier is killed. I remember seeing the scene in the theaters and thinking “What the fuck just happened?” With a scream that has sent chills down my spine since the day I heard it, Logan unleashes all Hell of the assaulters.

I suppose it had to happen. If the film was to perfectly encapsulate the agony of living a life like the one our true hero Logan has lived, Charles had to have died.

And the tears don’t end there.

As Logan is about to deliver on his job, the audience is treated to one more beautiful moment. The same villains that had been chasing him the entire movie, showed up to stop him. As if he had popped Viagra, Logan took an injection that would allow him to ignore the pain he was in so that he may fend off the villains.

The scene is gory, violent, and picturesque. It is heart wrenching and depressing. The audience knows that Logan won’t be finishing the movie. And he doesn’t. As the audience watches Logan take his final breath (and wipes their tears), there is a sense of satisfaction.

Finally, after all the pain, Logan, the true hero, has found rest. The movie finishes off with a ceremony only fitting for a character that has lived in our lives and on screen for 17 years…

…a cross turned on its side to become an “X”.

True hero

It may not have grossed a billion dollars at the box office but it did teach Hollywood one important lesson. If they would focus on the hearts and root causes of their characters instead of blow ’em up action sequences and bad effects, more fans would respond to it. Just look at the ratings that “Logan” received on Rotten Tomatoes (92%) and IMDB (8.4) and tell me I’m wrong.

Fans of the character spent the better part of 2 decades clamoring for a “real” Wolverine movie, and finally, “Logan” gave it to them.

Cheers,

Jeff

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