Inspired from the graphic novel “Old Man Logan” from the Marvel Comics
a James Mangold film
Plot(Spoiler Alert)
The year is 2029 and the mutant race is known to be extinct. Logan is one of the few mutants left and his healing power is fading away. He takes care of his friend Charles Xavier who has alzheimer’s disease causing his telepathic abilities to become unstable. Logan is approached by a stranger begging him to help get a little girl, Laura to a safe place in North Dakota. Laura later reveals that not only is she a mutant, but she and Logan aren’t so different from each other.
Blaine: Writer and director James Mangold really wanted to make this movie and the goal was to make “Logan” an adult movie. What inspired Mark Millar to write the “Old Man Logan” comic book was Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” and during the making of “The Wolverine” there was a lot of talk about westerns so James and Hugh Jackman decided to make the next Wolverine movie more like a western. They also wanted it to be a drama. The most powerful effect “Old Man Logan” had on James was both it’s setting and look.
They said parts of the movie come more from the “X-23” comic book series than “Old Man Logan”. My friend Luke told me a little bit about X-23 once and she’s a character I’ve been wanting to see in a movie for three years after seeing an episode of “X-Men: Evolution” and the reason why is because I liked her fighting skills and the gadgets she used. In that episode of “X-Men: Evolution” she was someone who had spent a lot of her childhood being experimented on in a lab which gave her a lot of hate because she was being treated as a thing instead of a child. X-23 blames Logan for it so she breaks out of the lab to go looking for him. But once X-23 finally comes face to face with Logan, he reveals that she is not the only one who has been treated like a lab rat and that she and him are a like with their metal claws. She has no need to kill him anymore.
Like “X-Men: Evolution” X-23 also known as Laura was tested in a lab in this movie along with a bunch of other young mutants. One of the nurses grows to love Laura like a daughter and she along with the other nurses break the children out of the lab. Laura is exploring what it’s like to be a kid now that she is out of the lab, but she likes violence. They needed a kid who was bilingual, who could speak fluent Spanish and who would be credible as a child raised in a Mexican facility.
They did a search for Latino kids between the ages of nine and twelve that could handle action, who could act, and could speak both English and espanol. It was a challenge because they looked through 1,000 kids. When Dafne Keen auditioned she nailed the scene where her and Logan are arguing in the car. Dafne Keen was very energetic about making this movie because she had so much fun. I really like Dafne's take on the character and the attitude look she gives on her face especially during the scene when Pierce and his men come to get take Laura away.
“Logan” gives me the feeling of an end of the world film because the mutant population is almost extinct. Charles Xavier is the only person left who is very close with Logan. In “Days of Future Past” both Logan and Charles experienced a little something out of time travel and now there basically all that’s left of the mutants along with another mutant Caliban, an albino mutant who can sense or track other mutants, but also helps Logan take care of Charles. Logan looks after Charles like he’s his father even though Logan is older than him. In this movie Logan believes all is lost. He is very sick after being infected with something that can take away his immortality and healing power which means his time is coming to an end.
When you first see Charles he is kept in a old rusted water tank and the reason why is because James Mangold wanted something that still had some kind echo of Cerebro and also the idea that you’re trying to somehow insulate or contain the power of his brain in some kind of reflective material that would reduce how many people he could hurt if he had an attack. “Logan” takes place in the year 2029, but they didn’t want the look to be too futuristic. The look almost reminds me of something post apocalyptic. James Mangold wanted to travel to real places and wanted to change certain things to the script after seeing these environmental and desert locations while scouting.
James Mangold and the producers wanted this last movie to look good for Hugh Jackman. Hugh said that ever day, every scene for him was almost like a battle to get the best out of the character and also the best out of him as well. Hugh’s been playing Wolverine for seventeen years in eight films and because this is the last time fans got to see Hugh as Wolverine you know he’s going to die. Plus it’s in the comics. The ending to “Logan” is powerful and dramatic seeing Logan take his last breath. Then Laura turns the stick cross next to Logan’s grave into an X for X-Men. Hugh Jackman has gone long ways since the first “X-Men” in 2000 as Wolverine and now his final take on the character is like saying goodbye for good.
