REVIEW: Deadpool & Wolverine

SPOILERS FROM THE START

FILM REVIEW: LOGAN

"An excellent farewell to Jackman's long run as Wolverine."

Batman has been played by eight actors in live action films since 1943. Superman by five, Spider-Man by four. Most of the X-Men, in spite of the seventeen years of continual film production in a (broadly) consistent universe, have been played by two or more actors. But it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the Wolverine.

Some day, of course, someone else will play Logan. Fox won't let the character lie forever, and if they ever let the X-Men rights slip, Marvel would snap them back up and make a Wolverine film like a shot. Whoever takes on the role is going to have a very tough time winning over Hugh Jackman's fans. On paper, he is totally, notoriously wrong for the part. A short, stocky, beaten-up little bruiser being played by a strapping, handsome actor, who was best known for musicals prior to getting the part. Nonetheless, Jackman has been note perfect throughout his appearances in the X-Men franchise, from starring roles to cheeky cameos. He's the only actor to appear in all of the X-Men and Wolverine films - you can even include Deadpool in that, if you want to count the paper face mask Wade sports at the end. 

Logan is to be Jackman's final time as the Wolverine. This is probably for the best; there's only so long anyone can play an ageless mutant. Taking inspiration from the Old Man Logan storyline is something that Jackman himself campaigned for for some time, although seemingly he was mostly interested in the "old man" part of that than anything else. Indeed, very little from that questionable comics series has survived, beyond the future setting, the aged Logan and the road trip format. It's 2029, and no mutant has been born for over a decade. Logan is working as a chauffeur, of all things, trying to earn enough money to get out of the States. He is, along with the vampire-like mutant Caliban, caring for Professor Xavier, who is having psychic seizures that are devastating to everyone in the vicinity.

It's not a jolly setting, and it doesn't appear to be either future shown in Logan and Xavier's last mission together, Days of Future Past. But then, the writers X-Men franchise has never worried too much about continuity. Logan exists in relation to the previous X-Men films, but set apart as its own story. Nonetheless, the script assumes a certain knowledge of the basic set-up of the X-Men's world, and the nature of both Logan and Xavier's characters. It would be possible to come in cold and pick this all up, but it's not intended to be watched like that. It's a reflection on Wolverine's character, how he's developed through the films, and how he can be expected to deal with the decades of horror and violence he's experienced.

Logan is an extremely violent film, with decapitations, gunshots to the head, brutal beatings and murders aplenty. While I might sound like a scratched record, I am amazed that it has been released with a 15 certificate in the UK (an R-rating in the States, which isn't quite the same but still more permissive than I'd expect). Not too long ago, Logan would definitely have been rated 18. I don't think it's too violent, though. Indeed, it's honestly violent, in the way that, say, Tarantino films usually are. Violence is horrific and should be treated as such, and a less visceral version of Logan would blunt the message of what violence can do to someone.

The film hinges on Logan's two core relationships: with Xavier and Laura Kinney. Both call back to the first X-Men film in 2000. While X-Men saw Xavier take Logan in and bring him back to some semblance of civilised behaviour, here we have Logan caring for the decrepit Xavier, looking after him both for his sake and the sake of anyone else in the local area. The second relationship, with his genetic daughter, Laura, mirrors his paternal relationship with Anna Paquin's Rogue in X-Men. However, there's no element that calls back to the Logan-Jean Grey relationship, although a line referring to Jean was reportedly cut from the final edit. It's hard to see how such a relationship would have worked in this film, and it works better focusing on a relatively small core group of character. Nonetheless, it's a pity that there was no room for Liev Schrieber's Sabretooth in the film - the one good addition to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and a character who is inextricably tied up with Wolverine's story.

Both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart give exceptionally good performances as aged, sick versions of their now familiar characters. With Logan slowly dying from the adamantium that has been poisoning his system for decades, and Xavier dying from straightforward old age, there's an sense of impending death throughout the film. The Logan-Xavier relationship is one of exhausted commitment and responsibility, tempered by genuine fondness and good humour. Hearing Stewart swearing his tits off throughout the film is worth the ticket price alone. Surprisingly good is Stephen Marchant's performance as the ghoulish Caliban, bald and albino and sickly, an outsider to the pairing but one who helps hold it together.

Really, though, it's Dafne Keen's performance as Laura that makes the most impression. In spite of having no dialogue for much of the film, the Anglo-Spanish actress, at only eleven years old, gives the most remarkable performance of the film. She easily holds her own alongside Jackman and Stewart, no easy feat at all. She possesses both raw, terrifying instinct and heart-rending vulnerability. Laura Kinney has been a huge success in the comics, first as X-23 and now as the new Wolverine, and it's easy to see a great future for Keen as both an actor in general, and as an ongoing star of further X-Men films.

Logan's journey is at once both cynical and hopeful, giving up his less realisable hopes of escaping with Xavier to his adoption of Laura's own dreams, finally helping her achieve her freedom. It's also, as the X-Men films have always been at their best, about family.

SPOILER-HEAVY AFTER THE BREAK

REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse

SPOILERS INSIDE!

X-Men - Kinematic Continuity Questions

How is Xavier alive, and how does Magneto have his powers back? Xavier was killed in The Last Stand, and Magneto was depowered by the mutant 'cure.' Now, both events have potential get-outs hinted at by that movie. Magneto was seen playing chess at the end, with a barely perceptible movement of a metal piece hinting that his powers were returning. The post-credits sequence hinted that Xavier's mind had survived his death at the hands of the Phoenix, and had set up shop in a comatose body. However, neither of these is elaborated upon or even given any mention in Days of Future Past. The post-credits sequence of The Wolverine has Logan state that Xavier's presence is impossible, to which he merely replies that Logan is “not the only one with gifts.” DOFP however, mentions nothing. Some kind of explanation, however, brief, would have been welcome.

It's possible that the mutant 'cure' was not as all-powerful as it appeared to be. Perhaps it's effectiveness faded over time, and required top-ups, more like the genetic therapy that McCoy uses on himself and Xavier in DOFP. This would certainly help to explain why the Sentinels are killing mutants and potential mutant sires, rather than forcibly curing them. As for Xavier, even if we accept that he has acquired another body, why does he still appear the same? He's even in a wheelchair. Perhaps his new body is quite different, but he is telepathically projecting his original appearance. The commentary to The Last Stand suggested that Xavier had a braindead twin whose body he took over, which is not mentioned in the film and is also really stupid. There is nothing in the films to actually suggest a full explanation. Seriously, one quick line would have done.


Why are Scott and Jean alive in the altered timeline, yet Rogue is powerless? Clearly, the new timeline has experienced some quite different events to what we've already seen. If the first two movies happened, they must have happened in a different way, but The Last Stand doesn't seem to have happened at all. If Jean didn't sacrifice herself at the end of X2, she never would have returned as the Phoenix, and never would have killed Scott in the naffest of offscreen fashions. Why, then, is Marie able to touch Iceman without her energy draining powers affecting him? Perhaps the mutant 'cure' was still developed, but with a different chain of events in the absence of the Phoenix. Alternatively, perhaps with Hank McCoy present, Marie has been able to use some kind of therapy to suppress or control her powers.


How is Shadowcat able to transport someone's consciousness through time? Again, just one line to explain that she'd developed a secondary mutation, or trained herself to phase through time as well as space would have done. And is she really sitting there, with no food, sleep or bathroom breaks, holding Logan's mind in place the whole entire time? Because if time runs in parallel in both timezones, she's been squatting there for days.

Did any of Origins: Wolverine actually happen? Aside from the fact that the previous films have now been shoved into an alternative timeline, it seems as though the widely hated X-Men Origins: Wolverine has already been retconned out of existence. That movie suggests that Logan spent most of the twentieth century hanging out with Sabretooth, and that they were both present during the conflict in Viet Nam, none of which meshes with Wolverine's presence in America in 1973 here. That said, it's not as if the version of Sabretooth we meet in Origins: Wolverine has much in common with the virtual mute we met way back in the first ­X-Men film in 2000, so disregarding Origins isn't necessarily a bad idea.


What's going on with Mystique? The retcon I found hardest to swallow in First Class was learning that Raven spent her childhood as Xavier's adopted sister, before joining Magneto and becoming Mystique. This was all excellently done, but nonetheless clashed somewhat with the initial X-Men trilogy, in which neither party showed any affection or emotional engagement with one another. DOFP at least managed to link the two versions of Mystique, although it raises further questions. What happened to Mystique in the original timeline, if she was captured by Trask and used to develop the Sentinels' shifting abilities? Did Magneto break her out? Considering that The Last Stand doesn't seem to have occurred in the new timeline, I think it's safe to assume that she still has her powers, so it's feasible she's till out there, but we don't know on whose side.

As a related aside, in the comics, Mystique and Azazel were revealed to be Nightcrawler's parents. Now, that's not necessarily true of the movie-verse, but if it is, Nightcrawler will have to have been born by 1973, considering that Azazel is dead and Mystique certainly does not appear to be pregnant. That's not a problem; Mystique clearly ages slowly, just as in the comics, so it's feasible Nightcrawler does too. Nightcrawler is expected to appear in X-Men: Apocalypse, so perhaps we'll learn something more then.


Why are there two Bolivar Trasks? And, for that matter, two Emma Frosts, two Moira McTaggarts and possibly two Toads? Well, the two Trasks aren't really a problem. Bill Dukes's character in The Last Stand was clearly based on the comic's Bolivar Trask, but never got a name beyond Secretary Trask and had little impact anyway. So he's just another guy with the same surname (and props for the blind casting – an African American man and a caucasian dwarf both getting the role instead of yet another tall white guy). The two Origins: Wolverine is only ever referred to as Emma, and is the sister of Kayla Silverfox. So I guess she just happens to have the same crystalline powers as Emma Frost, and the same first name. (Again, if Origins even counts.) The two Moiras is another oddity, one being a briefly seen Scottish medical doctor at the end of The Last Stand, and the other an American secret agent and Xavier's love interest in First Class. Clearly they can't be the same person, although I suppose it's feasible that they are related – maybe the Last Stand Moira is the First Class Moira's daughter or something. The two Toads might be the same character, although the green-skinned, leaping version from the first X-Men film and the warty, goggle-wearing version from Days of Future Past seem quite different.
Emmas are a bigger problem, although again, they could just be two people with the same name. The Emma we meet in


Why does Wolverine have metal claws in Days of Future Past, and does he have them in the new timeline? A big cock-up, this one, considering that The Wolverine only came out last year and is fresh in people's memories. In the climactic (well, climactic-ish) battle in that film, the Silver Samurai lopped off Wolverine's adamantium claws with a hot adamantium blade. He soon grew back bone claws, but there's no way, surely, for his adamantium to grow back. So why does he have metal claws in the future scenes of DOFP? The most likely explanation is that Magneto used his powers to manipulate the metal in Logan's body, but again, just a quick explanation would have sufficed to end this mystery. On a related note, does Wolverine have an adamantium skeleton in this new reality? Considering that in the last scene of DOFP, he is dragged off not by Stryker, but Mystique disguised as Stryker, it's questionable that he goes through the Weapon-X treatment in this timeline.


What happened to (insert mutant name here)? Well, Mystique's look at the files tells us that Azazel, Emma Frost and Angel Salvadore from First Class have all been killed and dissected. One of Angel's wings also turns up on display. Havok is alive and well, serving in Nam, but we don't know what happened to Banshee. As for later characters, Nightcrawler was going to turn up in the future scenes at one point, but was cut at an early stage because of the overload of characters. Rogue's future scenes were actually filmed, but cut, leaving only her alternative future cameo. Yukio, Logan's 'bodyguard' from The Wolverine, was already absent by that film's “two years later” post-credits scene, so her whereabouts are a complete mystery. Her precognitive skills might have come in handy in avoiding the Sentinels, though. Angel (Warren Worthington, not Salvadore) is a notable absentee, since The Last Stand seemed to be setting him up for joining the team. Perhaps he'll appear in the sequel, seeing that he was a major part of the Apocalypse storyline in the comics. According to the tie-in site, '25 Moments,' Angel was killed in 2011 in the Sentinel timeline. No news on Pyro, Magneto's volatile protegé from X2 and The Last Stand. Gambit does not appear, but we know he's alive in the altered timeline since he's set to appear in future films. The status of Blink, Bishop, Sunspot and Warpath in the new timeline is unknown, but BingBing Fan (Blink) has revealed she's signed up for further films.

What happened in the original timeline, before Logan changed everything? The sequence of events seen in Days of Future Past makes the original timeline hard to work. Magneto is imprisoned for ten years following the assassination of Kennedy in November 1963, until Logan, Xavier and Quicksilver break him out. How did he escape in the original timeline? It's tempting to imagine Mystique had something to do with it, but she's busy trying to kill Trask at this point. The development of the Sentinels is also confusing. Trask is ready to demonstrate his mark-one killer robots as early as 1973. The failed assassination attempt allowed him to push the programme forward on panic value, but even so, the development in the original timeline was slow. It's easy to accept that the shapeshifting Sentinels took a long time to develop, even with Mystique's tissue samples to hand, but why were there no simpler Sentinels sent in to quell the mutant uprising in The Last Stand? They'd have evened the odds at least.



Where does the X-Men universe go from here? Well, it's X-Men: Apocalypse next. The post-credits scene shows En Sabah Nur, latterly Apocalypse, basking in the worship of his followers, while he psychokinetically assembles the pyramids, as the Four Horsemen look on. Apocalypse is going to be set in the eighties, although there are apparently going to be at least cameos from some of the older generation X-Men. This new timeline can unravel in unforeseen ways – although we've seen a happy, shiny future for the Xavier school, we know time is in flux and can be altered. Presumably, Cable could well be involved, stepping back from even further in time. Has the change to history somehow allowed Apocalypse to rise to power in the twentieth century? (Perhaps the Sentinels would have killed him originally? Seems dubious, but not impossible.) And will Mr. Sinister be in it? And if not, why not?

REVIEW: X-Men: Days of Future Past

So, here's my somewhat belated review of the seventh movie in Fox's X-Men franchise, after everyone else has posted theirs. I guess this means I can speak quite freely regarding plot points, so if you haven't seen it yet and have still managed to avoid spoilers, best stop reading now. In short, I loved it. Days of Future Past is easily the best of the franchise since X2, and the fact that Bryan Singer is back to direct is no coincidence there. Like X2, this movie has a fairly straightforward plot made apprently more complex by all manner of extra elements and a large cast of remarkable characters, and like X2, Singer and his scriptwriters manage to keep things clear, entertaining and fast-moving.


The decision to bridge the gap between the young cast of X-Men: First Class and the older cast of the earlier trilogy is a timely one. It's been fourteen years since the first X-Men came out, which, despite my seeing in a cruddy cinema on a very unsuccessful date, has become a favourite. Singer's first instalment not only kicked off a franchise, but a whole new generation of superhero movies, which until then had been an unfashionable relic of an earlier period of film. Sadly, the X-Men franchise flagged after Singer's departure, with X-Men: The Last Stand fairing poorly due to some illogical plotholes, fluffed character work and an overloading of new characters, which detracted from its many plus points. The less said about the misconceived Origin: Wolverine the better. The follow-up to this, a Magneto origins film, was itself mutated into the altogether more palatable First Class, which mixed modern sensibilities and characters with the comic's roots and revamped the saga. If there was to be a crossover between the two generations, it really had to be now, while the ageing cast of the original are still at the top of their game and the original films still fondly and clearly remembered.


Tackling the Days of Future Past storyline must have been a no-brainer once the time travel element was decided upon. The apocalyptic future sequences – set in 2023, ten years after the print version – are breathless but brilliantly done. A whole film of this would be too much, but opening the movie with it, and periodically snapping back to see it, holds the film together and maintains the stakes. Events in the seventies and events in the future feed into one another, keeping the plot tight. The future cast have less screentime than their past equivalents – with the obvious exception of Hugh Jackman – but all do very well with what they're given. Patrick Stewart, especially, is effortlessly classy as the elder version of Professor Xavier, while Sir Ian McKellen takes to his more heroic role. It's rewarding to see Professor X and Magneto side by side, even under such terrible circumstances. I still feel that Ellen Page is somewhat wasted in the role of Shadowcat, but at least she gets some far better material to work with than she did in The Last Stand. Halle Berry remains woefully miscast as Storm, but this isn't really a problem here, as she is mostly there to provide pyrotechnics.


Of course, the man holding it all together is Hugh Jackman. It's a sensible choice, making Wolverine the star of the film. He's been the most popular character and actor of the franchise, proving his surprising casting back in 1999 absolutely right. Jackman has been the lead in six of the X-Men features now, and the only actor to appear in all seven. Making Wolverine the character to travel back in time makes perfect sense from a logistical perspective, although if they'd really wanted Shadowcat to be the one to do it, they could have just made it a physical time jump instead of a mental journey. Nonetheless, it works better this way; not only is Jackman the favourite face of the franchise, he can handle the action scenes in a way that Ellen Paige certainly wouldn't have. Of course, they could have picked anyone from the cast had they so chosen, but let's be honest, it's Jackman that pulls in the punters.


The Wolverine, while flawed, gave Jackman the chance to play a more mature version of his character, developing to the point where he was finally becoming comfortable with his nature. Setting this a further ten years or so on gives him the opportunity to play a version of Logan who has finally come to terms with himself. It's a calmer, more reserved take on the character, and this is part of the best elements of the movie. The more mature Logan gets to act as a guide and mentor to the young Xavier, a fascinating role reversal that ties DOFP back to the first film and keeps things fresh.


James McAvoy soars as the younger, damaged Xavier. Taking away his need for the wheelchair is an intriguing decision, brilliantly justified. Not only does it allow Xavier to take part in the showstopping prison break scenes, it also illustrates his desperation and the lengths to which he has gone to cope with his loss. We've never seen Xavier like this, a broken man, and it's an essential stepping stone from the buoyant, cocky young man of First Class to the wise elder statesman of the trilogy. While there is still little common ground between the performances of McAvoy and Stewart, we can believe the one man growing into the other. The lack of telepathy also allows the writers avoid the obvious issue that he could simply read Logan's mind, and inject some drama into their meeting.


It also ties nicely into Hank McCoy's inclusion in the story. The omission of the Beast from the first two films always seemed an oversight (perhaps just because he's always been a personal favourite), and the casting of Kelsey Grammar in The Last Stand, while perfect, was wasted on that script. Nicholas Hoult was a fine choice to play the younger McCoy in First Clas, and he works well here as Xavier's carer and right-hand man. I could never understand fans' griping at the character's variable appearance in the films from his cameo in X2 to the trailers for this DOFP. Beast's appearance in the comics has varied hugely over the years, as he flitted back and forth between pink and hairless, grey and simian, blue and feline... McCoy's genetic serum is thematically sound, allowing both him and Xavier to suppress who they really are. While Xavier is presented as an addict, lost to depression, McCoy is simply still struggling to come to terms with who and what he is. His transformations into full-on Beast mode are an easy one for audiences raised on Hulk stories to comprehend (we've already started referring to it as 'Hanking out').


Then there's Michael Fassbender as the younger Magneto. He has leading man looks and charm, but can pull off a sinister turn with the best of them. He's very much channelling McKellen here, with certain scenes verging on impersonation. However, some of his most powerful moments are when he is in reduced circumstances, as in his imprisonment (beneath the Pentagon, for some reason) and his final fall from grace. As essential as his inclusion is, you've got to wonder why future Magneto ever suggested he was necessary for the mission. After the, admittedly thrilling, prison break, Magneto does little but provide Xavier with someone to be at loggerheads with. Once events get moving, he's a massive liability, turning on the team and getting straight back to his mutant superiority campaign. Considering that one of his major skills is stopping bullets, he really doesn't help much in preventing an assassination. He does look fantastic in a hat, though.


There are so many excellent cast members that it's hard to know where to stop. Peter Dinklage is, as always, a class act. There are occasional touches of Tyrion Lannister in his calm, collected, but fanatical Bolivar Trask. Jennifer Lawrence has come in for some flak for her performance as Mystique, but I really don't understand why. She gives a beautiful performance as someone who has become lost in their desire for justice, ever more out of her depth. You can see her taking the steps that will turn her into the ruthless bitch that she was in the original trilogy. She threatens to steal scenes from any of her male castmates, something that is not easy to do with the talent on display here. There are a lot of characters running around here, but unlike The Last Stand they are all well used – with the exception of Anna Paquin's Rogue, almost wholly cut from the film. Worthy of special mention though is Evan Peters as the young Quicksilver, Peter Maximoff. Making Quicksilver cool for a modern audience and making him work onscreen was never going to be easy, but this cocksure young thief is a highlight of the film. The slo-mo gunfight scene, in which Peter calmly saunters through the swarm of bullets and debris tweaking trajectories (not stopping bullets, my physics-brain rejoices) is fantastic. I usually hate slow motion in films, but this actually worked to sell a concept, instead of just being used to pad out a scene. We can only hope Quicksilver is done half as well in the upcoming Avengers sequel. Altogether, Days of Future Past is visually spectacular, as can only be expected. The Sentinels, in both their guises, are fantastic – although I prefer the retro-flavoured seventies version.


The most striking thing about this storyline is that everyone is, in some way, justified in their prejudices. Trask is right to fear the mutant uprising. Magneto is an absolutely terrifying foe, one that proves that some mutants genuinely are a threat to humanity as a whole. Yet he, equally, is justified in his fear and hatred of ordinary humans, by the actions of Trask and his supporters. There is little right here, just a succession of wrongs. Even Xavier has the potential to be a horrifying threat; someone who can not only read minds, but control them, and totally convinced of his own moral superiority. In the event, Xavier, Shadowcat and Logan alter fifty years of history to their own benefit. It's easy to understand why people would be so frightened of them. It's a powerfully entertaining, over-the-top but provacative film, effectively capping the fourteen-year-old franchise and wiping the slate clean for a new era. It's not a bad idea, rebooting without erasing the past, muchlike the new Star Trek series. Overwriting The Wolverine only a year after its release may be a little overzealous, but this is Marvel – there are multiple realities stacked alongside each other by tradition. (Officially the X-Men movies up to this point are set on Earth-10005; the new timeline lacks an official designation so far. I am a geek.)


Both as a capstone to a long-running series and the birth of a new one, and as a stylish sci-fi actioner in its own right, Days of Future Past is cracking movie. Just please keep Bryan Singer for X-Men: Apocalypse.