Expectations For Logan

In four days, on this upcoming Thursday at 10:15 PM, I will have the privilege of viewing Logan almost two hours just before the official opening day.  I have certain expectations and hopes that I will detail here.  After all, from watching the initial trailer with Johnny Cash's Hurt to lamenting Hugh Jackman's final reprisal of his Wolverine role and now Patrick Stewart's last time as an older Charles Xavier, the hype generated by the wait has been immense for many.  I do not merely hope that I will be awed by the action and the spectacle of a Wolverine unleashed in an R-rated movie at last, I hope that this movie will represent the pinnacle of the superhero genre and will exemplify what superhero movies could be--cliche-defying, impactful, and deeply thoughtful.

I hope to find a masterful superhero movie that confronts Wolverine's character and past, a film that confronts existentialism, the personal and emotional burden that comes from years of seeing and engaging in violence, the pain of constant loss, the despair of a semi-post-apocalyptic world, and the tragedy of great minds succumbing to old age.  I want Logan to be the Dark Knight of the X-Men universe--realistic, intense, powerful, and all too lifelike in its ability to stir thought about crucial matters, and I think that the long-desired R rating can allow for all of that.  And I also expect the film to astonish me with great performances and emotionality as Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman leave the X-Men franchise after almost two decades of playing iconic characters so well that I can't imagine anyone else replacing them.

Superhero movies could be more than the generic, cliche, comedic movies they are becoming known as.  They could tell stories that visualize the great difficulty of being different than others instead of having characters often receive fame and praise for their powers or differences.  They could focus on the despair of human life instead of usually having optimistic endings.  They could touch our hearts and stimulate our minds (Doctor Strange uniquely excelled here) instead of entertaining us in the predictable manner that is becoming cliched (Age of Ultron, and X-Men: Apocalypse, for instance) or through the disjointed nature of other superhero movies (Suicide Squad).  The X-Men series has from the beginning boldly addressed philosophical and ethical issues like discrimination against minorities, war crimes, and mortality, and I hope that Logan can exceed the boundaries of intellectual and filmmaking quality that the best of the previous films in the franchise have established.

The advance reviews have been largely glowing.  Let's hope that Logan can succeed and let's hope that the film serves as a glorious swan song for two beloved actors and characters, giving Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier the exit that many people believe they deserve.  Let's also hope that Logan will demonstrate that films can contain great depth and transcendent themes even when in a genre criticized for its increasing repetition and superficiality.