Logan: A Tale Of Redemption

Logan is the latest blockbuster in the Marvel Universe, taking in 237 billion at the box office at the time of writing. Many of you will have already seen it, but here is where I insert the obvious spoiler alert for those who haven’t. This is discussing a movie, so if you don’t want to know, stop reading.
Logan is a much darker movie than any of the other Marvel movies, and deserves its R rating, with much cussing, violence, and gore. However, this all fits the storyline well, and never really feels like its done just to have it in the film as some movies do. The movie takes place in the future, after essentially every other mutant has been killed. Those who haven’t have been driven underground.
Logan explores the dark twilight years of Wolverine who was always a bit of an anti-hero to begin with. Instead of one who always does right, Wolverine spent his life traveling from place to place, participating in wars and covert actions, struggling always to understand his past, which is often dark and always hidden from him. And that past had a habit of catching up to him.
The most obvious problem facing him is failing health. Not something one would expect from the Wolverine, but with a constant cough, a limp, and the fact he was able to get drunk which was previously impossible, shows just how far his health had fallen. Having adamantium plating his bones has always been a health problem for Wolverine, but his younger body was able to deal with it. But in this story line, it’s revealed that the adamantium has been poisoning him all along. Logan was also dealing with caring for his mentor, who is struggling with advanced dementia and a loss of control of his considerable abilities. Added into this mess is a child needing protection from people who are threatening the Professor.
In some of these struggles, we can certainly find a bit of ourselves. Life certainly doesn’t go according to plan; friends and loved ones leave and sometimes pass away,  and our own health can be fleeting. And our parents, once the rocks in our lives, are becoming frail as they get older. In the movie, Logan has not responded well to these changes, but his reactions and emotions are understandable and even relatable. He has become bitter and drawn back into himself, and he is angry at having to take care of someone, when he has trouble taking care of himself. When X23 comes into his life, he is resentful of having to help her as well.
Let’s switch gears to the positive in the movie. In a scene in the hotel, we see Professor X and X23 watching an old movie, and we see and hear, on screen, a group of people praying from that original movie. Keep in mind that nothing like that makes the cut if its not absolutely intentional.  During the scene at the farmhouse, Professor X tells Logan to take a moment and see what is around him. Family. And that is what life is about. Logan skips over that at the time, but figures out this lesson a bit later. The end of the movie sees the redemption of Wolverine, even if short lived. For the end of the movie, he throws aside the bitterness and selfishness that has defined him in this story, and acts selflessly to protect his daughter and her friends as they try to seek protection in Canada.
For Logan this change came too late to do much good, but we would be remiss at Men Of The West to not point just how important family is, and that wherever you are with your family, it’s not too late to make the change. Civilization depends upon family and the proper raising of children. Take a moment and look around you. How are you building your family? What changes can you make to lift them up?
Another positive with the movie is that immediately as the credits begin to play, it goes to a Johnny Cash song. The Man Comes Around. This is an explicitly Christian song, and just as the prayer that appeared earlier in the movie, this is entirely intentional. I don’t remember the last time a mainstream movie included such explicit Christianity, and without attempting to distort it into something unrecognizable.
“Its hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” If ever there was a comic hero who did so, it would be Wolverine, and this movie shows this well. Kicking and screaming the whole way, he finally finds his redemption. My hope is that if you have not yet found redemption, you will do so soon.