Yes, at one point he does run.

It's been a while since I did a movie review but with the release of our new podcast (https://davidyn.podbean.com/) I thought I would get back into it.  

So Logan last night.  It was not the movie I expected although I probably should have based on Deadpool last year.  Wolverine has always been a dark horse in the Marvel stable and as such has a hard time translating to the screen without the rest of the X-Men backing him up and it looks like Fox took that concept and ran with it.  This movie is dark and grim and is a weird way kind of brilliant.  

First off, a serious word of warning to all the parents whose charming kiddiewinks are super duper comic book movie fans; in spite the trailer featuring a cute kid, Logan looking at comic books, and beloved Professor Xavier looking all benign and grandfatherly the movie IS NOT FOR KIDS.  It is rated R for a very good reason.  It is super violent, full of F Bombs, and does have one (extremely) brief nude scene.  Also that super cute kid is a murdering sociopath.  Unless you have already ruined your kid's childhood by bringing him or her to see every rated R film you actually want to see (as in the case with most of the audience in the theater last night) take him or her to see Lego Batman.  20 years from now your kid's therapist will thank you.  

Secondly if you are an adult fan of comic book movies or one of those aforementioned kids who's already ruined childhood-wise this movie is EXTREMELY COOL.  It is super violent, full of F Bombs, and has one (extremely) brief nude scene.  Also that super kid is a murdering sociopath.  I have been noted as saying that kids in movies tend to suck but if that kid is killing jerks (a la Hit Girl from Kick Ass) they can get cool again.  

SPOILER ALERT However if you are a fan of classic, nigh indestructible Wolverine t shirts and like to pretend the whole Weapon X and Old Man Logan comics never came out prepare to be shocked.  Logan is a crusty, old, drunken lout who gets beat up in every scene and seems to spend 2/3rds of the movie trying to recover from his last beating in order to get his next one.  Somehow his mutant healing ability has been severely compromised and he spends most of the film limping and drinking.  It's like they wanted to shoot a darker Wolverine but for some reason only Nicholas Cage from Leaving Las Vegas was around to play the character.  This is not what you would expect.

It is very, very dark and other beloved X-Men characters may or may not show up looking like they just spent 20 years in rehab but honestly Logan has always been a tragic character.  Trying to force him to maintain that while dealing with the rest of the X-Men's upbeat and and optimistic attitude always made the X-Men films more than a little challenging.  

It's clear to me that Fox understands that they are the red headed step-appendix as far as the Marvel Contiguous Universe is concerned and honestly is not even going to try to fit in.  They took their toys and went home to make a couple of really good films (this one and Deadpool t shirts).  One can definitely hope that they will look at the success of these grown up fils that more or less stay true to the source material and do the same thing for the next Fantastic Four (rather than cast another bunch of mid-20 year olds trying to play teenage scientists).  I could also wish the same thing for Sony and Spider-Man but I can't help but feel they they have swirled so far down the suck toilet that the only hope is to for them to end up at the sewage reclamation plant and come back as reclaimed water for use on some parks grass.  Sony, Fox has figured it out.  

Do I have any criticism for this film?  Sure.  Logan as a character seems to bounce from one set piece to another with no input from his own motivation like a ball in the most violent pinball game ever.  Each plot point is really to set him up to murder a bunch more guys.  Even the little girl bullies him into doing something he doesn't want to do.  The story could have had more depth in other words.  If you are a fan of Professor X things will get ugly for you by the end of the film.  Also after a while you get kind of tired of seeing Logan stumble around However these issues are minor compared to the awesomeness of the overall film.  I highly recommend it with the caveat that is it not your typical comic book film.  You will not come out of the film with a warm feeling in your heart.