where faith and film are intertwined
This week on the show, Steve reconnects with Arnaldo Reyes and Peter Adourian to talk about purpose and hopeful death in James Mangold’s LOGAN. (We may even answer the eternal question: Why Arnaldo doesn’t like Jackman’s Wolverine!)
Want to continue to conversation at home? Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.
Thanks to Peter Adourian and Arnaldo Reyes for joining us on the show!
WARNING: If you haven’t seen Logan yet, there will be spoilers below.
Character History
First appearing in the animated series X-Men Evolution, Laura Kinney (X-23) quickly became a fan favorite. Created by the top secret organization tasked to duplicate the Weapon X program (the same program that gave Logan his Adamantium bones), Laura was the 23rd experiment to clone Wolverine. Although female, she was exactly what they wanted. In fact, she was better. Trained from birth to be a weapon, she was a deadly assassin before hitting puberty. Whether she wants to or not, she is forced to kill (we’ll get to that below). The program developed what they call a “trigger scent” that drives X-23 into a rage, causing her to kill everyone in her sight until it wears off. Throughout her young life, she was forced to kill many people, including her mother. Before her mother died, she told her she’s not just an experiment and that her name was Laura.
From there, Laura spent her time as a runaway. Being used and abused, she sold her body to survive, even hurting herself just to feel something. This led her to find Logan (initially fighting him and blaming him for everything) and then, eventually, land herself in Xavier’s school. Just like Logan, there she learned about friends, love, family and who she really is. At times, she needed to go out on her own and, at times, she was back to where she was, a weapon. Throughout her history, she was exactly what one would expect from the daughter of Wolverine. However, she was much better (something Logan would admit). Just like Logan, she had to live with a broken past and spend her life making amends. Over time, she would encounter setbacks, trials and loss. Now, she has the mantle of the man that taught her the most about herself. She isn’t just playing dress up, but she is The Wolverine.
Why X-23 needs her own film
After 17 years we finally got the real Wolverine on screen…and SHE was amazing! Yes, Hugh Jackman was great in his sendoff as well, finally giving us the Wolverine we’ve been lacking. After 17 years, it’s hard to view anyone outside of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine but this is why Laura is the perfect person to take up the mantle. From the first moment on screen, when we see her walk out of that plant and attack those pursuing her, I knew that James Mangold (director) and Dafne Keen (X-23) got it right. You saw the deadliness in her. Then, you see the video that Logan was watching, how she was made, how the nurse tried to teach her more than just being a weapon. When you see that, and you see the quiet girl that in a split second can go berserk, you know that the spirit of the character it’s there. You see her brokenness in trying to connect with Logan while being helped by Xavier in observing what life should be. In the final scenes, where she goes toe to toe with X-24 in order to help Logan out, you can see again how great she is in that role.
Putting her deadliness aside, the moment where Logan is dying and she tearing away at the tree that he’s impaled on though is where you say she needs her own film. She cries for a dad she just met. His eyes, his last words telling her not to be what they’ve made her. Then, when her and the other kids bury him, when she turns the cross to resemble an X and they head out into the mountains, I’m left wanting more. I want to know what happens next. Moreso, we need to know.
She is going into a new world with new mutants created to be weapons and on the run from facility that made them. Eventually, someone will come looking. In the comics, she was forced to kill because she had a handler. In the movie, she tells Logan she has nightmares because people hurt her. Her handler, Kimura, is one of Laura’s worst enemies in the comics. A solo film bringing her in to go after Laura would be a great first film. Also introducing the trigger scent, causing her to do harm and seeing her come out of it and rise from being used again and emerging a hero. Laura deserves more than just a walk into the mountains with her friends. She’s as complex a character as Logan and, by keeping her in this same gritty type of film, they can properly display all the elements of her character.
Although Jackman is done, Wolverine lives on and, given her youth, she will do well for another 17 years as well!
There’s much to be said about an actor playing a particular role in film nine times.
In a way, he/she must’ve done something right and even made that particular role nearly iconic. Hugh Jackman has done that, to my dismay (or dislike, however you want to call it). It’s not that I’m not a fan of his. It’s just that I’ve never been a fan of his portrayal of Wolverine. Only twice have I felt that the character that I grew up admiring and loving was captured as he should be, but most of the time it was someone else. This is probably more on the studio and scripts than it is on Hugh. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I completely gave up on them. (In fact, it wasn’t until two weeks ago that I finally saw The Wolverine because there was nothing else to watch on TV and, even then, I found myself playing games on my phone rather than watching the movie.)
So here I am, I paid to see the film on a Thursday night for two reasons: It was Hugh Jackman’s last hoorah and it was the live action appearance of my second favorite Wolverine…X-23 (aka Laura). When I first heard she would be in the film, I cringed. I felt that, not only had they ruined Logan, but now they were going to ruin Laura as well. When the trailers came out, I felt a little more optimistic yet still apprehensive. With all this, I bought my tickets, went to the theater, leaned back the comfy recliner and, finally, I saw the real Wolverine.
Logan is set in a distant future. Mutants are basically no more (as was said in the trailers) and Logan himself is a mess. Running away from a life he wants to forget, his life is turned upside down with the discovery of a young girl just like him. Throughout the film you see a man that has taken everything life has thrown at him and quite frankly doesn’t want to live anymore. Yet, even in a broken state, there is the kind, good man. I felt previous films failed to show Logan’s brokenness but this film finally captured it extremely well. He isn’t the prototypical hero and, even with healing factor, he isn’t invulnerable. Logan is a multi layered character that basically has dealt with crap his whole life and has always survived. In this film, we finally see that Logan: the one that wentthrough hell and back and yet still shows why he is the best at what he does.
However, Logan really isn’t the highlight of this film. X-23 gets the origin story in film that Wolverine never really got. I won’t sugar coat it, she is extremely violent, she is hurt, abused and, later, redeemed. She is everything like Logan, and if you know her history then you know why. Throughout the film, she is trying to fight what she is while also trying to figure out who she should be. She’s chasing freedom, but discovering something much more. Her life has been nothing short of awful, yet the hero she is meant to be runs through her blood. She is the one that helps Logan find his way back and remind him just who he is and she also finds out who she should be. She’s Laura and she’s not a mistake. She’s her father’s daughter and she’s the best at what she does.
In such a bloody film (yes, it’s bloody, that’s why it’s rated R), it’s amazing to find so much heart. ]Logan is a film that teaches us that life is rough and no matter how hard it gets, we need to remember one thing, the importance of family. Family is the rock we can lean on to get us through this journey called life. It’s no wonder Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters, because He desires us all to be family and He understands the importance of it. The Lord created family for a reason because without it we are nothing. Logan and Laura discover it and in their way teach us what truly matters.
Logan is a great film that was well done in every way. I would say I only had two complaints that I won’t spoil since they serve major roles to the actual film, but I really felt on those two parts they should have expanded a little more.
Furthermore, there is an amazing short film (if we want to call it that) right at the beginning, so don’t miss it. However, there is no end credits trailer, so don’t bother staying till the end. All and all, I will again say that, even though it took nine attempts, the real Wolverines did stand up.
And they were amazing.
