Star Wars: The Last Jedi has had a plethora of complaints from its loyal fan base. While the handling of the plot and killing of Snoke even before the interval are worrisome, to say the least, nothing comes as close to Rian Johnson handling Luke Skywalker’s death. The death of the most powerful Jedi and the savior of the Galaxy were manhandled and his sacrifice to save the last of the resistance was unanimously expected to be much better than what the fans saw in the Big Screens. While the story was still awesome enough to be charted as a blockbuster, one more movie portrayed a similar plotline that took the same pace as The Last Jedi but told it in a much better fashion.
James Mangold’s Logan was Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as the titular mutant superhero. His ‘One Last Time’ as the clawed beast that is Wolverine s memorable and awesome. And it did something that The Last Jedi failed to achieve. Logan went out in a fashion, guns blazing and with much more style and panache than Luke Skywalker. This is not to say that Luke Skywalker’s sacrifice was in any way lesser than Logan’s. Both were right in their own ways but the way Logan’s was portrayed made him the clear winner for one critical reason – relatability.
Logan and The Last Jedi were the final movies for Hugh Jackman and Mark Hamill for their respective franchises. Let us take a look at the incredible similarities between the two and analyze why we say Logan outperformed The Last Jedi in the big screens.
Self-exiled heroes:
Logan was a prominent mutant of the X-men roster. But after Professor X accidentally killed off all the X-men in one of their missions, Logan decided it was high time to hide him and the Professor from further causing any damage. He kept the Professor on medications and moonlighted as a limo driver to make ends meet. He wanted the exile to go even further. Logan was saving money to buy a boat so that he and Charles could squander away their remaining breathes at sea.
Luke Skywalker was the Last Jedi of his Galaxy. Once he tried to restart the Jedi Order by training a group of force sensitive children. When he sensed darkness in his own nephew, Luke tried to kill him. Kylo retaliated by killing all the Padawans and burning the Jedi Temple to the ground. Luke then forced himself into exile, blaming the Jedi Order for centuries of failures.
It was much more difficult for Logan than it was Luke. Yet it was Luke that needed to be reminded to do the right thing at the end. He did but it was already too late. A lot of lives had been lost. Logan at least tried to do the right thing from the very beginning.
Young Women in need of Help:
Laura and Rey both were apprentices to Logan and Luke respectively. While Luke’s time with Rey was nothing short of a letdown, Laura’s wasn’t. Rey was only given two out of three lessons on the ways of the Force. Logan, in turn, spent most of his remaining life on the road, trying to protect X-23 and trying to understand her and make her understand the burden of being a hero. Luke’s sacrifice was great and heart-wrenching. But it was Logan’s devotion to Laura’s well being that won everyone’s heart.
Living up to their Legends:
Luke Skywalker was one of the most well-known warriors of the Galaxy. Logan was not as well known but was feared and respected amongst the people that knew his rage (and claws). They both had the capacity to inspire people to do the right thing like they have. Luke’s ability in this regard was exceptional compared to Logan’s. But it was Logan that ended up inspiring people, both the moviegoers and the small band of mutant children that he saved to become something more than they ever imagined they could. Logan was better at inspiring people, Luke’s last stand on Crait was impressive but it wasn’t as inspirational.
Final Sacrifices:
Both Luke and Logan sacrificed their lives at the end to save the one thing they truly cared about. But whose death had more meaning? Let us enlighten you.
Luke came to Crait as a force illusion. No one knew about the Force projection and the real Luke being light years away on another planet until the very end. Luke also never even intended to save Kylo from the Dark Side. All he wanted was to buy the Resistance time to escape. All these factors merge to ultimately dilute Luke’s sacrifice for the greater good.
Logan, on the other hand, accumulated inhuman amounts of Punishment on his own body to save the young mutant group from Transigen. There was no trickery involved. It was all his own blood, his own screams, and real pain that drove Logan at the end of Death. He lost not only his life but his one and only friend Charles Xavier’s life. In return he gained a family. Laura was, more or less, Logan’s daughter. The final moment where Laura holds on to Logan’s hand in his final moments is one damn tear-jerker.
Logan wins this round, fair and square.
Don’t Miss: 10 Superheroes From Your Favorite Movies That Got FriendZoned
