See the Magic Behind the Head Stabbin’ in the ‘Logan’ VFX Breakdown

If you’ve read any of the more mature X-Men comic books, then you know Wolverine’s go-to move is to stab people in the head. Oh, sure, he’ll slash some throats and cut off some limbs  —  he’s the best at what he does, after all, even if what he doesn’t isn’t very nice  —  but when push comes to shove, there’s no replacing a trio of claws to the noggin. That’s what made the violence in James Mangold’s R-rated Logan such a fun experience for fans. Here was the merciless killer they all loved, even if he is still nursing that secret heart of gold.

I myself spent most of the movie admiring the special effects and how Mangold and Hugh Jackman managed to pull off some of the film’s more brutal kills. Thankfully, the good folks at Rising Sun Pictures (via Heroic Hollywood) are here with a VFX breakdown. These breakdowns have become increasingly common in the wake of blockbuster movies, but it’s still fun to see how films use a combination of digital layering and practical trickery to pull off the perfect action sequences.

While we have some thoughts about how Hollywood should tackle R-rated movies going forward  —  we happen to think that Logan is the perfect example of mature storytelling for adult audiences  — it will be interesting to see which version of Wolverine finds his way onscreen in the future. Would 20th Century Fox dare go back to the ultra-violent character we saw in Logan or would they return to the middle ground offered by Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies? I guess maybe Wolverine should update his signature phrase to, “I’m the best at what I do, but what I do sometimes isn’t very nice, depending on the target audience.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

Logan is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.