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nLogan (2017)
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nDirector: James Mangold
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nCast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Richard E.nGrant, Stephen Merchant
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nIn the spirit of James Mangold’s new X-men movie: Logann(2017), let’s start this review straight to the point shall we? Logan is answift kick to the nuts to all these comic book movies that we’ve been seeing asnof late. You know the ones. The computer generated fuck-a- thons that we’vengotten so accustomed to. The truth is that we’ve had enough of those haven’tnwe? Movies in which computer effects have taken over human emotion, they’ventaken away that feeling. You walk out a lot of those movies with numbness innyour head. Logan is the complete opposite of that and it’s so goddamnnrefreshing!
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nLogan is the story of Wolverine in his last days, when henfinds no pleasure in being alive. His “dad” is Professor Xavier, an agingnempath who can’t control his powers. In comes a woman named Gabriela who wants’nthe famous ‘Wolverine’ to help her find a place called ‘Eden’, a supposednheaven for mutants somewhere in North Dakota. Can Old Man Logan still do this?nWill he agree to helping Gabriela and Little Laura reach ‘Eden’?
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nI honestly thought people were exaggerating about how goodnLogan was, because recent films that people have raved about have disappointednthe hell out of me. John Wick Chapter 2n(2017) I’m looking at you kid. So I went to see Logan with some trepidation, yetnthe first ten minutes of this film quickly put me in my place! It wasn’t longnbefore I was saying things like “What. The. Fuck.” Should I put things innperspective? The films first words are “Aw fuck!”. On this film, Logan is anlimo driver trying to forget his past with the X-men, he’s trying to live thenlife of a regular Joe. Basically, he just wants to be left alone to die innpeace. Mutants are going extinct and Professor Xavier is a senile old man whondoesn’t know where he stands. Holy bajeezus! What the hell is going on here? Inwasn’t ready to see Wolverine and Prof. Xavier in such dire straits! It is thisnlevel of gravitas that makes this film stand apart, it’s not afraid to messnwith the status quo, in fact, it throws the whole X-men universe out thenwindow! Fuck that shit! Awwww I love it!
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nThe great thing about this film is that it is a cliché breaker;nit takes everything you expect from a Wolverine movie and turns it upside down.nThis is why it works so well, on this movie nothing is sacred and anything cannhappen. So you feel unsafe, you don’t feel like you can predict the film everynstep of the way, like you’d be able to predict a film like Kong Skull Island (2017)nfor example. I mention Kong Skull Island because I actually did a doublenfeature of Logan/Kong and went from the ultimate anti-cliché movie (Logan) to ancliché by the numbers movie (Kong). So trust me, Logan is like a bucket of coldnwater being thrown down your back. It’s the ice bucket challenge, but for X-mennfans!
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nWhy does this movie work so well? Various factors play annimportant factor in this. First, moviegoers in general are tired of computerngenerated special effects, specially the kind that take over an entire film.nYou know how it is. Suddenly, nothing that is happening on screen is real; itnwas all created on a computer. This can go on for minutes and minutes on end. Inmean, suddenly it’s been ten minutes and not a single actor, not a single set,nnot a single real location has been seen on screen and then you have to wonder,nam I watching a live action film or an animated one? Wolverine keeps its visualneffects to a minimum. This is not to say that it doesn’t have them, but itnkeeps them to a minimum, to enhance a moment. And even then, they don’t takenover. They are simply used to enhance an illusion. Beautiful. It’s the wayneffects should be used. Second. This is a strong screenplay. Why? Well, becausenits not about saving the universe from another whole that’s opening up in thenmiddle of New York City (again), rather, it’s a very personal story about Logannand Proffessor Xavier dealing with getting old and coming to the last stage,ncoming to terms with the end of their lives.
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nThe third and final point is that the cast Hugh Jackman,nPatrick Stewart and newcomer Dafne Keen out do themselves performance wise! Theynall bring their ‘A’ game here. I’ve heard some people talk about giving PatricknStewart a nomination or something. That might be stretching it a little? Itnprobably has to do with how different this take on Professor Xavier is. It’sngreat to see Logan playing the father figure to X-23, the scenes with both ofnthem together, road tripping? Sweet. Onenlittle thing though, I did feel that Logan turns suddenly into Mad Max: BeyondnThunderdome (1984). Was director James Mangold paying tribute to that film? Thenreason I mention this is because the similarities are staggering. So that’s itnladies and gents. What we got here is a fantastic film that shakes the verynfoundations of the X-men universe. Wolverine fans should be pleased. Questionnis, who’s gonna be playing Wolverine next? Whoever he is, he’s got big shoes tonfill.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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