Logan
/"Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long."
Filmology Rating: 3.2 out of 4
In the near future, an old, beaten down, weary, Logan cares for an ailing Professor X. Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his past are derailed when a young mutant arrives in desperate need of help.
I have been looking forward to this movie for so long. Hugh Jackman has been the Wolverine for 17 years now; every film has brought him closer and closer to this moment. Each movie you can see Hugh Jackman age and his movie character age both mentally and physically as well. This is the grand finale of Jackman’s portrayal as Wolverine and I couldn’t think of a better ending. Logan was truly phenomenal.
Logan is old now. He is beaten down, sick, isn’t healing as quickly, and is really just waiting for his clock to run out. Same thing with Professor X; the world’s most powerful mind is slowly losing his. It was so different and new to see our beloved characters vulnerable and on the brink of death. Now to throw adversity at them, it only made everything better and more serious.
People have been saying that this is one of the best superhero movies ever made. I must say that I might have to agree. It for sure is in the top 5 for me. There are so many special qualities about Logan starting with the idea that being a superhero might not be a good thing. There are side effects. The metal in Logan’s body is quite possibly what is making him sick and the powerful mind of Professor X is a weapon when it isn’t kept in check. Being older and vulnerable gave these characters a whole new depth and perception. Logan had a true emotion to his rage and Professor X had a deeply moving presence about him. This really is the first superhero film to discuss this deeper topic. Some blessings might be curses in disguise.
On top of that, we have a movie that has fantastic action involved our heroes but Logan is much more than that. Thinking about it, it is hard to classify this as a superhero movie. Yes Wolverine and X are “superheroes” but this is a moving drama. The theme of holding on to hope and not giving up even when you have every reason to was so realistic and somber. With this theme and the way that it was filmed, even to the setting, I felt like I was in a western. I felt like I was watching an old John Wayne or Clint Eastwood western flick and I loved this fresh adaptation that director James Mangold gave these superheroes in their final portrayal. Hugh Jackman gave his best Wolverine performance for sure and the little girl (the young mutant) was amazing as well.
As mentioned before, the action is not constant. Being a 2 hr. and 20 min film, I was happy the action wasn’t constant because it gave you some time to breathe and build the characters. The slower moments were actually some of my favorites because the dialogue and plot was so well done. Wolverine really goes through an emotional and mental struggle throughout this film as he discovers some things about himself that he never really wanted to know. It gave him a choice: go down one road and wait for death or take the other path and find the humanity within his inner beast.
Logan is rated R and thank God for that because oh man did it make the movie so much better. The violence isn’t constant but when it happens, the action sequences are phenomenal and brutal. I loved it! This is what Wolverine should be! Thank you Deadpool for paving the way for R rated superhero films. (Also nothing in the credits but there is a Deadpool 2 teaser before the movie starts).
I loved this movie so much. It was gritty and brutal yet being heartbreaking and warming all at the same time. Logan is such a complex and deep film that goes way beyond the superhero genre. This is an absolute must see!
Rating: See It
-Nick
I’ve always been a fan of the X-Men franchise. X-Men: First Class is not only one of my favorite superhero films, it’s one of my all time favorite films. The Wolverine films, however, are a different story. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was entertaining while watching it back in 2009 but quickly falls off a cliff with a rewatch. The Wolverine was a film I enjoyed and recommended at the time but have never actually gone back to rewatch it myself. It always seemed strange to me to have solo Wolverine adventures when he is the main focus of the original X-Men trilogy. With that being said, I still had reason to be excited for Logan. The main reason for my excitement was the film was loosely based on the “Old Man Logan” storyline created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. I will not spoil the storyline but it’s basically Mad Max mixed with Wolverine, so it’s one wild ride. Logan however isn’t as wild of a ride.
In the year 2029 mutants are all but extinct, with the small handful hiding in the undesirable corners of the world. James “Logan” Howlett, played for the ninth and final time by Hugh Jackman, is trying to live a low key nonviolent life as a limo driver forgetting about his past life as The Wolverine. Logan’s life isn’t as simple as he would prefer, as he is taking care of the dying Charles Xavier, played for the final time by Patrick Stewart. The duo is trying to save up for a boat so they can go live their final days on the sea. Logan’s life gets more complicated with the appearance of a young girl named Laura, played by newcomer Dafne Keen. Logan, Charles, and Laura quickly have to go on the run from the sinister Alkali-Transigen company being run by Zander Rice, played by Richard E Grant.
The action isn’t the highlight of the film, the performances from the trio of Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen are the highlights of the film. I cannot image anyone else playing the characters that the three played in this film. While Jackman and Stewart have played the characters for the past seventeen years, Keen is starring in her first motion picture and you can’t help but feel you are watching the making of a star much like seeing Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the first time. It’s clear the Keen watched Jackman’s performances in X-Men and X2:X-Men united because she is mimicking his movements from those films perfectly. While I personally don’t like watching people self destruct themselves, it’s still fascinating to watch Jackman’s Logan grow into a shell of his former self. He has clearly taken in all the pain in the world and just buries himself in grief and misery. While I don’t believe this is the performance of Jackman’s career it is easily the highlight of his superhero career.
I do need to point out two major aspects that I found to be faults in this film, the score and the villains. The score by Marco Beltrami feels disjointed and like it doesn’t have a common goal. At times it feels like Beltrami is randomly slamming on a piano and he calls it a score. If the characters were in a state of confusion when that part of the score happens then I could attempt to go with it but the score occurs when a car chase is occurring. Beltrami can do great scores such as he did for Snowpiercer and 3:10 to Yuma but this score for this movie is easily one of the weakest of his career. As for the villains in this film, they are completely useless. The actual story in the film could still happen without the villains and I feel it would have made the personal journey stronger than one that was given without the villains. The film itself makes a rather good joke as to how useless the villains in the film are but just because the film makes a joke about it doesn’t change the fact that they are weak and rather useless in this film.
Logan is not a film for everyone and I urge parents to look at the R rating and think how much violence you want your child to endure through their viewing of a movie, because this movie is truly intense. If you would like a superhero movie with good unique slow building genre, then you should rush out and see this film performance.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G