I went into Logan unspoiled, and I'm
glad I did. For those of you who haven't seen it yet I will do my
best to help you stay that way too. Well, I did read one review. I
purposely chose the worst review I could find on IMDB so that I could
get an idea if what the the worst case scenario might be. I don't
remember who wrote it, but they were from TIME, and they were way
off. According to them Logan was making a weak attempt at reflecting
our troubled political landscape, and it just didn't go far enough in
that area. I didn't get that from it at all so maybe just ignore any
piece of the review you see from TIME. I know that Phantom already
reviewed Logan for his Patreon subscribers so by all means go check
that out, but I'm going to throw my two cents in as well. We often
have differing opinions so I don't think putting another perspective
out there is a bad thing. He's softened on his stance against Days of
Future Past, but we disagreed wildly on it at first.
Logan is a brutal, and honestly kind of
tough movie to watch. That isn't to say you shouldn't watch it or
that it is not a great work, but you should know that going in. I've
heard of, and seen first hand, some epic parenting fails with people
taking small children to see this movie. Don't do that. It's not as
graphic as Deadpool, but they do make very liberal use of the “R”
rating. It's almost like a contest to see how many “shits” and
“fucks” they can cram in there (though the rating gave me the real "Beserker Rage" I've been wanting to see for 17 years so that's a big plus). Also, don't let the fact that
Logan is old lead you into thinking that this is based on the Old Man
Logan graphic novel. Logan's age is about the only thing that this
movie shares with the comic. It's pretty much the darkest movie I've
seen in recent memory. Again, don't let that dissuade you. I just
probably should have done a better job preparing myself for what was
about to happen to me.
Before we head down the dark path of
Logan let's talk about something light for a minute. The Deadpool 2
trailer that came on before the feature presentation. If you haven't
seen it yet here's a link. This is a little longer than the one shown
in the theater, but it was clearly meant to be shown before Logan. If
you don't have the time to watch I threw a picture in for your lazy
asses. Look closely at the writing on the phone booth where the name
Nathan Summers clearly appears. I'm taking that as 100% confirmation
that Cable will be in the next movie. I was also told that they're
looking to cast Domino as well. That makes Deadpool 2 the movie I'll
most be looking forward to in 2018 as of right now.
But going back to the very serious
business at hand. Let's talk Logan. As dark, brutal, and challenging
as it is to watch this is the best treatment of a Marvel property ever
made. It might help if you know something about the X-Men universe
going in (Mr. Tibbs was with me, and having to explain what Reavers
were and that Joss Whedon took the name for his Firefly baddies
because he loved the X-Men so much was time consuming), but it's not
strictly necessary. As much as it might enhance your viewing
pleasure, it will also raise additional questions that won't all be
answered. At first I thought some flashbacks to the events they
allude to might have helped. I realize now that I was completely
wrong. There is no neat bow that ties this all together with other
X-Men movies.
We start with a much older looking
Logan working as a limo driver who drinks too much, and appears to be
falling apart physically and mentally. He turns out to be secretly
caring for a debilitated Charles Xavier with the help of fellow
mutant Caliban (this time played by Stephen Merchant who is a
surprisingly good actor. I always just thought of him as Ricky
Gervais' lanky sidekick, but no more) in a world where mutants are
all but extinct. In 2029 no new mutants have been born in 25 years,
but good ole Professor X establishes telepathic contact with a young
girl who needs their help. The Prof has also seen better days as he
is suffering from a degenerative brain disease which causes him to
lose control of his powers. There are references made to an incident
he caused in Westchester that killed 600 people including several
X-Men. While this is one of the things I wanted to know more about I
know that part of the point is that Professor X is so far gone that
he barely even remembers what happened. To see someone who has
been such a strong stabilizing presence for so long brought low is
heart-breaking. His plight is even more moving than Logan's downfall
since the character of Logan has always been more confused and
conflicted (I'm ignoring the whinier parts of James McAvoy's performance in Day of Future Past). They end up finding the little girl who has powers that
are eerily similar to Logan's own mutations. She's on the run from
the top secret lab that bred and raised her, and only Logan can help
get her to the freedom she thinks awaits her in a place called Eden.
The only problem is that Eden is from the X-Men comics the kid has
been reading. No one knows if it's real, and getting her there
will take everything Logan and Charles have. On the hunt
are the Reavers, and the son of one of the doctors who worked on the
Weapon X program. Well, we're up to 24 now so clearly the bad guys
have been working hard since they created Wolverine (which I guess is
the 70's. It's getting harder and harder to keep up with these damn
timelines).
It's really tough to talk about this
movie without giving anything away, but there is some seriously
devastating shit in this movie. I came close to tears at least once,
and barely contained my tears at the end. It's completely unlike
any superhero movie ever made, and that's a good thing because it
raises the bar for what we think a superhero movie should be.
Deadpool pushed the boundaries of violence and language, and Logan
pushes the boundaries of depth and raw emotion of what you thought
Marvel could deliver. It's not fun like Guardians, and there are no epic city destroying battles like Avengers movies. It's a more intimate story, and that makes the violence more visceral and intense. The little girl is a bad-ass while managing to
emote without talking much. Stephen Merchant showed a range I never
thought him capable of. Patrick Stewart was allowed to act more than
in any other X-Men movie, and as well as I've seen him in
anything else before. It was Hugh Jackman that really surprised me
tough. I saw Les Miserables so I knew that he could sing, and was a
reasonably good actor, but he was allowed to pull out all the stops.
He goes balls deep into his character for the first time since he started playing Wolverine. If you thought he was tough but
vulnerable in the first X-Men movie you really haven't seen anything
yet. It makes me sad that this is his last time playing Wolverine,
but if you're going to bow out I can't imagine a better way to do it.
The biggest question for the future of
the franchise has yet to be answered though. Do they recast
Wolverine or reboot the movies completely? It's a tough call either
way. I love much of the new cast, but will Fassbender and McAvoy want
to commit to an extended series of movies? I'd be okay with Jennifer
Lawrence and the rest being recast since we've seen all their
characters played by other people before. All of these newer guys are
likable enough, but none of them have really made the character their
own. What I can't imagine is recasting the role of Wolverine. As iffy
as I was when he took on the role I have been completely sold ever since. That is
Hugh Jackman's character, and anyone else will have a tough hill to
climb. I can't think of a single actor I know of who could fill those
shoes, but right now I don't want to. I'm going to be feeling all the
feels of Logan for several days still, and nerdy arguments about shit
that I can't affect can come later. Much later.
Beth got her start writing for a site called Movie Criticism for the Retarded (which has been reborn as dorkdroppings.com. Check it out sometime), but was pulled out of an early retirement to write for Needless Things. When she isn't writing she plays video games and watches bad horror movies while eagerly awaiting the zombie apocalypse. She may try to save her husband and/or their cats, but luckily hasn't had to make those tough decisions yet. Follow beth0rama on Instagram or on Twitter @NeedlessBeth where she doesn't post often enough to be annoying, but updates way more than Google+
Beth got her start writing for a site called Movie Criticism for the Retarded (which has been reborn as dorkdroppings.com. Check it out sometime), but was pulled out of an early retirement to write for Needless Things. When she isn't writing she plays video games and watches bad horror movies while eagerly awaiting the zombie apocalypse. She may try to save her husband and/or their cats, but luckily hasn't had to make those tough decisions yet. Follow beth0rama on Instagram or on Twitter @NeedlessBeth where she doesn't post often enough to be annoying, but updates way more than Google+
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