*Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen
The Plot: In 2029, a much aged Logan, formerly known as Wolverine, (Hugh Jackman) has to care for a sickly, old and frail Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) on the border of Mexico. However, a young mutant girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) enters the scene with the same mutant genes as Logan and he must help this girl by fending off a military unit searching for her in an interest of her power and bring her to a safe haven away from this ongoing danger.
I’ve been a fan of this X-Men franchise for a while now and feel that most (definitely not Origins and The Last Stand) gave comic book films a great name. They made me realize that comic films can be great movies if done well and in my lifetime I’ve seen a lot turn out as great, good, and complete disasters. Safe to say, Logan, in particular, is one of the single greatest comic book movies I’ve ever seen. In fact, like many great comic book movies, this can be treated as one of the greats in all of cinema. I’m dead serious. This was just another movie that reminded me why I love movies. One of the greatest in the entire century and definitely close to quality of The Dark Knight. In fact, I actually plan on having a marathon of my top 3 favorite comic book movies including Logan in order to determine if I like Logan more than The Dark Knight. Chances are high, but we’ll of course see. Enough of me gushing about my love of the film here’s why I loved it.
For starters, the direction of this film by James Mangold was so unique in terms of its tone. It had that perfect dark and gritty tone while also having the feel of a western at times, but the best part about its tone was that it complemented its grounded feel. This is probably the most grounded comic book I've ever seen in quite a while. I will say that most of the X-Men films did a great job of having a realness to it all, like the fact that this world of mutants felt real and that these characters felt tangible. This movie just takes it to the next level and just gave me the impression that I was on this wild experience and that I was seeing into another reality where this conflict was happening and I was actually witnessing the struggles our major characters were going through. It was dark, gritty, and felt very grounded, which leads into my next point. Because the film turned out as such in its tone and feel I’m so glad that this film was rated R.
There was absolutely no way that a film this gritty and real could be censored in any way, shape, or form. The content of the rating fit the tone and feel and really gave a viewer like me the true vision of the character in Logan and in this semi-realistic world in the X-Men universe. Real life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and this film captures that aspect flawlessly. You could tell Mangold really wanted viewers to see a truer version of this character and world in 2013’s The Wolverine and the Extended R-Rated Cut really gave that impression of what those aspects could really be. I’m so glad Mangold and the rest of the crew were able to push the limit and with the film’s execution absolutely delivering, it became an emotionally resonating experience.
The production of the film itself was amazing, but of course, the acting talents involved were second to none. Upon further thought, I think Hugh Jackman is my favorite casting decision for a comic book character in film history. He owns this character and knows him inside out and not only does he do a fabulous job encapsulating this character, but delivers an amazing emotional performance. I was seeing the character and not the actor. In fact, his performance was so good that I’d even say it was award worthy. I felt genuine emotion for this character. I’d even say the same for Patrick Stewart, who, of course, is a legend in his own right, but like Jackman, gave us another side of the character we hadn’t seen before while also giving us a legendary performance for the ages. Dafne Keen as Lauren was also superb with a performance that didn’t feel fake and was able to encapsulate another character we cared about.
I’m honest in saying that this film was another game changer in the comic book genre and is another film I can call an experience. I felt the emotion. The performances for the major characters were perfectly well handled. The action was incredible to watch as well and because of the film being Rated R, there were some pretty glorious scenes to see for that reason. I really can’t think of a single thing I disliked about this movie, but maybe a minor itty-bitty flaw I have with this movie is that the villain could have had a little more presence. I probably wouldn’t even go as far to say it’s a flaw. I’d say it’s more of a nitpick because I feel the motivations by the villain were clear, maybe there could’ve been more to see on screen, but that’s honestly something I can overlook. Logan was an absolutely astounding film that was displayed and executed in its production extraordinarily well. The acting wasn’t short of brilliant and I found it all to be a truly riveting experience.
Verdict: A+
I honestly think it will be difficult to say if the comic book films releasing this year will be better than Logan because there was no one on this planet like Mangold who could direct a comic book film as such in this fashion. Not to say those films won't turn out to be great. I can't wait to see what those films have to offer, but Logan was something truly special I hadn't seen before. I implore you that if you are one to have doubts about the state of the comic book film genre and feel the style and formula of these films have been repetitive I implore you to give this film your time of day.
I’m not trying to say I’ll prove you wrong if you see it, I just feel a film like this deserves all the support in the whole wide world. I’ve heard many say like The Dark Knight that Logan transcends the comic book genre and I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Please go see Logan if you want a great film to see. Of course, comic book fans will love it, or comic book movie fans, but as a movie fan, I feel it delivered in every capacity. Thank you all for taking the time for reading this post and follow me on the links below:
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If you’re curious to know my thoughts on previous X-Men films here’s Part 1 and Part 2 for your reading pleasure. I’m telling you with films like Logan around it’s a great time to not only be a fan of comic book movies but movies in general. Thank you all so much for reading, be sure to see some movies, and all that good stuff.
Take care :-)
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