Logan (2017)
Directed by James Mangold
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen
Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The film follows a past-his-prime Logan embarking on a “road trip” across a dystopian future version of America for one final mission.
My Opinion:
I’m not going to say yet again how superheroed-out I am and that I skipped watching all superhero movies last year other than Deadpool & Captain America: Civil War. Oops – I guess I did just say it again? Anyway, I’m not a big superhero geek & don’t read any comics (well, I read Watchmen & Tank Girl so I’m lying a little) but I enjoy these movies when they’re halfway decent. The X-Men movie series has probably actually been my favorite. At least, character-wise, it’s the group of “superheroes” (okay, mutants) that I’ve been drawn to the most. The movies started out pretty good (although a little cheesy) but have ended up so disappointing in recent years. Hell, I didn’t even watch X-Men: Apocalypse or The Wolverine. That’s pretty bad considering how much I loved these characters after the first couple of films.
Then Logan came along, which looked a bit different and had a great trailer (plus a young girl kicking ass!) so I was finally once again excited to watch an X-Men movie. I suppose it helps that two of the absolute best X-Men characters are the stars of this one (Professor X is my personal favorite. Yay, Patrick Stewart!). I honestly didn’t miss having loads of other mutants in this. I find it overkill sometimes when you have too many characters, like in Civil War. Sometimes less is more and I liked so much focus being on Logan, Charles & Laura.
I really enjoyed Logan. It’s a very good film for this genre. I think the more violent, more grown-up thing worked very well for the character of Wolverine but wouldn’t necessarily work for all other comic book characters. It was the perfect “end(?)” to this character’s story (for me). And, I’m not gonna lie – I loved seeing a young girl kicking ass. Plus I love a good father/daughter-like relationship in a movie. Dafne Keen did a great job and I was a sucker for the relationship she developed with Logan as well as with Charles. And of course the further development of the existing relationship between Logan & Charles. I love that kind of shit. A fucked-up, crazy, loving mutant family! Good character development & angst & feelings. I like that! Good stuff.
I admit that I didn’t care too much about the actual story itself. The story was decent enough. I can’t say I ever take these comic book storylines too seriously anyway. With these kind of movies, I always care more about really good characters & just enough action to keep things moving along and Logan delivers as far as these two things are concerned. Did I like it more than the very first two X-Men movies? I don’t know. In some ways, yes. I think it’s the better film but certainly not as much “fun”. But it’s not meant to be – I guess it depends what you want from a comic book movie. I like either fun or serious depending on my mood and I enjoyed Logan as much as the first couple of X-Men films, just in a different sort of way. Other than that, I don’t have much more to say. I’m no expert on these movies as I haven’t read any of the comics so can’t compare. I like the films. I love the characters. I thought Logan was a great final film for Wolverine. For now. Until another sequel or prequel or evil twin or clone or time travel or some alternate reality bullshit comes along…
My Rating: 7.5/10
Cinema Parrot Disco 
Yes, Apocalypse and Th Wolverine aren’t much to get excited about; Logan is a step in th right direction – perhaps too brutal for multiple viewings!
Your rating is spot on (mostly for Laura)
https://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2017/03/03/logan-the-bradscribe-review/
Cheers!
Thanks! Agreed it’s too brutal to be a multiple-watcher for me but it’s a very good film. : )
I’ll put up my review later today but I did not like it as much as you. I thought the violence was unnecessarily… violent. I believe that the idea of him doing those things is sufficiently gruesome enough and not every kill has to be shown in gory HD. I liked the theme though.
The thing is, this is who Logan was. This is the Wolverine we should have been seeing all along. But the ratings prohibited. The Wolverine of the comics WAS more of a berserker. I loved this movie. Logan was always the reluctant hero. At the same time, he is what made the X-men. No matter the make up of the X-men characters, without Wolverine, they always come off as bland and boring. Boring superheros. Those with Angst come off as Emo. But Wolverine’s angst is bone deep. Professor X may have been the glue that held them together, but Logan completed them. Logan was the soul. And the soul was unhappy and brooding. My only complaint is I wanted to see the Kids get to Canada. I wanted to know if they found what they were looking for.
Have you read the comics? You seem to know the characters well. : ) I agree with all you said. As much as the violence bothered me (it always does) it seemed fitting. It seemed right for this character’s final movie. I liked this a lot, but I do love Wolverine & Professor X. It seemed the perfect ending to me. 🙂
I did when I was in Jr High and High School. That was a long time ago. Then in college I watched that rather good cartoon series that was out. People would sit around and talk about who should play which characters it they ever did a movie. Patrick Stewart was always the only one anyone ever picked to play Prof. X.
Well, I’m glad people approve of Stewart as Professor X. Love Patrick Stewart! 🙂
I do agree the violence was a bit much. I’m actually a mega wuss so was worried when hubby saw it first then acted shocked when I told him it was only rated 15 here and he was like “What does it take to get an 18 rating now?”. I must admit I didn’t fully keep my eyes on the screen during the fight scenes. With the violence, this isn’t a “multiple-watcher” for me in the way the more lighthearted comic book movies could be. But I still felt it was a fitting end to Wolverine’s story, as he led a violent life. (But that’s of course said with zero knowledge of the comics). I was super pissed that they killed off that innocent family, though. I know the movie was trying to be dark or whatever and that people wouldn’t necessarily be saved like in a superhero movie but, still… Seemed unnecessary!
Early in the characters comic run there was some controversy because Wolverine was killing henchmen left and right. There was this one panel where he put his fist to a generic bad guy’s chest and then extended his claws. But people (read parents) got up in arms and they actually brought all those guys back. Saying that Wolverine never killed them. (They gave them names and shit it was awful) And I remember as a kid being upset because I was sure Wolverine killed those guys and Han Solo shot first and why were they trying to make all my favorite characters into little pussies. But these were neat, quick, sharp kills that were cool as hell. Not SAW 7: The Loganning. The kills are fine. Even the way he was killing the guys. It was just way too graphic. They could have still gotten the R rating that they wanted without all the gore. (And on a side note* Where was the sex scene? How are you going to have an R rating and not show even one boob? If I go to see an R rated movie I want to see some sex. I’m an adult!!!)
Ha! The Loganning. I like that. I thought the swearing was almost more distracting than the excessive violence. The use of the f word was just funny because it felt forced. The writers were like “Yes! We can say fuck! Throw some random fucks in there!”. Oh, there WERE boobs, though. That girl in his limo showed him her boobs. But you’re in America so maybe they cut that out. You know America: excessive violence okay, boobs evil! 😉
I don’t remember it. I’m getting old. When I was a kid I would have remembered every detail of seeing a boob. Now if it’s not part of a sex scene I barely register it.
I thought this was a pretty great film, though I didn’t go as overboard in my love as some people have. “The best superhero movie since The Dark Knight?” No, calm down, people! It was a nice change of pace though — the PG-13-ness of the genre is beginning to get a bit samey.
Dafne Keen was fantastic. I hope the fact this was set in the future doesn’t stop them finding a way to get her back. They’ve got, like, half a dozen X-Men films in the works and none are currently set after Logan, so I don’t know what the chances are.
re: The Wolverine, I actually think it’s a bit of an underrated film. It’s kinda halfway between a standard superhero blockbuster and trying to do something fresh like they did in Logan. It’s really let down by the climax though, which is a truly terrible CGI-athon.
Yeah, I don’t know if it was one of the best superhero movies ever or anything like that. But it was good & I thought it was the perfect way to end the story of two of the best characters. I did enjoy it & the girl was great. : ) I can see a movie definitely being made with her as a teenager. Hmm… I suppose I really should watch The Wolverine too just to complete things. But I know it’ll pale in comparison to this. Plus I hate terrible CGI-athons! Ugh. Way too many superhero movies end that way. 😦
I reckon the criticism of The Wolverine ending that way is one of the reasons we got Logan, because up until that point it’s actually a slightly slower-paced, more mature kind of movie. Not as much as Logan is, to be fair, but more than average. I suppose now it probably would feel like a dry run for doing it properly, though.
I really enjoyed this one, although due to how dark and violent it was, I probably won’t watch it again and again like I do my beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. 😉 I think Hugh Jackman has done a really great job with the character over the years, and this was a good note for him to end on. Nice review!
Thank you! 🙂 And I agree – I can’t see me watching this one multiple times as it’s indeed too violent for me. However, I did think it was very good & a fitting end to two of my favorite characters. The violence suits the character (but I had to look away a lot!). 😳
First in theatre movie since motherhood and it was a corker. Very good but also quite upsetting.
Ha! You’re lucky. I actually remember my first cinema movie after birth. I did like it but think you didn’t (it was District 9). Lol. Think I was just super happy to go to a movie again after months of not going to any!
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