Ooooookay. This is easily the most depressing comic book film ever made.... oh my GOD it's amazing.
Let me give you a brief history of myself and this franchise. One of the first times I've ever seen a movie in the theatre, I was with my Dad, and we saw X-Men, one of the first comic book films to make it big, and helped the comic book genre go from cheesiness, to something really decent that could be made into blockbusters. Now, a billion comic book films later, we arrive at the end of an era. Hugh Jackman's last performance as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's last performance as Xavier, and what a send off it was.
Honestly, the first fifteen minutes of this film really hit me hard. Now, in the X-Men films, you got a sense of darkness with Wolverine. He's always been a conflicted character, which would've been interesting to see his origin (TOO BAD IT SUCKED), and how he would do on his own (The Wolverine was pretty good). But, how would Logan do AFTER the X-Men, after the prime time? Well.... not too well.
I think what Logan does best is show off the horrifying reality and brutality many superhero films don't simply have. It was very jarring to see Xavier suffering with dementia, when just a few films ago, we saw him as his good ol' PG-13 self. Not saying this is a bad thing at all, oh no. On the contrary, I find the portrayal a very hard look at how superheroes age, and the hurt they bear with them. The film starts off with mystery. What the hell happened? Why are the X-Men gone? Why is Xavier kept so far away from civilization? And one of my favorite things about this film, is that they don't spoon-feed this information to you. You just have to be paying attention. Because the main star of the show here is, the violence, the imagery, and the characters.
Right off the bat, this film earns it's R-rating in the first 10 minutes. The first word is "fuck", and it has a very violent battle, with Logan slashing through a group of people, something fans have desperately have been waiting for, myself included (for real though, how come any time Logan slashed through anyone in the previous films there was like, no blood at all?). This joy would be short-lived, once you see how Logan himself lives. He's a massive alcoholic, driving people around in a limo, and keeping Xavier in an abandoned water tower until he either has money for a boat, or he dies. It's not exactly trying to keep it easy on the viewer, but that's the point.
Logan, is a response of sorts. It's response to superhero fatigue, to people claiming superhero films are not art or artistic, and it's a complete 180 of the trash that Origins was. See, there comes a time to every genre, in which the films start experimenting, getting really weird, trying out new things. Logan is very much that. It's a western, it's an artistic independent sci-fi film, it's a coming-of-age tale, and it's a family drama. It's not a super explosion-y, beam in the sky, Earth is ending, superhero film. The shots were incredibly beautiful as well. You could see any shot as a painting, and someone would tell you about the heartbreaking path we call life, and it showcases the later ages in life. I mean, the metaphors are here, man. We have X-24, which is a clone of Logan, but much younger, stronger, and synthetic. Then we have the relationship of Logan and X-23, a sort of clone, but mostly daughter of Logan. Must I explain how extremely badass she is? And the actress who played her did it perfectly? Good child actors are a gift.
One of the many things that impresses me is the small scale. It makes the film more grounded, like I don't even really need to watch the other films for reference. You could absolutely watch this by itself, the only thing you really need to know is Xavier's and Logan's powers. What makes me love this film more is the acting. That scene where Xavier is laying down in a bed, after a dinner by a family that took them in, you had a feeling that the characters were getting a little too comfortable, (btw, spoilers of course), and Xavier was talking about his feelings, his happiness, how he feels he doesn't deserve it. I was simply marveled, by Stewart's acting. He made me cry before he even died, touching my heart on levels that other films of late haven't really achieved. Like he was a decaying flower, aware that the last pedal was about to fall. Then he gets stabbed by X-24. Did I mention how brutal this film is?
Overall, I'm incredibly happy this film is a real actual film. I love how this series ended off on basically a masterpiece. A very violent, depressing, and sad masterpiece. That final shot alone was absolutely perfect.
10/10
Let me give you a brief history of myself and this franchise. One of the first times I've ever seen a movie in the theatre, I was with my Dad, and we saw X-Men, one of the first comic book films to make it big, and helped the comic book genre go from cheesiness, to something really decent that could be made into blockbusters. Now, a billion comic book films later, we arrive at the end of an era. Hugh Jackman's last performance as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's last performance as Xavier, and what a send off it was.
Honestly, the first fifteen minutes of this film really hit me hard. Now, in the X-Men films, you got a sense of darkness with Wolverine. He's always been a conflicted character, which would've been interesting to see his origin (TOO BAD IT SUCKED), and how he would do on his own (The Wolverine was pretty good). But, how would Logan do AFTER the X-Men, after the prime time? Well.... not too well.
I think what Logan does best is show off the horrifying reality and brutality many superhero films don't simply have. It was very jarring to see Xavier suffering with dementia, when just a few films ago, we saw him as his good ol' PG-13 self. Not saying this is a bad thing at all, oh no. On the contrary, I find the portrayal a very hard look at how superheroes age, and the hurt they bear with them. The film starts off with mystery. What the hell happened? Why are the X-Men gone? Why is Xavier kept so far away from civilization? And one of my favorite things about this film, is that they don't spoon-feed this information to you. You just have to be paying attention. Because the main star of the show here is, the violence, the imagery, and the characters.
Right off the bat, this film earns it's R-rating in the first 10 minutes. The first word is "fuck", and it has a very violent battle, with Logan slashing through a group of people, something fans have desperately have been waiting for, myself included (for real though, how come any time Logan slashed through anyone in the previous films there was like, no blood at all?). This joy would be short-lived, once you see how Logan himself lives. He's a massive alcoholic, driving people around in a limo, and keeping Xavier in an abandoned water tower until he either has money for a boat, or he dies. It's not exactly trying to keep it easy on the viewer, but that's the point.
Logan, is a response of sorts. It's response to superhero fatigue, to people claiming superhero films are not art or artistic, and it's a complete 180 of the trash that Origins was. See, there comes a time to every genre, in which the films start experimenting, getting really weird, trying out new things. Logan is very much that. It's a western, it's an artistic independent sci-fi film, it's a coming-of-age tale, and it's a family drama. It's not a super explosion-y, beam in the sky, Earth is ending, superhero film. The shots were incredibly beautiful as well. You could see any shot as a painting, and someone would tell you about the heartbreaking path we call life, and it showcases the later ages in life. I mean, the metaphors are here, man. We have X-24, which is a clone of Logan, but much younger, stronger, and synthetic. Then we have the relationship of Logan and X-23, a sort of clone, but mostly daughter of Logan. Must I explain how extremely badass she is? And the actress who played her did it perfectly? Good child actors are a gift.
One of the many things that impresses me is the small scale. It makes the film more grounded, like I don't even really need to watch the other films for reference. You could absolutely watch this by itself, the only thing you really need to know is Xavier's and Logan's powers. What makes me love this film more is the acting. That scene where Xavier is laying down in a bed, after a dinner by a family that took them in, you had a feeling that the characters were getting a little too comfortable, (btw, spoilers of course), and Xavier was talking about his feelings, his happiness, how he feels he doesn't deserve it. I was simply marveled, by Stewart's acting. He made me cry before he even died, touching my heart on levels that other films of late haven't really achieved. Like he was a decaying flower, aware that the last pedal was about to fall. Then he gets stabbed by X-24. Did I mention how brutal this film is?
Overall, I'm incredibly happy this film is a real actual film. I love how this series ended off on basically a masterpiece. A very violent, depressing, and sad masterpiece. That final shot alone was absolutely perfect.
10/10
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