LOGAN : Official Reviews (Spoiler Alert)

[jo]

It takes the insight of a campus paper ( STANDFORD University) to bring out the true value of LOGAN as a film --

www.stanforddaily.com/2017/04/17/gunslinger-morals-and-the-sequel-machine/

Gunslinger morals and the sequel machine
April 17, 2017 0 Comments


Iain Espey

If there’s one thing 2017 didn’t need more of (aside from Bashar al-Assad), it’s “X-Men” sequels. That’s what I thought before seeing “Logan.” Well-reviewed, R-rated and variously characterized as “grown up,” “emotional” and “the most violent film in the series,” “Logan” looked worth a shot. True to form, the violence was graphic, the plotting predictable and the emotional core not altogether disingenuous. However, far more interesting was an aspect noted but left unexamined in every review I read: “Logan”’s self-aware relationship with that grand old man of our less socially conscious filmic past, the Western.


“Logan” is a movie about its genre, the superhero flick. As Hugh Jackman’s last portrayal of the brooding and brutal Wolverine, the film is drenched in finality. At the same time, a passing reference to events in the franchise’s establishing film (released 17 years ago; does that make you feel as old as I do?) positions “Logan” as a sort of closing remark for the series.


A scene in which the road-tripping protagonists watch the classic 1953 Western “Shane” on TV at a hotel provides the key to understanding how “Logan” understands itself. While this superhero movie is influenced by Westerns, we’re asked to see the spiritual thread running between Westerns and the superhero genre more generally. Hugh Jackman may not be the John Wayne our times deserve, it tells us, but he’s the John Wayne we need.  
The inheritance is clear: Embodying an updated sense of hardy self-reliance, Wolverine dishes out pioneer justice until it’s time to sacrifice himself for his ideals, which he does dutifully and diffidently. Like an all-American Hercules, his power inevitably brings harm to those he loves, and he labors constantly to avenge them and redeem himself. At one point, Logan is even taken in by a good, clean farming family, who seems wholesome beyond belief until we see them summarily murdered.


“Logan” then offers the possibility of recuperating the old American values so central to the Western; they may appear stale or untenable at first, but the superhero is here to reaffirm them in spite of it all.


At their best, the Western’s “Logan” looks to emulate achieve a level of moral complexity that few if any superhero movies have (the obvious exception being Christopher Nolan’s exceptional “Dark Knight”). If “Logan” aspires to the level of a film like John Ford’s “The Searchers,” it falls short because of its aversion to ambiguity. In “The Searchers,” John Wayne’s character makes deeply questionable choices that remain unresolved by the film’s end; violence has consequences even when wielded by “the good guy,” and we’re left to wonder if this story has a hero at all.


In contrast, it takes a sharp tree, some ugly crying and all of five minutes for Logan’s moral status to be self-seriously restored. The fact that he kills dozens of people over the course of the film, often in pretty horrific fashion, hardly matters. This is a superhero movie, after all. Still, such a tidy resolution doesn’t seem fitting for the best superhero movie ever made. As is too often the case, “Logan”’s aesthetic failings can in part be traced back to the practical constraints of its production.


In the age of the Sequel Machine, moral complexity has become vanishingly scarce because such high-mindedness is a financial risk. When a studio has $200 million sunk into a project, it puts out a film aimed at the lowest common denominator (case in point, 12-17 year olds have the highest per capita attendance at movie theaters). Once a film like “X-Men” manages to capture an audience, it’s more financially viable to excrete sequels ad nauseam than to risk multi-million dollar losses on a superhero picture that doesn’t offer the easy enticements audiences expect from the established formula.


The crappy state of the movie industry is a bed we’ve made for ourselves (granted, accidently), and we have little choice but to lie in it. Uncreative sequels are nothing new, and we’ll certainly see more. It’s also easy to forget how many lazy, uninspired Westerns were made out of purely commercial motives, since those less accomplished examples tend to fade into history. Still, if superhero movies are the Westerns of our time, as “Logan” would have us believe, maybe the end of this chapter means that the best is yet to come.
“Logan” isn’t a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it’s not quite as unambitious as its recent peers. Hollywood has churned out so many mediocre superhero movies for so long that its unconvincing aspirations shine in comparison. Now how long will Marvel manage to keep it in their pants before they decide on a premature reboot a la “Spiderman”? At very least, what little is left of the film-going public deserves better than that.
 
Contact Iain Espey at iespey ‘at’ stanford.edu.

[jo]

Another late review -- it is almost "boring" because they repeat the hosannas given by other reviewers

The movie does generate such massive impact as an action-cum-drama film offering with sterling performances!

www.michigandaily.com/section/arts/logan-and-future-superhero-films

[hughmanity]

A Wolverine reviews a Wolverine.  Go Blue; Go Hugh. 

Apr 20, 2017 20:39:59 GMT -5 jo said:

Another late review -- it is almost "boring" because they repeat the hosannas given by other reviewers

The movie does generate such massive impact as an action-cum-drama film offering with sterling performances!

www.michigandaily.com/section/arts/logan-and-future-superhero-films

[jo]

Excellent tribute from GQ --

www.gq.com/story/hugh-jackman-wolverine-best-superhero-performance-ever

Why Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Is the Best Superhero Performance Ever
via 20th Century Fox

By Scott Meslow
March 6, 2017



After nine movies over 17 years, Hugh Jackman is hanging up his claws with the best X-Men movie ever made.
It didn’t make any sense to cast Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Since his 1974 debut in an issue of Incredible Hulk, Wolverine was essentially the human equivalent of his namesake animal: hairy, clawed, muscular, Canadian. Perhaps most strikingly, he was short: 5’3", according to the biography on Marvel’s official website.
So how did a 6’2" Aussie hunk like Hugh Jackman end up donning Wolverine’s claws? Like most unexpected but brilliant pieces of casting, it almost didn’t happen. In a 1995 feature suggesting the ideal actors who could star as the X-Men on the big screen, Wizard magazine proposed Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig, whose squat, 5’3" frame was a near-perfect match for the Wolverine fans had come to love over decades of X-Men comics. (Producers apparently were intrigued by this clever bit of fan-casting; in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, X-Men screenwriter David Hayter revealed that Danzig actually came in to read for the role.)


Even after the producers decided to target a more conventional Hollywood leading man to play Wolverine, Jackman was far from the first choice. Concept art for Wolverine was designed with Mel Gibson in mind. Director Bryan Singer wanted Russell Crowe for the role. Eventually, Dougray Scott—a similarly tall, similarly handsome actor who didn’t fit Wolverine’s comic-book mold—was officially cast but forced to drop out due to conflicts with his schedule playing the villain in Mission: Impossible 2. Only then was Jackman—a virtual unknown with recurring roles in a couple of Australian TV shows under his belt—offered the role. X-Men had already been in production for a month when Jackman began rehearsing for the complicated action choreography playing Wolverine would require.


From these troubled beginnings sprang the single longest tenure—and, I’d argue, single greatest tenure—for any actor playing a superhero on the big screen. You could make a case for Christopher Reeve’s Superman, which hasn’t been equalled—let alone exceeded—in three decades, or for Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, whose performance served as the launchpad for the whole MCU. But the former ended his run on a pair of disappointingly weak movies, and the latter has more movies to make before the actual scope of his performance can be judged. For now, Jackman’s sustained performance is the fullest and most satisfying arc of any superhero franchise in Hollywood history.


Back in 2000, X-Men fans who were skeptical about Jackman’s lack of physical resemblance to the comic-book Wolverine were quickly swayed by how perfectly he captured the essence of the comic-book Wolverine: a gruff killing machine with a mysterious past, a hair-trigger temper, and a cocktail of superpowers that rendered him virtually unstoppable. This guy was clearly the best at what he did—and what he did best wasn’t very nice. But Jackman was just as credible in Wolverine’s rarer moments of tenderness: his tragic relationship with Jean Grey, his loyalty to an old friend in The Wolverine, and his shepherding of Laura, the 11-year-old mutant to whom he serves as reluctant caretaker in Logan.


After the success of X-Men, Jackman reprised the role in two sequels, three prequels, and three spinoffs, culminating in this week’s Logan. He has proven versatile enough to headline his own movies, stand out among the stacked cast in the main franchise, and deliver the biggest laugh line in an entire movie in a brief cameo. This kind of staying power is unusual. In the 17 years that Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine on the big screen, we’ve seen two Batmans and three Spider-Mans—not to mention a whole new X-Men cast, with Jackman’s slow-aging Wolverine serving as the key piece of connective tissue.


Logan ultimately succeeds because it has the weight of that history behind it. The most potent scenes center on Logan’s relationship with Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who also dates back to the very first X-Men movie. Jackman’s abnormally long tenure in the role makes jumping from 2000’s X-Men to 2017’s Logan feel like the superheroic equivalent of jumping from Before Sunrise to Before Sunset—the rare blockbuster franchise that shows us a protagonist growing and changing over the course of many years.


But it’s not just longevity that makes Jackman’s performance so remarkable—it’s also consistency. Jackman has painstakingly maintained the eye-popping physique the character requires. He has made bad X-Men movies more watchable, good X-Men movies even better, and Logan—a great X-Men movie—something genuinely special. And his work ethic and utter lack of ego has ensured that Wolverine has held the X-Men franchise together even in its weakest moments. Jackman turned in a 20-second cameo in X-Men: First Class. He did voice work for several X-Men video games. That’s the kind of work that normally gets farmed out to a soundalike—unless the star is committed enough to the role to do it personally, as Jackman clearly was.


He has made bad X-Men movies more watchable, good X-Men movies better, and Logan—a great X-Men movie—something genuinely special.


All of this was a choice Jackman made, and continued making, as the X-Men franchise continued to grow and expand. And while Jackman’s unfailing commitment to Wolverine has certainly earned him a loyal following, it has also defined his career. It’s a tribute to Jackman’s range as an actor that playing Wolverine hasn’t left him hopelessly typecast. Between X-Men movies, Jackman hosted the Oscars, hosted the Tonys, won a Tony, and turned in terrific performances in movies like The Prestige, Prisoners, and Les Misérables. (The latter netted him his only Oscar nomination to date.) But professionally, X-Men has always been Jackman’s primary ongoing concern—and for a working actor, making nine X-Men movies means not making at least nine non–X-Men movies.


Which is why it’s such a relief that Logan serves as both a final and a fitting grace note for an actor, a character, and a performance that genuinely deserves one. Part of the reason Logan feels so much like the 1992 Best Picture winner, Unforgiven, is that it serves the same basic function for Jackman as Unforgiven served for Clint Eastwood. It’s the exclamation point at the end of a long string of performances—simultaneously the culmination of everything that came before it and a commentary on everything that came before it.


Today, most superheroes are too lucrative to be retired for long. Christopher Nolan got to give his Batman a definitive ending, but it was just a few years later that Warner Bros. pulled the character out of retirement for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Wolverine will undoubtedly arrive on the big screen again someday—but right now, it's impossible to imagine another actor who could erase Jackman's Wolverine from your memory. On the strength of Jackman’s performance, Wolverine became the breakout X-Men character. But in his final appearance, Jackman does the X-Men one last favor: leaving the franchise in the best shape it’s ever been in, even without him.

[mamaleh]

So spot on--an insightful combo of analysis and tribute. HJ probably won't see it unless a friend or colleague sends it to him.

Ellen

[jo]

Another campus review - also mirroring the appreciation of this film's departure from the typical mindless superhero movies, emphasizing the character-driven storyline and the excellent performances!


www.campuschron.com/2017/04/26/logan-shows-subtlety-rarely-seen-superhero-films/

[jo]

This latest review, included in the aggregate rating for ROTTEN TOMATOES as the latest one but actually written before the film release, is almost simply written but it is very evocative of the movie and goes straight to the heart of it!

birthmoviesdeath.com/2017/02/17/logan-review-farewell-my-lovely

LOGAN Review: Farewell, My Lovely
LOGAN is a moving tribute to a beloved character.
By Priscilla Page Feb. 17, 2017


When James Mangold’s Logan begins, the year is 2029, and sadness and decay pervade the landscape. Like the opening of a Mad Max movie, someone on the radio explains the state of this world, about poisoned water, about mutants, though it’s believed they no longer exist. But we find Logan, Charles Xavier, and Caliban living together just across the border, a miserable family. Caliban complains. Charles suffers from a degenerative brain disease that causes dangerous seizures, and he’s confined to a rusted old water tower. Logan works as a chauffeur. He’s as dusty and scarred as the desert around him, and something’s poisoning him from the inside. He wonders now whether the X-Men weren’t a part of God’s plan after all, but God’s mistake. There are constant reminders of his past: a samurai sword on his bedroom wall, his dog tags, old X-Men comics. He dreams of a Sunseeker boat, of getting away, of taking Charles with him. He carries an adamantium bullet.


Like the beginning of an old detective story, a strange woman (Elizabeth Rodriguez) finds Logan and begs for his help. She and her daughter need safe passage to North Dakota, she hopes Logan will drive them. Of course, Logan resists like hell, and of course the woman’s charge is not really her daughter, even though she loves her like one. She’s a nurse, and the girl is X-23, Laura Kinney, played by Dafne Keen. Laura’s trying to get to a place she saw once in a comic book, a place called Eden. Her creator Dr. Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) and the man who works for him Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his Reavers have all come looking for her. She’s a weapon and a liability.


Those who feared Laura may outshine Logan had good reason to worry. Dafne Keen is what James Mangold called the “special effect” of the movie — she’s an actress with a captivating strangeness, and a brilliant fighter to boot. She may just be a twelve-year-old girl, but she’s everything you want in a female character and don’t usually get. Seeing her hurt the men who hurt her is a pleasure, and the way she and Hugh Jackman fight together is beautiful to behold. During the film’s climax she has a moment so triumphant that the audience at my screening applauded. Luckily Sir Patrick Stewart and Jackman are at their best in these roles, all three actors complement each other. There are wonderful character details: Charles tending to a little garden inside his water-tower prison, Laura falling asleep in the back of the car holding a toy horse, Logan forgetting to take the tag off his reading glasses.


In this film, people hurt. There’s a whole lot of blood. Some will certainly think that it’s too brutal. But the violence has consequences and death is felt. To the film’s villains, death is nothing, a shrug. In their roles as Pierce and Dr. Rice, Holbrook and Grant are great, but the villains just don’t compare to the film’s heroes, who are infinitely more interesting. Dr. Rice has engineered a better soldier than mutant children: he’s made a soulless thing called 24, Logan’s double, his rage perfectly replicated. 24 will only listen to Rice, a relationship like father and son. But Rice has created a more dysfunctional family than Logan’s, one without an understanding of love or any kind of emotion beyond anger and hate. 24 is an eyesore in an otherwise gorgeous-looking movie, but I suspect he’s meant to be. He is an argument against human beings as weapons, as products, maybe even against a kind of superhero movie we’re accustomed to seeing: one with an invincible protagonist, a film seemingly manufactured on an assembly line, a spectacle without substance, without heart. He looks too perfect, uncanny, there’s something off about his eyes. Hugh Jackman, with his scars and slow-healing wounds and haunted expression, is still easier on the eyes than his engineered twin.


Logan’s America is recognizable, the same country that birthed both the western and noir. But America is no longer a sanctuary. The safest places are beyond our borders. The film’s villain dreamed first of genocide, then of control. He reduced humans to traits. His child soldiers are merely things. They are liabilities. They are products. The film is a poignant goodbye to Logan, but it’s also a powerful indictment of capitalism, and frighteningly relevant to this moment in history.


With filmmakers cramming more characters, CGI, and noise into their superhero films, it’s refreshing just to spend time with Logan, Laura, and Charles. James Mangold and co-writers Scott Frank and Michael Green have created a unique and intimate entry in the world of superheroes. Though it would be unfair to call Logan a “superhero film.” It’s a western, a noir film, a road movie. At moments it reminded me of Mad Max: Fury Road and Paper Moon and Paris, Texas. It has nothing in common with Reddit wet dream Deadpool. It’s hard to say whether Logan is objectively James Mangold’s best film, but it just might be. It certainly feels the most personal — it’s as heartfelt as Heavy or Cop Land, as lyrical and rich as 3:10 to Yuma. It’s sincere, and human, and it’s almost relentlessly sad.


During a stop at a hotel along their way, Laura watches the movie Shane, which becomes an emotional through-line in Logan. Later on in their journey, Logan and Laura and Charles stay with a family who are the film’s homesteaders, Logan their would-be Shane. Roger Ebert once pointed out that Alan Ladd’s Shane “has a little of the samurai in him,” and the same is true of Logan. Shane’s message for little boy Joey is to grow up strong and straight, and Logan’s message for his own child is essentially the same. Laura may be Logan in miniature, she may have killed people, she may not quite view the world with the innocence of Joey in Shane, but she’s still a child who can learn to be better than Logan, and teach him something about unconditional love. Laura confesses that she’s hurt bad people. Logan tells her it’s all the same. Like Shane tells Joey: “There’s no living with a killing, there’s no going back. Right or wrong, it’s a brand, a brand that sticks.”


Like the lost tribe of children’s admiration for Max in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the Wolverine is regarded as a campfire legend in this world. At the beginning of any story, we wonder whether our protagonist will be a hero, whether man will become myth, even if it’s just for a moment. In Mangold’s story, Logan has been a hero before: he’s a kind of celebrity, his good deeds have been embellished, they are already folklore. Logan is less film about a character finding out who he is, and more about remembering who he once was. Logan becomes that hero once again for us. But more important than that, Logan becomes that hero for his child.

Re the issue about X-24 --

Quite a few fans have misunderstood the rationale for the use of Wolverine/Logan's emotion-less clone as the ultimate villain in Wolverine final tale...and wished he had been replaced by a supposed more exciting villain ( such as Sabrtooth). X-24 was meant to represent the dark side of Wolverine's nature -- the side that he has sometimes run away from so he can move away from the culture of violence. For Logan ( representing the more humane Wolverine), confronting his truly dark side (via X-24) was like exorcising his ultimate demons ( the culture of extreme violence in himself) -- so the final confrontation was meant to symbolize his lifelong struggle with his dark side. Very symbolic, almost poetic! Inspired writing by Mangold and his team!

The writer mentions the use of X-24 in a slightly similar fashion but it seems the symbolism is not fully understood! And I wonder if she thought X-24 was portrayed by another actor, and not by Hugh Jackman himself...or she simply did not like X-24


Jo

[jo]

One of the last-minute cheers for LOGAN, before the movie leaves the cinemas --

wric.com/2017/05/13/at-the-box-office-5-12/

By Morgan Dean
May 13, 2017

Before it leaves theaters, you should check out “Logan.” Set in the near future, this is Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as the superhero Wolverine.

He’s burnt out and beat down and no longer in the saving the world game until a young girl, who has similar clawlike blades that shoot from her hands, turns to him for help.

This is a dark, gritty entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s one of the best standalone superhero films ever made. If you want heroes saving the world, you should rent the avengers films. If you want a well written, genre-busting drama about a reluctant superhero confronting his own mortality, starring Hugh Jackman in his best performance yet…check our “Logan.”

[jo]

A review of LOGAN NOIR --

www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Marvel/X-Men/hugh-jackman/hdd-first-look-logan-noir-digital-hd-review/39145

[jo]

Another very positive review, using LOGAN NOIR as the basis! He said he was hoping that he might find a loophole from all the positive reviews ( theatrical original version) by using LOGAN NOIR as the basis, but he said it turned out to be a favorable exercise instead

middleofrow.com/2017/05/17/film-review-logan-noir/

[jo]

Another point of contention between Hugh and James M --

collider.com/logan-hugh-jackman-x24/#james-mangold

‘Logan’: Hugh Jackman Admits He Was Initially Skeptical of Playing X-24
by Adam Chitwood     May 18, 2017



One of the many surprises in Logan is that, part-way through the film, a brand new villain is introduced that was kept out of all the marketing: X-24. This mutant character poses a massive threat to Hugh Jackman’s aging, wounded title character, and ultimately serves as his final antagonist. It was a bold move, especially since Jackman played both Logan and X-24 in the film albeit with a few subtle physical changes, but it ultimately pays off wonderfully both thematically and from a story perspective.


However, Jackman wasn’t always convinced this was going to work. I recently got the chance to speak with Jackman in anticipation of the Blu-ray and Digital HD release of Logan (it’s available on Digital HD now and Blu-ray and DVD on May 23rd), and during our wide-ranging and spoiler-filled conversation, I brought up that Jackman has admitted there were some heated discussions in the development of the film given the passion of everyone involved. When asked specifically what one of the major points of contention was, Jackman revealed that he was pretty hesitant about playing X-24 in the movie:

“I was very skeptical of having X-24 being played by me. I understood what it represented and thematically the idea of battling himself, which of course is right at the core of this character that we never fully got to, so I kind of loved the externalization of that. But I also know that myself as an actor and fans of Wolverine come up to me in the street every day and go, ‘We wanna see that full berserker animalistic crazy off-the-wall Wolverine,’ right? That we don’t feel we’ve fully seen it, so I was like, ‘Jim if we introduced halfway or near the end of the movie that full berserker animalistic crazy Wolverine and he’s somehow fighting our hero, audiences won’t know what to feel.’ And I remember him saying, ‘Trust me, trust me, trust me.’ And I was a bit of a pain in the ass on that one, I was like, ‘I’m just not sure. Let’s keep exploring it and exploring it.’ When I saw the movie it’s just clear, for some reason I think because he skewers Patrick Stewart in that moment the audience just sort of hates him. We did some subtle things, I changed the bridge of my nose, I wore contacts—I just wanted him to look a little different from myself. And I think by that point we’d created already the Wolverine that people wanted to see. So anyway, that was one of my examples of being wrong (laughs).”

Indeed, this is a plot point that could certainly have gone south in the wrong hands, but by this point in the film we’ve seen Logan going full-on berserker and taking advantage of the R-rating, so there’s no fear of the audience all of a sudden switching allegiances—especially since X-24 brutally murders Professor X.

I pointed out that it’s pretty amazing the inclusion of X-24 was kept a secret all the way up through release, and Jackman admitted the same:

“Yeah actually now that I think about it, I mean there’s a lot of secrecy around these things and everyone tries to protect it, but it’s kind of actually amazing. I suppose that when we were shooting it, I was shooting both parts so I played both, so if I turn up on set everyone just knows I’m playing that. That’s a good point, I’ve gotta give props to the crew and the cast, no one spilled the beans. I hadn’t thought about it until just now. But it’s fun being in screenings and watching people gasp. They do not see it coming.”

Look for much more in my full interview with Jackman on Collider soon. Logan is available on Digital HD now, which also includes the black-and-white version of the film, Logan Noir.

[jo]

The Japan Times reviews the film LOGAN --

FILM CORPORATION
Film
‘Logan’ director takes Wolverine character in unexpected new direction
by Kaori Shoji
Special To The Japan Times

May 31, 2017



There’s a scene in “Logan” — the latest addition to the “X-Men” franchise — where an aged, ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart) exhorts Logan, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), to open his mind to the possibility of a normal human existence, with a family to love and care for.

The year is 2029, and the mutants are all but extinct. Logan is one of the very last survivors after living over two centuries as a ferocious, fearless, claw-endowed super-being with amazing powers of physical recovery. On the other hand, he has been hurt and abused, by evildoers and authority figures alike. He was betrayed time and again and had to bear witness to the suffering and deaths of his X-Men comrades. Yet, listening to Professor X, a look of hope flits across Logan’s face. Could it be that, after some 200 years, Logan might at last find meaning, and a semblance of human happiness?

“Logan” feels like both a finale and a reboot of one of the most successful action franchises in cinema history, an extravagant farewell (though not in the way you might think) that refuses to play it safe. From the opening sequence, the story swerves into uncharted territory and never quite returns.

In an interview, director and writer James Mangold said of “Logan”: “I studied filmmaking under Milos Foreman and one of the things he said to me was, ‘Don’t tell me that 2 and 2 is 4.’ I always took that to heart, and with ‘Logan,’ I put special effort into saying that 2 and 2 is 5. Most action films only tell us what we already know and have come to expect from the genre. It’s all become a no-brainer. The good guys win in the end and the bad guys fall because they were too greedy or violent. OK, that’s not a lie, but with ‘Logan,’ I started out by asking myself: ‘How could I avoid saying 2 and 2 is 4?'”

Actually, Mangold wastes no time in impressing his algebra on the viewer by smashing illusions and expectations left and right. Don’t expect Wolverine wading through a horde of enemies, and don’t expect any cathartic vindication. What Mangold shows us is painful to witness. Professor X is helpless, prone to terrible seizures that throw his telepathic powers out of whack and affect everyone for miles around. Logan isn’t feeling too chipper either, as the adamantium in his body has deteriorated with age and his superpowers are not what they used to be. He’s eking out a living as a limo driver (though thankfully, he’s not working for Uber) on the Mexican border and taking care of the Professor in an abandoned water tower.

Old age, sickness and poverty have caught up with them both. We’ve never seen Logan so vulnerable and prone to emotion, nor Professor X so helpless. Logan carries him from bed to wheelchair, gives him injections to control his seizures and acts like any son with a senile parent. Outside their water tower, the world is a bleak dystopia, swirling with dust. With his creased visage and deadly stare, Logan is much closer to Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven” than a sci-fi character from the Marvel Universe.

When a girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) shows up asking to be driven to North Dakota, Logan grudgingly agrees. With a band of thugs led by the super-bad Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) now on their trail, Logan learns that Laura is a mutant with claws just like his and reluctantly agrees to protect her, knowing it’s a losing battle either way. Part of him wants to stay in the water tower and be there for his ailing mentor, but the urge to go on this mission wins. Besides, as Professor X points out, with Pierce determined to get his hands on any remaining mutants, there really is no choice.

“Essentially, I was trying to tap into Logan’s character in the most primal, Clint Eastwood, Alan Ladd, Humphrey Bogart kind of way. I had hoped that for male audiences, seeing the raw masculinity of Logan would offer up a new vision of the action genre. There are no women in this movie, which makes it less distracting and easier to focus on Logan’s mission. This isn’t a story with ‘something for everyone,’ but I did hope it would offer a different kind of experience,” Mangold says.

The film also has an R rating that pretty much distances the “built-in audiences that go see blockbusters,” as he puts it. “But I think that studios have become alert to the fact that the wider audience is tired of the same blockbusters with similar story lines and the over-abundance of explosives that slam you in the end. The problem is, these vehicles are extremely expensive to make but the studios can’t really expect a huge return from them anymore. And after the success of movies like ‘Deadpool’ (a self-parodying Marvel vehicle that turns the superhero formula on its head), studios have come to realize that there’s money to be made by being different. In a capitalist system, that’s always the catalyst for any real change.”

“Logan” was made on almost half the budget of other “X-Men” films, and according to Mangold, “Hugh Jackman took a pay cut in return for the freedom to make the character of Logan into what it is.” The lack of big bucks is evident in the dearth of CGI, explosions and stunt work. Instead, we get flesh-and-blood, up-close-and-personal action. The camera stays low and close, resulting in the sense that we’re watching a boxing ring suspended just above eye level. Rather than being elegant, the fight choreography is urgent and visceral. And the ending has nothing to do with bombs or the easy satisfaction of good prevailing over evil.

“It’s a very personal ending for Logan,” Mangold says. “He finally comes close to getting something he had always wanted but had never actually expressed in words. It’s an ending he rightfully deserves.”


“Logan” opens June 1 at cinemas nationwide. For more information, visit www.foxmovies-jp.com/logan-movie.

How does one integrate the emotional appeal of the characters and the storyline in the assessment of the film's synergy ( 2+2=5) that elevated LOGAN beyond other superhero/comicbook movies? It looks like the expectations were met way over the anticipated film experience!

[jo]

Champion once again -- on the home video sales front

www.homemediamagazine.com/top-sellers/top-20-selling-blu-ray-discs-week-ended-052817


I think part of the success is the inclusion of the exclusive LOGAN NOIR in the BluRay editions!

[jo]

Yayyyyyyyyy


www.rottentomatoes.com/m/logan_2017/

93%
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Reviews Counted: 294
Fresh: 272
Rotten: 22

The Average Rating has now moved up to 93%!

I have been monitoring whether the late reviews ( the stragglers) would be able to bring up the average rating further. I was not sure whether they would be coming from reviews of the home video ( from accredited Rotten Tomatoes reviewers) or just late submission re a viewing of the theatrical version. Or if a LOGAN NOIR viewing will actually increase the number of official or accredited submissions!

But CONGRATS to the film once again! Hope the rating stays there!


Jo

[jo]

WOW - whaddaya know

The Editorial Board of ROTTEN TOMATOES has ranked the best-rated superhero movies, using a revised formula.

Guess which movie came out as the BEST-RATED ??

editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/50-best-superhero-movies-of-all-time/5/


LOGAN !

[jo]

Per Rotten Tomatoes's Editorial Board --

The Adjusted Score comes from a weighted formula ( Bayesian) that we use that accounts for variation in the number of reviews per movie.

Best Superhero Movies of All Time


The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
90%
#10
Adjusted Score: 101.682%
Critics Consensus: The Lego Batman Movie continues its block-buster franchise's winning streak with another round of dizzyingly funny -- and beautifully animated -- family-friendly mayhem.
Synopsis: In the irreverent spirit of fun that made "The LEGO (R) Movie" a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of... [More]
Starring: Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson
Directed By: Chris McKay


X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
91%
#9
Adjusted Score: 102.4%
Critics Consensus: X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise's finest installments.
Synopsis: The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS... [More]
Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
Directed By: Bryan Singer


Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
91%
#8
Adjusted Score: 102.443%
Critics Consensus: Guardians of the Galaxy is just as irreverent as fans of the frequently zany Marvel comic would expect -- as well as funny, thrilling, full of heart, and packed with visual splendor.
Synopsis: From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers,... [More]
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace
Directed By: James Gunn (II)


Captain America: Civil War (2016)
90%
#7
Adjusted Score: 103.05%
Critics Consensus: Captain America: Civil War begins the next wave of Marvel movies with an action-packed superhero blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and the courage to explore thought-provoking themes.
Synopsis: Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to... [More]
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan
Directed By: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo


The Incredibles (2004)
97%
#6
Adjusted Score: 103.358%
Critics Consensus: Bringing loads of wit and tons of fun to the animated superhero genre, The Incredibles easily lives up to its name.
Synopsis: Once one of the world's top masked crime fighters, Bob Parr--known to all as "Mr. Incredible"--fought evil and saved lives... [More]
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee
Directed By: Brad Bird


Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
92%
#5
Adjusted Score: 103.728%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to a script that emphasizes its heroes' humanity and a wealth of superpowered set pieces, The Avengers lives up to its hype and raises the bar for Marvel at the movies.
Synopsis: Marvel Studios presents Marvel's The Avengers-the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man,... [More]
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth
Directed By: Joss Whedon


Iron Man (2008)
94%
#4
Adjusted Score: 103.867%
Critics Consensus: Director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. make this smart, high impact superhero movie one that even non-comics fans can enjoy.
Synopsis: Billionaire industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence... [More]
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow
Directed By: Jon Favreau


Wonder Woman (2017)
93%
#3
Adjusted Score: 105.347%
Critics Consensus: Thrilling, earnest, and buoyed by Gal Gadot's charismatic performance, Wonder Woman succeeds in spectacular fashion.
Synopsis: An Amazon princess (Gal Gadot) finds her idyllic life on an island occupied only by female warriors interrupted when a... [More]
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright
Directed By: Patty Jenkins


The Dark Knight (2008)
94%
#2
Adjusted Score: 106.138%
Critics Consensus: Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.
Synopsis: Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming... [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Directed By: Christopher Nolan


Logan (2017)
93%
#1
Adjusted Score: 107.035%
Critics Consensus: Hugh Jackman makes the most of his final outing as Wolverine with a gritty, nuanced performance in a violent but surprisingly thoughtful superhero action film that defies genre conventions.
Synopsis: It's 2029. Mutants are gone--or very nearly so. An isolated, despondent Logan is drinking his days away in a hideout... [More]
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant
Directed By: James Mangold

[jo]

I can't believe I would come across the term BAYESIAN Theorem many, many decades later

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem

We learned this in our QUANTITATIVE CLASS at MBA school -- but all I remember was this had applications for using the Laws of Probabilities!

Everything else, I have forgotten - LOL!


I wonder how they have used this to bring a reasonable commonality to Rating Scores for film reviews!

But I accept their conclusions with no doubts at all


In terms of why the top accolade goes to LOGAN --

I think there must have been a true confluence of excellent writing, outstanding film-making, exceptional performances across the board, and a full understanding of the psyche of a starved movie audience ( in this genre) for a truly excellent film!




Again --

CONGRATULATIONS to LOGAN!
CONGRATULATIONS to James Mangold!
And most of all -- CONGRATULATIONS to HUGH JACKMAN!!


Hugh's continuing work on interpreting the character over the years and his inputs to the storyline and characterizations for this project must have also played a big role in the success of this movie. If at all, he must have been an excellent sounding board for Mangold and the rest of the creative team, quite apart from providing his own original views on how the saga of WOLVERINE could be given a fitting finale!




Jo

[jo]

If ROTTEN TOMATOES says the best superhero film of all time is here...

Can OSCAR be far behind


Hopeful Jo

[jo]

He caught on to it

http://instagram.com/p/BVHdlTfDFFI

[jo]

Lol- I tweeted the report from Rotten Tomatoes to James Mangold on June 5.

Mangold liked your reply Jun 5

JoAB @joab46466753
@mang0ld One more feather in the cap for LOGAN! editorial.rottentomatoes

He  LIKED the tweet but did not even mention the honors on his Twitter account. I figured he probably did not want to brag about it for modesty reasons ... I forgot to tweet the same msg to Hugh.

Maybe he found out through Mangold after all, or Rotten Tomatoes may have sent him the full report

Bragging rights, huh

[jo]

This is the complete report - on the top 50 superhero movies of all time!

editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/50-best-superhero-movies-of-all-time/


A number who read Hugh's tweet are asking how that came about -- since films like The Dark Knight have a nominal aggregate rating ( 94%),which is higher than Logan ( 93%)...and others have of course put in their own preferences. Maybe Hugh should have cited the exact ROTTEN TOMATOES report and the methodology used to even up the ratings based on accepted statistical methods?

Per Rotten Tomatoes's Editorial Board --

The Adjusted Score comes from a weighted formula ( Bayesian) that we use that accounts for variation in the number of reviews per movie.

Jo

[jo]

Posted by Rotten Tomatoes --

http://instagram.com/p/BVAaMqxj_i2

[jo]

Discussions are lively

I don't think R. Denadie was being facetious -- he was underscoring the fact that THE DARK KNIGHT was meant to appeal generally as a movie for the younger demos while LOGAN, with its dramatic heft not generally identified with superhero movies, was conceived as a movie for mature audiences. The ratings at RT are not meant to measure popular appeal...but critical appeal! Also, as the genre matures, if no major shifts in cinematic vision and execution are taken, there is the danger of genre fatigue setting in (which is already being experienced with the latter day movies). This genre departure was what was universally welcome with what LOGAN did!

Jo

[jo]

Changes to the ADJUSTED SCOREs for LOGAN, TDK and Wonder Woman, but rankings stay the same --

Wonder Woman (2017)
92%
#3
Adjusted Score: 105.34%
Critics Consensus: Thrilling, earnest, and buoyed by Gal Gadot's charismatic performance, Wonder Woman succeeds in spectacular fashion.
Synopsis: An Amazon princess (Gal Gadot) finds her idyllic life on an island occupied only by female warriors interrupted when a... [More]
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright
Directed By: Patty Jenkins


The Dark Knight (2008)
94%
#2
Adjusted Score: 106.136%
Critics Consensus: Dark, complex and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga.
Synopsis: Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming... [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Directed By: Christopher Nolan


Logan (2017)
93%
#1
Adjusted Score: 106.946%
Critics Consensus: Hugh Jackman makes the most of his final outing as Wolverine with a gritty, nuanced performance in a violent but surprisingly thoughtful superhero action film that defies genre conventions.
Synopsis: It's 2029. Mutants are gone--or very nearly so. An isolated, despondent Logan is drinking his days away in a hideout... [More]
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant
Directed By: James Mangold

[jo]

Only a FAIR rating for LOGAN.

www.filmoria.co.uk/logan-2017-review-2/


I think he missed the whole point of the third act of the movie. He thought the movie went back to the typical third act of comic book movies. I think the message was lost on this reviewer - sorry!

To me, the third act of LOGAN focused on the full and final redemption of WOLVERINE/LOGAN! The violence of the third act served to emphasize the past life that he was turning away from and to a new one that he had hoped he can bring to Prof X's final days. That violent past that he had turned away from was represented by the appearance of X-24! A clone of Wolverine, without any degree of humanity! Logan/Wolverine had also found a new purpose in trying to give LAURA ( X-23) and her companion mutants the longed-for freedom and a life in peace. He sacrificed his life not only for his daughter but also to turn away completely from the life of violence that has haunted his past by fighting the dark side of his nature ( represented by the evil X-24)! He was at peace when it became a fatal sacrifice but his final words meant that he has found the love for his daughter, the peace he has sought from his past, and the hope that the sacrifice meant his parting gift for Laura! His face looked peaceful as he uttered " So, this is how it feels like!. Logan has received his final redemption!

Jo