LOGAN : Fan Reviews/Reactions (Spoiler Alert)

[jo]

[jo]

I've read a few of this kind of sentiment -- not wanting to see Logan/Wolverine die!

[jo]

When they were filming Wolverine, this photo came up from a New Orleans source --




We had great doubts then, if that was Hugh at all...or why Hugh would have such a close-cropped hairstyle when on-set photos showed him with luxurious grey hair. We never suspected that he is playing another double character ( shades of The Prestige).


It was only much later, after the movie was released that we learned about the Good Wolverine and the Bad Wolverine


In this photo -- Hugh is seen in the background as X-24!

[jo]

[jo]

Btw, the Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes --

Logan - 93%

Joker - 68%


Logan remains as Mangold's highest-rated movie, followed by FordVFerrari ( 91%)

Jo

[jo]

Nov 27, 2019 19:55:03 GMT -5 jo said:

[njr]

Nov 28, 2019 7:58:38 GMT -5 jo said:

Btw, the Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes --

Logan - 93%

Joker - 68%


Logan remains as Mangold's highest-rated movie, followed by FordVFerrari ( 91%)

Jo

I just heard that the Beatles’ movie A Hard Day’s Night got a 98%!

www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/

Nancy

[jo]

So much has been argued as to why Hugh Jackman's portrayal in LOGAN is the best comicbook performance ever - of course the Tony Stark fans insist otherwise - but now viewing it at a distance ( it was overwhelming to read so many positive reviews at the time of release in 2017) -- let me choose a few official reviews that convey many fans thoughts ( i.e., gushing but truthful ) -- to see if they have stood the test of time ( we still feel the incredible feeling that fans had after watching it for the first or the umpteenth time!



Here's one from that old comicbook ultimate fansite (Ain't It Cool News) --

legacy.aintitcool.com/node/77303

Ain't It Cool News

LOGAN is not only Quint's favorite X-film, it's his favorite movie of 2017 (so far)!
Published at: Feb. 20, 2017, 7:59 p.m. CST by quint

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Let's get the hyperbole out right up front. Logan is not only the best X-film to date it's also my current favorite film of 2017, period.



I was expecting the movie to be well made and badass just by virtue of James Mangold's involvement, but I wasn't expecting it to be so emotionally compelling.

Mangold had a few big bullets going into this one, the biggest of which was Hugh Jackman's investment in making this movie as boundary pushing and brutal as possible. He also very smartly used almost two decades worth of audience investment in the character of Wolverine to push this closing chapter to emotional places you absolutely couldn't have done without that time with this particular actor in this particular role .

If this was the launching point for a new actor in the role of Wolverine the movie does not work. If this was the first Wolverine story this movie does not work. The story on display here is one of redemption and hope set against a backdrop of violence and despair. For the positive side of the story to be truly effective you have to have that history, even if it's just knowing that Hugh Jackman has been wearing the claws for almost 20 years.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have to know every X-Men film and spin-off backwards and forwards to get what's going on, but knowing the history, even on a surface level, instantly locks in the deeper themes of this movie.



Logan is a beaten man. The fight is over. The mutants lost. The world has moved on. Logan has left The Wolverine behind and all he wants to do is hide out, save up enough money to take him and a dementia-suffering elderly Professor Xavier away from it all and go live out the rest of their days on a boat. That's not just because he wants away from humanity, he also wants to protect them from Xavier's blisteringly deadly psychic convulsions and the trail of death that follows Wolverine himself wherever he goes.

He's both selfish and selfless at the same time and that duality is all throughout the movie, giving a much welcome complexity to the world of superhero cinema without getting bogged down in the weeds of multi-film arc storytelling.
Much of this film is Logan fighting himself; his past, his instincts, his influence, his conscience, his legend and his legacy and it does so without making him a chore to watch. Hugh Jackman is so invested in this character and telling this story this exact way that watching his journey is exciting on a level far above what some world-killing machine using, mustache-twirling bad guy could ever make it.

Jackman always brings it in this role, but here he has the material to give an awards-quality performance, aided hugely by a fantastic supporting cast and a thrilling script that pulls no emotional punches.

You've got Patrick Stewart playing Professor X in a way he's never gotten to before. He's always had a dangerous power, but his personality, inherent goodness and strict control always meant it was in check. Now he's 90 years old and while his mind is still as powerful as it has ever been, he's losing control of it, which makes him the most sympathetic WMD that ever was.



Boyd Holbrook is a great front and center bad guy, playing a part cyborg soldier named Pierce. He's cocky, confident, mean to the core, but also having a good time. He's a Wolverine fan, too, which adds another layer to their contentious conversations. This role really put Holbrook on the map for me and makes me super psyched to see him face off against Shane Black's Predator.

Stephen Merchant also gets a chance to shine as Caliban, a mutant on his own path of redemption. He took part in a great mutant cleansing using his power to track other mutants before the events of our story, but now cares for Professor X when Logan is away. Merchant is mostly known for his comedic roles and Caliban does have a nice bit of nagging wife style bickering with Logan, but on the whole he's a super empathetic character. It's nice to see Merchant given the chance to play with something different.

Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Quincy Fouse also play an important role in the second act of the movie as a family that Logan comes across. They show him and his group what real happiness can be and there's such an incredibly ballsy storytelling choice involving this section of the movie that I'm still shocked it got through the studio system.
Each member of the supporting cast would be the MVP in any other film, but everybody here happened to be in the same movie as Dafne Keen. She plays the mysterious Laura, a young girl dumped into Wolverine's life. The character is the emotional core of the movie and Keen turns in a multilayered performance that is all the more impressive when you consider that it came from a child actor.

If you've seen the trailer you know she's not a normal little girl. If you know the comics you know why she's not a normal little girl. To avoid plot spoilers I won't go too far into that, but what I will say is that Keen had to play her character in a few different ways and knocks each and every one out of the park. She handles the action with all the ferocious aplomb that her character requires, she handles the silent character work perfectly, expressing everything that needs to be said body language, and when she finally does speak her line delivery never felt kid actor-y.

Laura's connection to Logan is perfect and both actors work so well together that I kind of wish we'd get 10 movies about this pairing.



Another thing that sets Logan apart from other superhero movies is the rating. We've had Deadpool and Blade, but an R-rated superhero movie is still a bit of a fresh concept, especially with a character as big as Wolverine. Mangold, Scott Frank and Michael Green don't just use the rating as a way to throw in a bunch of f-bombs, they also use it as a character. The uber-violence in the movie hits two very important points.

One, it scratches the itch that hardcore Wolverine fans have wanted to see onscreen since the very first X-Men movie and two, it underscores one of the core concepts of the movie, a lesson Logan wants to pass on to Laura. The violence is graphic, deadly and, of course, a little fun, but it has some awful consequences. Even when killing is unavoidable it's still going to have extremely negative repercussions. The violence is key to Laura's arc in the movie.

It doesn't take a dyed in the wool cinephile to see the parallels between Logan and a good western. In fact one very famous western is watched by the main characters at one point and if you know what that movie is you'll know how the second half of the movie is going to play out. The message of that movie is very much applicable to this one and so is the tone.

Mangold shoots Logan in a way that should remind you of a great western as well. Most of it is a road picture with our heroes on the run from the bad guys, which takes us through territory we haven't seen in movies like this as well as adding an urgency to their quest.

Is this movie perfect? Nope, but very few are. I think Richard E. Grant's bad guy, Dr. Rice, is a bit one-note and there's a sequence where we're watching sneakily captured spy video that seems to forget it's supposed to be secretly shot about halfway through it and the camera would obviously be seen by anybody in the room. There are little things like that that don't add up, but they don't even come close to derailing the emotional core of the story that succeeds on every level.
I left the theater buzzing about this movie and I can't wait to go again. If this is indeed our last Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie then he's going out on a crazy high note.



-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
[e-mail]

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Peter Travers of Rolling Stone can be incomprehensible, aka annoying ( he gave The Greatest Showman a negative rating of 1.5 of 4 stars) but he can also gush when he finds movies that he thinks are very,very well done ( He rated LOGAN with 3.5 of 4 stars)!


www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/logan-review-hugh-jackmans-x-men-swan-song-is-bloody-violent-brilliant-118496/

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February 28, 2017 1:21PM ET


‘Logan’ Review: Hugh Jackman’s ‘X-Men’ Swan Song Is Bloody, Violent, Brilliant
Actor’s final turn as popular mutant superhero – now in his autumn years – is the perfect blaze-of-glory goodbye

By Peter Travers


Is Wolverine getting old? Think of this renegade, genre-defying chapter in the film franchise as X-Men: The AARP Years. Don’t panic: Logan is a hard-ass, R-rated rager that explodes with action. But what makes it indelibly raw and touching is the sight of mutant heroes raging against the dying of the light. The year is 2029, and the X-Men have gone the way of the T-Rex. No mutant births have been recorded for 25 years. The artist formerly known as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is now a boozer who limps, wears glasses and scrapes out a living by chauffeuring bachelorette parties.


It’s ironic that Jackman, having a 10th and final go at the career-defining role that made him a star, has never been better or more emotionally alive. Logan’s claws are slow on the draw and his self-healing powers are on the fritz, but he’s committed to caring for his mentor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart, so good you want to applaud). It’s not easy watching Professor X suffer seizures that rattle his telepathic brain and shake up anyone in the vicinity. Helping Logan keep Charles on his meds and the world from imploding is Caliban (Stephen Merchant), a light-sensitive, albino mutant with the power to track approaching enemies. All three live in seclusion in a vacant smelting plant in El Paso, Texas, that looks like the land time forgot. Pretty bleak. Then they get discovered. And director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, The Wolverine), in peak form and working deep and true, unleashes the dogs of war.


Logan has the shape of a classic western. Shane is directly referenced in one scene and the elegiac tone of the film recalls Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Unforgiven. And like those old horse operas, Mangold investigates the nature of heroism by giving the grizzled Wolverine someone new to protect. She’s a mute, 11-year-old girl named Laura and, as played by smashing newcomer Dafne Keen, she’s close enough to Wolverine in powers to be a chip off the old block of adamantium. It’s Laura who convinces Logan and Charles to hit the road to North Dakota, the location of what she believes is an Eden for young mutants. (The kid read about it in an X-Men comic book, which Logan hilariously treats as fake news.) In hot pursuit are Dr. Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant), a bioengineer whose dirty work is done by the cybernetic Reavers, led by Donald Pierce (Narcos‘ Boyd Holbrook). This henchman is one twisted terror, hiding his malice behind a Texas twang and a serious fanboy crush on Wolverine. He also may be the first movie villain of the new millennium named Donald. We’re sensing a trend.

As to what happens next … let’s just say that you should expect the most violent showdowns yet in the series, as well as scenes of wrenching emotion. Loosely based on Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s comic-book Old Man Logan, the script that Mangold wrote with Scott Frank and Michael Green tempers its brutality with a testament to family and a need to belong that crosses borders and bloodlines. Make no mistake, Logan earns its tears. If Jackman and Stewart are serious about this being their mutual X-Men swan song, they could not have crafted a more heartfelt valedictory.

[jo]

Late fans of LOGAN ( it was on a UK channel ) --

Those who became fans only after seeing THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ( in the UK) must have been shocked to see how well he can characterize another role...and be so well-admired for that portrayal, too!


Jo

[jo]

That finale scene will always be devastating, regardless of age of the people viewing it

[jo]

In case you want to vote --

[jo]

screenrant.com/logan-should-been-last-xmen-movie/?fbclid=IwAR3NvJGW1kzVMErHZ4gRS_vDj-GDM6ymYkxVVJJwZx1BAHt9FHlboPhJz60

Logan: 10 Reasons Why It Should Have Been The Last Fox X-Men Movie'

Logan is one of the most critically acclaimed superhero movies, and there are reasons why it should have been the end of Fox's X-Men series.
by Guillermo Kurten
Mar 24, 2020

As of late, Fox has had a hit-or-miss reputation with their control over the X-Men film franchise. Of course, unless you have been living under a rock, you'll know that Disney has officially acquired 20th Century Fox. This means they have gained control over the potential film representation of the X-Men characters, which leaves fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe eager to see how they will be incorporated. However, despite Fox's most recent results, they have put out some hits.

For example, First Class, Days of Future Past, The Wolverine, and the Deadpool movies ranged from "good" to "great." But arguably, their best effort that transcended all of those was 2017's Logan. This film redefined how an X-Men story could be told, be vastly different from all the others, and still be significantly superior to everything else they've done with the series. Here are 10 reasons why Logan should have been the last Fox X-Men movie.



10
Among The Last Good X-Men Movies

Obviously this point shows how hindsight is 20/20, but is nonetheless valid in retrospect considering what has been happening most recently with the franchise under Fox. Logan was released three years ago already, and there have been two more movies in the series released since. Following it was Deadpool 2 in 2018 and Dark Phoenix in 2019.
The former was an overall good, solid, raunchy, and funny follow-up to the breakout-hit predecessor, while the latter was a critical and commercial disaster. But Logan is far from good; it is excellent. Everything from the plot, characters, actors, and more was done superbly, which will be elaborated on in this article.



9
The Perfect Sendoff For Hugh Jackman's Logan/Wolverine

Even in the lead-up to the release of the film fans became well aware that Logan would be the last time that actor Hugh Jackman would play the famed role. This ultimately proved to be the perfect sendoff for Jackman in the role and for the character in terms of his journey in the Fox film series. Jackman gave his best performance as Logan/Wolverine, and the story did him and his character justice.
He's ultimately a tortured soul cursed with a ridiculously long lifespan forcing him to watch loved ones die and himself become more cynical and jaded. Seeing him, after the disastrous course of events mutants had to go through, have to accomplish and be part of something infinitely greater than himself was the most rewarding experience in any of the current X-Men films.



8
The Perfect Sendoff For Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier/Professor X

Of course, as fans knew practically at the same time as the news of Hugh Jackman departing the role after the movie, Logan was also the final time that the legendary Patrick Stewart would portray Charles Xavier/Professor X. Likewise, but to a slightly lesser extent since the focus of the film was Logan himself, it served as the perfect, albeit tragic, sendoff for Stewart portraying the character.

Charles Xavier, or Professor X, had to live a long time seeing loved ones and pupils die, friends turn away from his big-hearted and well-intended cause and, in this case, eventually become the catalyst for why mutants are once again highly persecuted and hunted down. It's one of the most tragic and well-written plot devices in the X-Men series.


7
It Could Have Been The Perfect Bittersweet Ending

Aside from the X-Men spin-off film Deadpool 2 and the upcoming The New Mutants, the most recent Dark Phoenix further sullied the state of the film series under Fox. If Logan was the last film in the series under Fox, despite being a spin-off itself, it would have been the perfect sendoff before the Disney acquisition based purely on the fact that it was the best entry yet.
Finally, while Logan was still very much a canon story, it was a canon story set in an alternate, bleaker timeline from the (new) main continuity. If they made this story part of the main timeline, it would have been the perfect bittersweet ending having Logan find closure and peace in death, having Charles' death not been in vain, and left an open-ended sense of optimism in the future of mutants with X-23 and her friends.



6
The Darker, Grittier, More Serious Film In The Series

Not every superhero movie needs to be a dark, gritty, serious story in order for it to be considered good in modern comic book storytelling. There are examples of comic book films being all of those things and falling flat, at least in part, because of it with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being the best example.
However, if the characters fit those elements and the story is written and directed well then it can certainly fit. Logan does just that by being the grittiest and most bleak story in the franchise. Everything from the dystopian future to the state of the characters illustrated these elements beautifully.



5
No Worldwide Stakes Needed

Comic book stories in general tend to love introducing worldwide or even galactic-level threats and stakes for the protagonists to face. They can still certainly do this and still be great stories, like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, but they don't always need this. Logan does away with that and for the better of this particular story.

While still dealing with the concepts of having cyber-enhanced humans and super-powered mutants running around, this film takes things to a much more grounded level. The story is a very intimate one, mainly for Logan, and the film came out better for it.



4
The Future Of X-23

Certainly an unlikely long-shot, but having Logan be the last bout could have set up a future for X-23 in the MCU. As it stands now, it looks like we will likely never get an X-23 movie focusing on her essentially becoming the new Wolverine.
Perhaps Kevin Feige and the rest of Marvel Studios could have picked up where this particular story left off and take this opportunity to introduce the X-Men with X-23 as Wolverine. It would be convenient as no one would need to beg Jackman to come back and Logan was already set in an alternate timeline.



3
Phenomenal Acting

As with any movie, comic book-based or not, acting is a crucial piece of any media that incorporates the art. With Logan being released and it already standing above the rest in every other aspect, the acting is a further highlight compared to other X-Men movies and in movies in general.
Obviously, it helps that you have Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart leading the charge, but the cast from top to bottom performed brilliantly. Every performance of every character, particularly Jackman, Stewart, and Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 was passionate and emotionally charged.



2
Experimental With Genres

Experimenting with different elements from different genres is a good way of invigorating the comic book genre to make them feel unique from each other. Sure, Fox's upcoming The New Mutants is set to experiment by being a horror-based comic book film, but the fate of that project remains to be seen.
RELATED:
10 MCU Weapons Taskmaster Will Most Likely Use
Logan expertly blended elements from other genres that fit the context of this story. It felt like a western with Logan being a worn-out outlaw being called back to the front lines and noir for its bleak, dystopian-like setting.



1
A Terrifying New Threat

There are more than one individual and collective threats present throughout the film's narrative with Transigen, the Reavers, and Donald Pierce individually. All of them have tremendous power over the protagonists and are constantly on their tails throughout the film, but there's one threat in particular who proves most terrifying.

X-24, an essentially rabid clone of Logan representing him at his peak physicality, was the ultimate terror-inducing threat to the trio. Despite being a mindless, yet monstrous, threat with no world-ending motives, he felt more daunting and real than others like Apocalypse. He forced Logan to fight a physically-perfect mirror image of himself, with Logan at a massive disadvantage. Their encounters felt like our heroes could lose gravely at any moment.

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

We are both preaching to the choir

[jo]

Fan art!

[jo]

It looks like the emotional impact of LOGAN, especially its finale, continues to resonate with fans --

Lol - never expected so many reactions ( LIKES) to my tweet in less than a day

[jo]

Laura is now a beautiful young lady!

[njr]

^ She is 15 now.

[jo]

[jo]

There's something completely amazing how 2 diametrically opposite types of movies were --

*filmed one after another
*HJ doing pre-prod for Greatest Showman while filming Logan
*released in the same year
*loved by audiences ( box office/home video/album sales)
*still earning praise up to this day

The only difference --

*the critics ratings heavily favored LOGAN, while showing complete disdain for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.
*An Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay was earned by LOGAN.


Had acting honors been fair, all awards bodies should have conferred that to Hugh Jackman! Which actor delivered 2 completely different outstanding portrayals/peformances in the same time frame ??

Jo

[jo]

How fierce...and frightening... he looked!

Can you believe this is the same man who sings A MILLION DREAMS


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

To be honest - the only time I felt how connected Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were in the entire franchise was when they were playing chess and relating to each other in that glass prison that Magneto found himself in in the first XMen movie. Nothing to do with their acting but more because the script did not allow more palpable emotional interactions.

Jo