logan 2017
Logan stars Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and is set in a bereft/apocalyptic 2029 where the X-Men are dead and Logan is looking after Patrick Stewart's Professor X. Completing the surrogate family is fellow mutant Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Trouble calls when militant group the Reavers headed up by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and Zander Rice (Richard E Grant) are looking for missing military experiment Laura (Dafne Keen) who has been created using Logan/Wolverine's DNA.
The cast is filled with incredible actors but some are not used to their full potential. Stewart and Jackman share most of the screen time. Stewart is powerful as the confused former X-Men leader, suffering from Alzheimer's. He shows pockets of memory recall, bewilderment and anger which is amplified due to his mutation. Jackman plays Wolverine in his usual manner with passion and fortitude. Director James Mangold tries to give Jackman more to do by playing him as Old Man Logan (seminal Millar/McNiven comic) however it becomes more aesthetic than psychological. Giving Logan a limp, slower healing ability and having him grow a beard does not make him any more grizzled. Movie newcomer Keen is fine as Laura and does just enough show emotional turmoil and Adamantium Rage throughout the movie.
Stephen Merchant (co-writer The Office, Life's Too Short), Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl, Narcos) and Richard E Grant (Withnail and I, Dracula) have, sadly, very little to do. There is a rich vein of talent running through each actor which director Mangold does not use effectively. Merchant comes off like a one trick pony and at various points I expected his Caliban character to be joined by Ricky Gervais. Holbrook's Reaver is the least threatening villain ever in comic book movies (Yes, even limper than Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy). He keeps on popping out his metal arm like it qualifies him to be the "big bad" and I was left confused as to what he was needed for. Mangold's most heinous casting misuse crime has to be with Richard E Grant as evil doctor Rice. This man is born to play "villain" but in Logan he, along with Holbrook, fumble along like a pair of R rated Chuckle Brothers.
The plot chugs and sputters along and with some scenes better than others. The relationship between Laura and Logan is touching and cuts a nice emotional balance. The story runs out of steam and pulls a Superman III (see if you can spot it) to try to inject some life into the 2nd act. John Mathieson's cinematography is visually stunning with contrasting wide desert plains and sickly neon cities.
Fox certainly seems to have went the right direction with the R rating and the lower budget but it is poorly executed by a below par James Mangold (Walk the Line, Copland) and it's only Mathieson's amazing images that jolt the film to life.
Logan is Hugh Jackman's swan song as fan favourite Wolverine. Watching Logan made me wonder how the jaggy clawed Dirty Harry's journey could've been different with Dougray Scott as the Adamantium filled X-Man (Scott was cast as Wolverine before reshoots on the deplorable Mission Impossible II caused him to pull out). While Jackman gave credence and believability to Wolverine, Scott could have provided the grit and sneer that was missing in various instalments of the Fox franchise, including this one. You see, I think Jackman is just too nice a guy to pull off a 100% convincing Wolverine. This is not to say Scott isn't nice (never met the man) but he has a hue to him that says he is not to be approached, talked to or generally messed with. Along with an on form Mangold, this is the Wolverine we needed for (Old Man) Logan.
Rating 7.5/10 - 1.0 removed for Mangold's misdirection, 1.0 removed for pulling a Superman III, 0.5 off for the wrong swan song story for Jackman.
The cast is filled with incredible actors but some are not used to their full potential. Stewart and Jackman share most of the screen time. Stewart is powerful as the confused former X-Men leader, suffering from Alzheimer's. He shows pockets of memory recall, bewilderment and anger which is amplified due to his mutation. Jackman plays Wolverine in his usual manner with passion and fortitude. Director James Mangold tries to give Jackman more to do by playing him as Old Man Logan (seminal Millar/McNiven comic) however it becomes more aesthetic than psychological. Giving Logan a limp, slower healing ability and having him grow a beard does not make him any more grizzled. Movie newcomer Keen is fine as Laura and does just enough show emotional turmoil and Adamantium Rage throughout the movie.
Stephen Merchant (co-writer The Office, Life's Too Short), Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl, Narcos) and Richard E Grant (Withnail and I, Dracula) have, sadly, very little to do. There is a rich vein of talent running through each actor which director Mangold does not use effectively. Merchant comes off like a one trick pony and at various points I expected his Caliban character to be joined by Ricky Gervais. Holbrook's Reaver is the least threatening villain ever in comic book movies (Yes, even limper than Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy). He keeps on popping out his metal arm like it qualifies him to be the "big bad" and I was left confused as to what he was needed for. Mangold's most heinous casting misuse crime has to be with Richard E Grant as evil doctor Rice. This man is born to play "villain" but in Logan he, along with Holbrook, fumble along like a pair of R rated Chuckle Brothers.
The plot chugs and sputters along and with some scenes better than others. The relationship between Laura and Logan is touching and cuts a nice emotional balance. The story runs out of steam and pulls a Superman III (see if you can spot it) to try to inject some life into the 2nd act. John Mathieson's cinematography is visually stunning with contrasting wide desert plains and sickly neon cities.
Fox certainly seems to have went the right direction with the R rating and the lower budget but it is poorly executed by a below par James Mangold (Walk the Line, Copland) and it's only Mathieson's amazing images that jolt the film to life.
Logan is Hugh Jackman's swan song as fan favourite Wolverine. Watching Logan made me wonder how the jaggy clawed Dirty Harry's journey could've been different with Dougray Scott as the Adamantium filled X-Man (Scott was cast as Wolverine before reshoots on the deplorable Mission Impossible II caused him to pull out). While Jackman gave credence and believability to Wolverine, Scott could have provided the grit and sneer that was missing in various instalments of the Fox franchise, including this one. You see, I think Jackman is just too nice a guy to pull off a 100% convincing Wolverine. This is not to say Scott isn't nice (never met the man) but he has a hue to him that says he is not to be approached, talked to or generally messed with. Along with an on form Mangold, this is the Wolverine we needed for (Old Man) Logan.
Rating 7.5/10 - 1.0 removed for Mangold's misdirection, 1.0 removed for pulling a Superman III, 0.5 off for the wrong swan song story for Jackman.
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