Logan Thoughts (Spoilers)

Click here for a spoiler-free review of the film.

After seeing Logan and having some more time to think about it, I wanted to share more thoughts on it without having to worry about spoiling any plot details.

First I have to address one of my biggest gripes. This is my first time seeing Boyd Holbrook in anything and I have to say I am more motivated to check out Narcos after seeing his performance. Do I have a man-crush? Maybe. From the first line of his first scene, I was enthralled. His performance initially hid the fact that the character, and the villains as a whole, were poorly developed. We know Transigen experiments on children and wants to weaponize mutant genes. It is obvious that an army of mutant children would be a terrifying weapon for their enemies, but the head figure (Zander Rice) also explains they created a virus that resulted in the lack of mutant births for the past 25 years. This is one of the most interesting machinations and is glossed over with a few lines of dialogue. It would have been interesting to see more of Rice’s role in this, and Pierce’s role in the curation of X-23 as the chief of security.

This brings up the issue of screen time. The film is 137 minutes, but didn’t feel that long to me, despite a late show time. I think an extra 15 minutes could have done wonders for fleshing out Transigen, Rice and Pierce. We wouldn’t need one solid chunk of exposition that drags the film down. I thought it would have been interesting to see X-23’s flashbacks, the same way we saw Logan’s in the original X-Men trilogy. These could have served the same purpose as the videos from X-23’s adoptive mother, and could have been more interesting.

Next, I just have to reiterate that Stephen Merchant is the man. Caliban had relatively little screen time compared to the main trio of Wolverine, Professor X and X-23, but he still held his own. Fear the light.

The death of the family during the farm scene came as a surprise. I had a feeling that something bad would happen once Professor X decided to stay the night. It came across as a careless move on his part but makes more sense analyzing the move from his character’s perspective. Westchester is where the X-Mansion is located and it is implied that he killed most of the X-Men in the “Westchester incident”. This also adds more reason why Charles says he “doesn’t deserve” a happy day like the one they had. He believes he deserves to be punished but he also wants to enjoy the company of other people before his death. He had years of isolation and is now somewhat carefree in his desire to enjoy life. Although it comes across as selfish, it is somewhat understandable.

However, the death of the family does make Charles’s decision tougher to cope with. Of course, he pays for the mistake as well when X-24 shows up. At first I thought Charles was having a flashback and was thinking they were adapting the X-Mansion incident from Old Man Logan, where Wolverine is tricked by Mysterio into killing the X-Men.

Instead, Charles dies, possibly thinking Wolverine killed him. Then the son, wife and dead get slaughtered. I was thinking that they would be saved at the last second, like most Hollywood films. Although their deaths were brutal, it was also good to see that the film truly wasn’t pulling any punches.

Some members of my audience audibly gasped when X-24 descends the stairs to meet Logan for the first time. For many people, it was a genuine “oh s***” moment. We know X-23 is a clone, now we see one that is Logan at his physical prime. These shots make use of digital faces but the effects are much more seamless than the version of **spoilers for Rogue One– Princess Leia in Rogue One of Clu in Tron: Legacy.

Although X-24 was an amazing physical threat, I feel as if his inclusion hampered the development and threat that could have come from Pierce. Like Zander, Pierce is mainly an overseer, managing the work of people underneath him. There is nothing wrong with villains like that, but maybe it comes across as more jarring, since he and The Reavers were marketed as the main, direct threat. Obviously X-24 would have been too big a reveal for the trailers and commercials, but it still brings up the issue of what audiences expected from Pierce.

Seeing Logan go near-berserk in the forest was an absolute treat. The roar after he takes the serum, followed by his sprint through the forest was cinematic gold.

 

Some people didn’t understand why an R-Rating was a big deal for this final film. Hopefully Logan shows why. Wolverine’s main weapon are metal claws he sinks into people, an R-rating works perfectly, for a solo film especially.  We don’t see stuntmen fall to the ground as Jackman swings his arms. For once, we get to see unadulterated carnage that truly immerses us in the experience. The casino scene, where Logan pushes his slaws, in semi slow-motion, through one man’s head after another is something we couldn’t have in a PG-13 film. The camera would have had to cut away with each stab.

The forest scene is something I’ve been wanting to see for a while and was delivered beautifully. Yet again. I have to comment on X-23. Many films are guilty of showing a woman with Angelina Jolie proportions knocking out 250 pound guys with one punch (looking at you Colombiana). X-23’s claws avoid that issue. We don’t see her overpower men for the most part. The flip she performs on the gas station attendant is the only example I can think of. Otherwise, she uses her size to her advantage, relying on stealth and agility to kill her enemies.

One thing that bothered me was that her transition from a borderline-feral mute to a more well-adjusted human seemed a little too fast. She nearly kills the gas station attendant because he tried to take her goods from her. At first I tried to rationalize that by saying that she interpreted his hands on her as a deadly threat, but her relationship with the Eden children contradicts that. Although the children were collectively treated as products by Transigen it is implied they had a pretty strong relationship with one another before they escaped. Since X-23, or Laura, is able to socialize with them normally when she arrives her reaction to the gas station attendant seems out of character. Then again, we didn’t get to see her interact with the group much. Most of the film from that point on focused on her interacting with Logan and their fight with Transigen. It would have been interesting to see how they all reacted to being together again.

P.S- Some people might laugh at the fat kid running, but that kid was hauling ass.

 

Logan Looks Like The Conclusion Wolverine Deserves

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The final Wolverine solo film now has an official title and its first trailer. I uploaded my thoughts to YouTube yesterday, but I also wanted to discuss the trailer on the blog. Attention spans are short when it comes to blog posts, but they can actually be worse with YouTube. I try to aim to make videos less than seven minutes long so I often have to condense all my thoughts and points. The blog gives me a little more breathing room, even though there may still be plenty of people who think “TL:DR”.

Wolverine: Origins was terrible, I think most people agree with me on that. A butchered version of Deadpool is the film’s most infamous creation but there was plenty more to hate. Terrible dialogue and CGI as far as the eye can see. Let’s not forget the boxing scene with the blob.

Wolverine was an improvement, although that is not saying much. I loved the idea of wolverine losing his powers and the question that the film raises: How much suffering can one man take? However, the film is brought down by a weak third act and some weak characters. I’m looking at you Viper.

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Not only is Logan the last Wolverine solo film, it is also Hugh Jackman’s last outing as the title character. He was the first character to portray Wolverine in a live-action Hollywood film and by the time this film comes out, it will be  seventeen years (2000-2017). Hugh Jackman is a great actor and regardless of the quality of the films, I believe he has always delivered a great performance. I have no doubt he will be remembered as one of the best comic book film castings. With all that said, I am hoping this final film gives the actor and character a strong finish.

The first trailer gives me hope that my dream will come true. Director James Mangold has said that he was aiming for a Western vibe with the film, which is also aided by the song choice. Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt”, originally by Nine Inch Nails, conveys the loneliness and grief that is omnipresent in the trailer. Although we know that the film will not closely follow Mark Millar’s “Old Man Logan”, there are plenty of similarities.

In Old Man Logan, an aging Wolverine escorts a blind Hawkeye as he delivers cargo across a post-apocalyptic US that is controlled by super villains. After one coordinated attack, the super villains were able to eliminate most of the heroes. Years later, Logan has settled down with a new family with his days of heroism long behind him. His family is bullied by his landlords, inbred children of Hulk and She-Hulk, and his healing factor has greatly diminished.

In the trailer, Logan says that mutants are gone, implying that he and the Professor are the few ones remaining. We see an older, scarred wolverine who is helping an ailing Professor X transport a young girl to safety. Additionally, plot synopses do say that a group of mutant-hunting cyborgs called “Reavers” will serve as the film’s antagonists. The “Reavers” may serve as the super villains that lead to the near-extinction of mutants in this timeline.

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There is one shot of Professor X laying in bed, and another shot of Wolverine carrying someone who appears to be the Professor. With how much older Wolverine looks, the Professor is likely near the end of his days.  Additionally, the last shot in the trailer shows Wolverine holding a shovel and standing over what appears to be a grave. There is already a lot of speculation that he buried the Professor. This also seems likely since the words playing over this shot could be the Professor’s last words.

Logan also sports numerous scars, and Mangold has confirmed that this is due to Logan’s aging. Like the comic, his age is taking its toll on his body and it can’t repair itself as well as it used to.

X-23 ( a female clone of Wolverine )will likely introduced as well. From what Professor X says the young girl is “very much like” Wolverine. I already know that Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman will be great in their roles, let’s hope the actress for X23 doesn’t bring the film down. Child actors always make me wary.

We still don’t know what X-23’s purpose will be. She is clearly the person being escorted, but we don’t know for what purpose. That is fine with me. IMDB is already swarmed with people asking why Wolverine has scars, why he looks so old etc. Some people need all their answers in the trailer and seem unable to give a film a chance to answer some questions. The teaser got me excited without giving away too much. The red band trailer also showed a glimpse of the R-Rated footage that many fans have been craving. Mangold and Jackman both acknowledge the importance of ending strong so I think that we finally have a Wolverine film that will live up to the hype.

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Old Man Logan

Hello everyone,

Here is the latest piece I wrote for comicommand. Enjoy and have a great weekend.

Old Man Logan - Boy Is He Angry

Written By Cadeem Lalor

After reading the first volume of The Ultimates years ago, I wondered if Mark Millar’s writing skills were a little over-hyped. The series had great moments for sure, but overall I wasn’t that big a fan of it. I’d heard about Old Man Logan for years and it has popped up in discussion much more with with the development of the final Wolverine film. Hugh Jackman was pictured on set with a thicker, grey beard and many people began to speculate that the film would use the story-line. Hugh Jackman also referenced the story-line during comic-con. It is likely that the film will use some elements from the story but it has been made clear the film will likely introduce X-23 and branch off with a new version of the character.

After reading Desi’s article on Old Man Logan, and numerous glowing amazon reviews, I made the commitment and ordered my own copy. The story follows an older Wolverine in a USA that is now divided into four villain territories, with most of the heroes now dead or in hiding after one night where the villains banded together to eliminate their foes. This story did not disappoint. I read about the story online before buying it and the thing that intrigued me most was how the super villains would manage to eliminate the heroes.

He's Making A List And Checking It Twice

This aspect of the story also proved to be the most well written and the one that my mind keeps going back to. One thing we probably never think about when reading comics is the villain to hero ratio. Every hero has their own rogues gallery. With a shared comic universe, many of the villains overlap but most can be tied to a particular arch-nemesis. In Old Man Logan, the estimate ranges from anywhere from twenty to fifty villains per hero. Once all of this power is organized into one attack, it is easy to see how the heroes could fall. Villains might normally be somewhat selfish in their pursuits, but by banding together and by creating their territories, they still accomplish more together than they could have individually or in smaller groups.

The epic battle that created this new world is only alluded to, but that ends up being enough. We see the skeletons of Loki and a giant skeleton of Hank Pym, and our minds fill in the blanks from there. One of the most powerful scenes is the reveal of Captain America’s death at the hands of the Red Skull.

We don’t see this fight either. We only see an injured cap lying on rubble, with his body partially crushed by debris. He can only watch as Red Skull gloats of the new world that he and the other villains will create. After so many years as a man out of time, Cap still sees his worst nightmare come to life. There are no words from him, only a tear.

A Panel From Old Man Logan #7

The most powerful moment in the comic comes when we delve into Wolverine’s past. In this apocalyptic future, Logan is no longer Wolverine. He has taken a vow of nonviolence and has rejected his old persona. he hasn’t bared his claws in fifty years. As the story begins it is implied Logan was traumatized on the day of the attack but it is hard to imagine what could break him. When we are told the full story, it becomes clear why Logan was broken. One illusion by Mysterio led Wolverine to kill all of the X-Men, making each member look and smell different. When we see the event from Logan’s point of view, we see him end the battle by brutally stabbing Bullseye. That moment is tainted when we realize it was Jubilee who was butchered.

As Logan’s journey continues we see The Red Skull again, who is in the habit of wearing Captain America’s costume. He wears the skin of his foes, likes the ancients. However, it appears that he almost misses his foe, monologuing about how he could still defeat Captain America if they were to fight again. It is implied with this scene that villains might lose their purpose without heroes. This is also implied when Wolverine fights this universe’s villainous Hulk. The Hulk implies that he got bored and killed Logan’s family because he wanted Logan to come to him: he missed their fights. We often say a hero is only as good as their villains. Without any heroes, Hulk admits he went from being a villain to being a landlord.

Old Man Logan Vs Captain America

Old Man Logan is a grim story, but it demonstrates that grim and good are not antonyms when discussing comic books. This mindset is far too prevalent now, especially among moviegoers. Some of Millar’s previous attempts to add a more adult spin to comics were failures in my opinion, such as his perverted version of the Hulk in The Ultimates. Some aspects of The Hulk do bring the story down a bit here, such as the hillbilly Hulk descendants. The fact that these hillbillies are products of incest between Hulk and She-Hulk could also throw people off as well, but I actually found this to be one of the better-justified changes for this alternate story-line. Banner explains that she was the only person he could mate with to breed mutant offspring, although he says this in much cruder terms. Overall, Old Man Logan is another reason that I look forward to discovering more that comics have to offer.

X-Men Apocalypse Review

Rating: 7/10

Feel free to check out my video review.

The critical and commercial success of Days of Future Past made it clear to everyone that Apocalypse had a lot to live up to. After seeing the film yesterday, I have to say that Apocalypse does not exceed or meet its predecessor. That is not to say the film is downright bad, but it isn’t amazing either.

Apocalypse picks up with the new timeline, following the younger versions of the X-Men. Picking up ten years later, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) now continues to grow the school with the help of Beast. Meanwhile, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) now works to bring mutants to safety, through a sort of underground railroad for mutant misfits. Erik Lensherr now leads life with a new identity in his native Poland, along with his wife and daughter. With this backdrop, comes the introduction of new mutants such as Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and a new threat.

After lying dormant for thousands of years, the world’s first mutant is revived and now seeks to create a new world order where only the strongest mutants survive.

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Firstly, I want to start off discussing the aspect of the film that bothered me most leading up to its release. The marketing emphasized Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, depicting her as this figure Beast seeks out to lead the X-Men. Especially since her role in defeating Magneto in the last film has now made Mystique a revered figure among mutants. I did like this development but it did bother me that Mystique is actually shown in her blue form for a relatively small portion of her screen time The film’s explanation is that Mystique doesn’t feel like she can no longer represent “mutant and proud” since she doesn’t believe in it anymore. . It obviously makes sense for Mystique to stay hidden when in public, but even when other mutants surround her, it is still mostly Jlaw on screen. I could not help but think Jlaw’s star power contributed to that. This thought surfaces even more since Lawrence is one of the film’s most forgettable performances, being overshadowed by McAvoy, Fassbender, Evans, Isaac etc.

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Speaking of Oscar Isaac, the makeup could be better but I did enjoy his presence on screen. He was soothing when he needed to be, then menacing and vindictive when necessary. His dialogue was great and Oscar Isaac delivered a great performance, yet I feel like the character could have been fleshed out more. Which brings me to one of my biggest criticisms.

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One of my main criticisms brings up the issues of trying to introduce numerous new characters (or versions) of characters without any previous build up. I do hate the Marvel V DC talk, but Civil War does provide a good case study. Although some characters felt tacked on, like Spider-Man, many of them did not since they were already introduced through previous films. With Apocalypse, we get a younger version of Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Nightcrawler, as well as Angel, Psylocke and Apocalypse. This is in addition to building on previous characters and relationships. As a result, some characters suffer. Psylocke literally has less than ten lines. Her and Angel were both very forgettable, getting lost in the muddle of all the other characters and relationships the film wanted to introduce or flesh out. I would have liked to see more of the Xavier and Magneto relationship, which has always been a strength of this trilogy, but that had to get pushed aside to make more room for Apocalypse. He could have used some more development too but they also needed to develop the new heroes. This issue also leads to some pacing issues that hampered the film leading up to the third act.

 

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There are some truly great scenes and set pieces. Quicksilver steals the show again, in a scene that actually manages to outdo the kitchen scene in DOFP. The scene is a huge tonal shift, switching the film from dark, to light and then back again. Yet it still works so well.

 

There is also an Auschwitz scene that was stunning and one of the film’s most emotionally powerful scenes. The third act had its own set pieces but although there was a great war raging between mutants on the field, the best part of the third act is a mental battle between Charles and Apocalypse. Even though the mental battle is more muted and slower paced than the rest of the action, it was still more exciting for me; Probably because I cared about these characters the most and because they were some of the best actors.

 

Sophie Turner does a decent job as Jean Grey, but she came across as somewhat forgettable and replaceable. Cyclops and Nightcrawler were both great additions to the new X-Men team and I am looking forward to seeing more of their characters, but yet again, they weren’t developed that well. Of course there is more room for this in future movies, but I ultimately have to judge this film as a single unit. Alexandra Shipp actually plays Storm with an African accent, and maybe people will disagree, but the accent actually sounds good to me. I thought she was pretty good in the role, but yet again, limited lines, limited development.

To end on a more positive note, the ending was perfect. I can’t say much more than that without spoiling it.

Overall, I do believe Apocalypse is worth checking out in the theater and I am glad that I saw it. However, it falls short of the high bar set by DOFP.

 

 

 

More Marvel Brainwashing

Due to my schedule for tomorrow, it’s likely that there won’t be a blog post up for Friday night. However, there should still be one up for Saturday and Sunday. I’m also planning on doing a YouTube video over the weekend as well.

Some early reviews of X: Men Apocalypse are in and the film currently has a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes. After seeing the unwarranted trashing that BatmanvSuperman got, I am not going to let the reviews impact my attendance. BvS was a 6.5 in my opinion, but the 32% it has on Rotten Tomatoes is unwarranted. BvS does have legitimate faults such as Eisenberg’s Luthor and the third act, and I have heard many complaints I can understand, even if I don’t agree. The one complaint I can’t stand is that the tone is an issue. The film is “too dark” “too gloomy”, too “depressing”. The problem is that people now think “dark” and “good” are mutually exclusive. Apparently you can’t have one without the other in a comic book movie, unless it’s for a certain character. People are so used to the MCU’s light-hearted tone that anything that is darker is instantly disparaged. Think I’m exaggerating? Check out this review I found with a quick Google search of “X-Men apocalypse”.

Most of the criticism is levied at the film’s tone. Too “gloomy”, “dour”, not enough fun. Most of the review just compares the X-Men film to MCU films, saying it is different than them and therefore inferior. That is not how a review of a different franchise should work. Judge the film as a single unit. The last paragraph wraps the review up with comparisons to the MCU. Although the author says that every film doesn’t need the MCU’s level of banter, she obviously does not mean that if the tone bothered her so much. This mindset that dark now equals bad, is a perfect example of corporate brainwashing.

Jennifer Lawrence- The Taylor Swift Effect and X-Men Apocalypse

After this latest trailer the Suicide Squad has quickly moved to the #2 spot of my most anticipated comic book film of 2016. Deadpool is still #1 and it comes out in less than a month so Suicide Squad will occupy my #1 spot for most of the year.

X-Men’s themes of discrimination and oppression have always resonated with me and I thought X-Men Apocalypse would easily beat out Suicide Squad. I was fine with less Wolverine, and I know that many viewers (even those who loved the films) still wished they focused on Wolverine less and let other characters shine. With the exception of X3 and the Wolverine solo films, the X-Men films are some of the best comic book films to date.

Which is why it was disappointing to see the first trailer for Apocalypse and realize that Jennifer Lawrence has apparently been given a bigger role. Step aside Wolverine, make way for Mystique. I used to like Jennifer Lawrence. I enjoyed the first Hunger Games film and also enjoyed her performance in Silver Linings Playbook. As time passed though, Lawrence quickly became the Taylor Swift of Hollywood: ridiculously overrated and overexposed (in my opinion). For that reason I refuse to watch any more of the Hunger Games films, American Hustle, Joy or any other films she will appear in.

Lawrence was already an A-lister and every teen girl’s idol when the script was originally written. Therefore, I do not think it is a coincidence that the most marketable actor in the film, now has a much bigger role. This would be understandable, if the move was really necessary. X-Men First Class still managed to make a decent profit, despite the absence of the franchise’s most marketable character and actor (Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine). Additionally, Apocalypse was in a position to build off the hype of Days of Future Past instead of pandering to one actor’s fan base.

Lawrence’s acting was a weak link in Days of Future Past and the few lines in the trailer make her sound like she’s half-asleep. Hopefully they sound better in context, but if Days of Future Past is any indication, they may not. What makes Lawrence’s position even more frustrating is the fact that her character does not have to be an important figure in this storyline. First Class revamped Mystique as a central heroic figure, as opposed to a super-villain. Days of Future Past transitioned her into an anti-hero and X-Men Apocalypse could have continued by having her as a periphery figure who is deciding which side to join (Apocalypse or the X-Men). Instead, Mystique will now replace Wolverine, wasting an opportunity to develop other characters. After the cyclops we had in the original trilogy, I was hoping this film would help to flesh Cyclops out more. Instead, that might be pushed aside for more Lawrence or more Sophie Turner (Jean Grey). Turner’s few lines in the trailer make it clear she has brought her whiny Sansa Stark voice over to this film, so my hopes are not too high for her performance. Then again, we will see. Perhaps I will be proven wrong: Turner and Lawrence will be great, and all of the characters will get their chance to shine. However, I doubt it.