New Film review: Logan

LOGAN

Directed by James Mangold
Screenplay by Scott Frank; James Mangold; and Michael Green
Created by John Romita Sr; Roy Thomas; Len Wein; Herb Trimpe; Craig Kyle; and Christopher Yost
Starring: Hugh Jackman as Logan
               Patrick Stewart as Charles
               Dafne Keen as Laura




Time has passed. X Men are almost extinct, except for a few strays. Logan is spending his life in pain, and taking care of Charles in Mexico.

Coming off the Rated R Deadpool, Logan creators thought ...what the hell...why not.
Due to the R it may be the bloodiest most violent Rated R film I have seen in years.

Well let me start with with what was done right:

The idea. is pretty interesting and fun and exciting.
Jackman plays Logan as an old broken man. Like all of us father time, no matter how much we fight, he wins. Logan spends his time being miserable and taking care of Charles
Then you have a wonderful performance by Stewart playing Charles also older but he wraps his arms around father time and embraces it with  loopy joy.
So you have these two opposites living their life hiding out in peace.
Then comes Laura played absolutely wonderfully by Dafne Keen. Who is one of some experiment Xmen children created in a lab who have escaped and now seek freedom.
So the idea is really interesting as it turns into a road trip film. Trying to get to the other children and then safety across the border. Exciting in parts and often funny.

However and a big however.....the film is way over the top. I am not a prude. I love Tarantino films. So it is not the violence here. It is the ...I guess basis of the violence. An innocent lovely family sliced up. Children sliced and killed. I had a lot of trouble with it. It is just not entertaining. How about a child walking around with a severed head? Oh....do not worry she rolls it away.
 I also had trouble of the final two showdowns being so choppy. At two hours and fifteen minutes the film felt like it needed tightening at the end. During the last 20 minutes it felt like there was 5 endings.Then they throw in....what I felt was an open ending. Not a clear finish which is what, as regular readers of my blog will know, I always want. You pay for a full movie...Beginning ...Middle ...Clear end. Period.

I was going with 3 stars here but I will add another half for our newcomer Keen. So 3 1/2 pout of 5 for Logan. Exciting emotional, yet over the top bloody and a so so ending.


From the shadows as always thanks for your time.