LOGAN
(directed by James Mangold, 2017)
*** (out of 5)
.
> Critics applauded, I yawned.
. This gritty X-Men chapter is famously apocalyptic for some of the central figures. They die. Very dead. (Or as dead as you can die in a comic book universe, meaning writers will have to get imaginative to bring these actors back in these roles. If the paychecks are big enough, I have no doubt they will.)
. These mutant heroes are old guys now- unhealthy, unhappy. Wolverine is a bitter drunk and Xavier has all but lost his mind from a terminal illness that could also kill everybody else in the process. Not good. Mutants have had their day, they are disappearing from the earth one by one, with no mutant babies being born. Then…. blahblahblah. Great acting. Shitloads of violence. The F-bomb dropped indiscriminately right and left, for no clear reason. (Logan’s first line is: “Fuck!”) Naw- strangely, this is not a kid-friendly comic book. Much less fun, as a result.
. Instead, we get casual mayhem- many victims casually impaled through the cranium, horrible bloody outcomes for innocent people. Oh- and great Latin stereotyping too! Glad those gangbanging cholos could get the employment. (It’s not like they could play… I dunno, anything else?) If I were a Latino actor I’d be working to create my own material, and refusing to play demeaning cardboard thugs.
. I do not appear to be describing a film I enjoyed, do I? But I did- just enough. Three stars worth, anyway. I did mention there was great acting? Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are both in top form, but I think they’re getting tired of these roles. Time to let the fresh actors play their younger selves. Give me James McAvoy and Michael Fassbinder and that lot.
– These old guys are too cynical and defeated by half!
*
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