Over the summer I finally got around to watching the movie Logan. It is set in the year 2029 where we find Logan, the Wolverine, working as a limo driver to pay the bills. The movie opens with Logan drunk in his limo while a gang of people try to take the wheels right off it. When he goes to confront them they start fighting. If this was taking place in an older movie Logan would have no trouble fighting back and quickly sending them running but this time he can barely get his claws out. They even get him on his back and inflict some serious damage before he wards them off. Later when he goes back to where where he is living we find that he is taking care of the old and senile Professor X who is now completely dependent on drugs. After a little more time we find out that the government is making mutants, turning them into weapons, and torturing them in the meantime. We also find out that some escaped from the facility, the government is hunting the escapees, and Logan is tasked to take one girl to the rendezvous point in Canada. The rest of the movie was Logan, Prof X,and the girl trying to make it to Canada.
Overall I feel like it was a well made movie objectively BUT I hated it. The subjective quality of this movie was awful because it was just too depressing. If you go to see a superhero movie you expect there to be epic fights, which I admit there were, but you also expect it to be cheerful to some degree, not horribly depressing. The focus on a superhero movie should be the action and defeating the enemy but in this movie the main focus was how Logan can barely fight and is now just a ghost of his old self. There was even a scene where Logan is trying to pull his claws out with his own hands. This movie’s subjective quality was also exaggerated by the fact that it was part of the X-Men cinematic universe. As a stand alone movie it would have been decent but because it was part of the X-Men universe it set expectations of the what it should be. I expected that the movie was going to be a classic superhero movie where there is a lot of fighting and explosions but instead it focused on life and how it sucks to get old. This is like what happened to the Star Wars prequels. The reason the prequels were viewed as being awful is because the bar was set extremely high by the original Star Wars and because they didn’t reach the bar they are viewed as being absolutely awful by comparison. This is what happened to Logan, the X-Men universe set a precedent that Logan didn’t follow and thus I was thrown off and think it is an awful movie. If I had known it was going to be as depressing as it was I might have been prepared for it but because I came into it expecting a classic superhero movie I was turned away by the depressing nature of the movie. I however would recommend this movie given that you have seen the movies that come before it and you are prepared for a depressing movie.
Overall I feel like it was a well made movie objectively BUT I hated it. The subjective quality of this movie was awful because it was just too depressing. If you go to see a superhero movie you expect there to be epic fights, which I admit there were, but you also expect it to be cheerful to some degree, not horribly depressing. The focus on a superhero movie should be the action and defeating the enemy but in this movie the main focus was how Logan can barely fight and is now just a ghost of his old self. There was even a scene where Logan is trying to pull his claws out with his own hands. This movie’s subjective quality was also exaggerated by the fact that it was part of the X-Men cinematic universe. As a stand alone movie it would have been decent but because it was part of the X-Men universe it set expectations of the what it should be. I expected that the movie was going to be a classic superhero movie where there is a lot of fighting and explosions but instead it focused on life and how it sucks to get old. This is like what happened to the Star Wars prequels. The reason the prequels were viewed as being awful is because the bar was set extremely high by the original Star Wars and because they didn’t reach the bar they are viewed as being absolutely awful by comparison. This is what happened to Logan, the X-Men universe set a precedent that Logan didn’t follow and thus I was thrown off and think it is an awful movie. If I had known it was going to be as depressing as it was I might have been prepared for it but because I came into it expecting a classic superhero movie I was turned away by the depressing nature of the movie. I however would recommend this movie given that you have seen the movies that come before it and you are prepared for a depressing movie.
This is such an excellent distinction between the subjective and objective appreciation of a movie. That subjective nature of our SELVES (e.g. our expectations, personal hopes for a particular style of narrative) can really impact our enjoyment of the film! Would have maybe liked to see a bit more objective analysis rather than objective description (i.e. paragraph 1). Consider how, in describing these opening parts of the film's object, you can use that to show a sense of effectiveness or ineffectiveness (with regards to the film's objective purpose). Great clip and GREAT details.
ReplyDeleteI entirely disagree Eric. I absolutely loved this movie for the exact reasons that you disliked it. It was so much different than many of the bargain brand, mindless superhero movies that have come out in recent years. It was so much more thoughtful and contemplative than any movie about a guy with claws in his hands has any right to be. Don't get me wrong. I love most Marvel movies, whether they have something to say or not, but the majority of the themes in Marvel's recent movies seem to be, "If you're a bad guy, you'll get beat up." Logan seemed like it was so much more. It was about man haunted by his past, but finding hope again in a new cause. Apart from the themes and differences from modern superhero movies, I thought that the dialogue was written realistically, the cinematography was gorgeous, and final shot was one of the most compelling final shots I have ever seen. The fight scenes were pretty awesome too.
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