LOGAN

[prettyxcool]

Surprisingly, won tickets for the Film Distributors' Association Multimedia Screening (which effectively means press screening!) last night, as there were only four pairs going as far as I am aware. I talked to the people nearby and they were either journalists or PR. Loads of pens and pads out, and writing furiously.

So we got there and was ticked off the guest list, and let into the foyer, then as a few of us tried to get into the IMAX Screen, security stopped us and asked for our glossy tickets! After checking with the front that we are on the guest list with no tickets we were let in, after we handed our phones in, as we were embargoed until after the film finishes. Apparently, the premiere was happening simultaneously in Berlin.

The Empire editor introduced the film and said it was very dark, and emotional and defies anyone not be in tears by the end.

This is the third of the Wolverine films, and it is a very dark, long road movie, extremely violent, and also quite sentimental. Hugh Jackman is excellent as per usual, but here he is really touching, and you really feel his pain. Patrick Stewart as Professor X is also brilliant (especially the scene with the horses and at the family meal), as well as the young mutant Laura, silent and with a strong stare. Although bleak, there is humour as well.

A poignant and touching send off for Hugh Jackman/Wolverine/Logan, as you never seen him before, middle-aged, with a limp, long scraggly beard and his reading glasses!

8/10

[elski]

Wow you're having a lucky run this year prettycool. I was beg tweeting anyone I could think of for tickets to that screening last night.

[kevinknapman]

A fitting if atypical swansong for Hugh Jackman's take on the troubled superhero, Logan is a brutal, visceral, and suprisingly, melancholic and sombre film that takes the series in a totally different direction than we've seen before. A neo western that takes explicit cues from George Stevens' Shane to offer its own version of a mysterious stranger with a violent past forming a protective bond with a young child. Here a grizzled and older Logan's incognito life as a limo driver is interrupted by an equally mysterious young girl called Laura who needs his help. Initially reluctant, he is finally convinced by an ailing Charles Xavier to deliver her to safety from a group of mercenary cyborgs called The Reavers who are attempting to capture her.

From its opening scene it's clear that this is going to be a darker, more violent and profane entry into the X-Men franchise. Largely eschewing the overwhelming visual effects that typify superhero movies and which pretty much ruined Apocalypse last year, this is a stripped down and dirty affair.
Which is not to say that the film wants for effective set pieces. An extended scene at Logan and Charles' remote hideaway that reveals why the bad guys are so keen to get their hands on Laura is as gripping, tense and jaw-dropping as anything that's come before. While there are plenty of scenes where Wolverine fans get to see his Adamantium claws put to use in a way that the teen and family friendly previous films could only hint at.

Logan is at its most effective however as a character piece and both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart really deliver in adding more depth to characters that must seem like second nature to them by now. Jackman's portrayal of a man who has almost given up on life and is plagued by guilt for those he has lost is very impressive, whilst Stewart clearly relishes the opportunity to portray Professor X as a cranky ninety year old dropping f-bombs all over the place. Boyd Holbrook as the leader of the Reavers offers us a charming and memorable villain for once, though Richard E. Grant is a little underused as his boss Zander Rice (son of a scientist killed by Wolverine). Dafne Keen makes a very strong showing in only her second film as Laura, tackling a difficult and physically demanding role with impressive assurance. And Stephen Merchant brings some welcome levity as the albino mutant Caliban, acting as caretaker of the remote hideaway and nursemaid to Charles.

Director James Mangold delivers a more confident genre mash-up here than he did with the decent if slightly disappointing Samurai-infused effort that was The Wolverine. He clearly benefits greatly from the trust of a studio that saw the success of Deadpool as proof that more adult-oriented takes on the comic book film genre can find an audience.
If anything Logan is possibly an even more risky prospect than that film, because beneath the ultraviolence and bad language, Deadpool was still a traditional origin story ending with the hero saving the world amid an onslaught of CGI. There are times when it feels like Logan is deliberately fighting against that kind of film and it's all the better for it.
Therefore special effects junkies may find Logan unsatisfying in that regard but audiences keen on action movies that don't pander to teens and who were invigorated by the non-stop thrills of John Wick: Chapter 2 should find much to satisfy their bloodlust here. If anything Logan has the edge over JW:C2 because it knows the value in letting its characters pause for breath once in a while.

An intense, thrilling and oddly moving film, Logan is both the Wolverine film fans have been waiting for and a worthy way for Jackman and Stewart to bow out with style.

One final word of warning, no need to stick around to the end of the credits as this bucks the usual Marvel trend of adding a post credits scene. This will undoubtedly disappoint some but the film ends on such a perfect final image that any further embellishment would have been unnecessary.

[The Sparrow]

That was truly amazing. I was like a gob-smacked guppy for most of the film. Wolverine''s claws certainly get a good work-out!
Stephen Merchant was so very good and a really good support bringing balance to the darkness.
I didn't cry but I did have a lump in my throat at something we see in the final scene.
As stated above, there is no post credit scene (and rightly so). However, I've read that there may be a little something extra possibly before the film, once it has been officially released in America. Something to keep an eye out for.

[RandomHajile]

it was great, i liked the ending dialog, going to catch it again but its a 8/10 for that frozen scene !!

[raj101]

tremendously good.


Also, this cost me just £6-50 at the Cardiff IMAX!!! Not sure why its priced at £15 in Kingston-upon-Thames then. Cinemas around london are utterly pathetic in their pricing. I actually could have just walked into cardiffs Logan since noone was keeping the entrance but prefered to p*y to keep them in business. I's have no such qualms just walking in at thievingly priced london screens.

5 Stars.

[fraz]

A Few spoilers that could have done with being hidden above.

[raj101]

A Few spoilers that could have done with being hidden above.

point taken, sorry, I thought they were very soft spoilers but I've spoiler-visioned them now.

One thing though - I'm keeping the old man logan warning in the open specifically because people should be told its not the comic book story at all, else they will feel cheated expecting this to be it. When the movie first started I was overwhelming bitter that it wasnt in the slightest OML at all, although once it got going I was prepared to put that expectation aside and go with this completely different story.

[fraz]

A Few spoilers that could have done with being hidden above.

point taken, sorry, I thought they were very soft spoilers but I've spoiler-visioned them now.

Thanks Raj

Spoiler

Show

I kinda knew Prof X wasnt making it out of this film anyway after he gave it away on the Graham Norton show last week but others might not be aware.

Really looking forward to seeing this film, love the trailer with Johnny Cash 'Hurt' over it. Powerful stuff.

[silicon]

Looking forward to going to see it but heard it is a bit dark.