SPOILERS: Some of the statements made in this article may contain spoilers.
There will be much debate in the coming months as to what the best movie of the year is and the movie that will take home the Academy Award for “Best Picture.” There is no question what the best movie of the year is, Logan. And before many of you click away from this article, look at this movie with a little more depth than you look at with most comic book movies. Now let’s get into the real reasons it should win.
5. Cinematography and Directing
First off, the cinematography in this movie is unbelievable. John Mathieson deserves the utmost respect for the way the grit and grime of this post-apocalyptic world is created. It combines the aspects of the desert and forest landscapes with a post-modern architecture. It is shot with a slight yellow tint that makes the scenes feel realistic while keeping the grit the film inspires.
Second off, the story of Logan, written by James Mangold, is nothing short of brilliance. He creates a universe that has more questions than it does answers. And this is the point of the movie. It operates standalone from the other X-Men movies. Mangold uses the parallels to real life and age perfectly in constructing one of the most poetic superhero movies ever. Along with creating a story that is amazing, he also directs this movie wonderfully in and out of the action.
4. The parallel to real life through the screenplay
The concept that most people view Logan as is, “It’s just another Wolverine movie, right?” In this statement, you would be underselling the cinematic masterpiece that Logan is. Logan is really a character piece about what it means to be an older person in a young society.
It is also a story about a post-apocalyptic world in which Mutants are viewed as a scarcity and they are the outcasts of society. In the film, it depicts Hugh Jackman’s character, Wolverine, as an old man that is worse for wear from all the countless beatings he faced in his day as a superhero. Much like all people, there comes a time we will all reach the point of being unsure of what our purpose is or if our purpose has run out. But just as in life, the purpose will always find you somehow.
Wolverine fights the whole movie with taking his own life because he has lost the will to live. This is an unfortunate reality of being older nowadays. But whenever he thinks all hope is lost, he sees that even with all his friends being dead and gone, there is an obligation to a future generation to carry on the legacy that he left behind.
3. The Brutal And Realistic Action
This movie is incredibly R-rated! This movie is what most Wolverine fans have wanted for a long time. In the X-Men movies. Wolverine has always been limited in terms of what he could do based on the inability to show gore in a film without it being R-rated. This film does not hold back at all in terms of the destructive and realistic nature of what Wolverine’s adamantium claws are capable of. If you are squeamish about blood this film might not be for you.
2. Patrick Stewart’s performance
Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier should get him the win for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards. He manages to play the role of a man with post-traumatic stress to a degree that no one saw possible.
In this film, he pulls off being completely helpless while still showing a level of intelligence and depth that Logan does not expect from him. He exploits the remaining humanity within Logan and eventually gets him to see that his daughter needs him, as the last act of love from a father to his daughter. Stewart mixes the serious with his sometimes-comedic delivery of lines that bring levity to the film.
1. Hugh Jackman’s performance
Many people will have the argument that Hugh’s best performance this year was in The Greatest Showman. It is crazy to think that that argument could be made for either that film or Logan and I think it speaks volumes to Jackman’s acting and how versatile it has become over the years. But it is Logan that he delivers his best performance in.
This is Jackman’s “Swan Song,” for the Wolverine character and from beginning to end he delivers each line with gravitas and executes the character perfectly, one last time. And in the final scene delivers one word that will leave you teary-eyed.
So, what do you think of Logan? Chances are it won’t being winning best picture but there is hope that it will get the recognition it deserves as one of the best if not best movies of 2017.
