Logan revolutionizes superhero movies

author: ethan butterfield | a&c writer

The newest entry into the franchise is dark and beautiful. Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

Logan does DC better than DC.

Superhero movies have a strange presence in the world of cinema. You have the good ones in the form of The Avengers, X-Men: First Class and, to a lesser extent, Man of Steel. Then you have the poor films that take the shape of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and, to a lesser extent, Avengers: Age of Ultron. All these films fall into some level of decent or another, for sure, but few of them have things that actually set them apart from the rest of the batch.

The main premise for a blockbuster superhero film seems to be good triumphing evil or carrying on, so on and so forth. What happens, though, when a film about meta-humans decides to take a new spin on the formula? One that changes the audience’s expectations for what they want to see in future movies. Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy did this by adding more humour-based narrative structures. But what if the structure was more emotional?

This brings me to Logan, one of the finest examples of a superhero movie I’ve seen since…well last year. All jokes aside, though, Logan is a very good film that does a whole lot right and not a whole lot wrong. Actually, scratch that, it’s hard to find anything wrong with this movie. In terms of story and without wishing to give too much away, Logan’s plot is based around an aging Wolverine and Charles Xavier as they protect a young mutant who’s on the run.

Logan’s premise, at least in my eyes, changed up what superhero movies are all about in a very unique way. Now, it’s no surprise that DC has been trying to create a much darker and brooding universe then the one Marvel has, which I can definitely respect. The problem is, however, that Logan nailed the emotional aspect that DC films have been looking for. Logan is a dark and brooding movie, yes, but it does it in such a fashion that you relate a lot more with the character through his struggles. You can’t relate with Superman; he’s Superman. If you humanize him and bring him down to the viewer’s perspective, though, then you get a much richer sense of depth. A similar level of depth that Logan achieved by humanizing the main character.

So Logan is a dark movie. How dark, you ask? Well it certainly earns its R rating, that’s for sure. There are numerous scenes of limbs flying, people crying, and people dying. It’ll make you wince, it’ll make you hurt, it’ll make you want to watch it all over again. I’m serious, when describing the action and acting, it really blends together incredibly well. Hugh Jackman may very well have given his best performance as the Wolverine in this film. For me, his best was it the original 2000’s X-Men, but now I’m just being nostalgic.

So all in all, do yourself a favour and check out the incredible emotional action drama that is Logan. I don’t know if it’ll be the best superhero movie that this year has to offer, but it’s going to take some real miracles from Marvel to top 20th Century Fox’s mutant masterpiece. Take my word for it; Logan will rejuvenate your love of superheroes.