Tonight's Movie: Logan

I had some moderately high expectations going into this one; I had heard good things, read a couple of positive reviews, and the movie currently sits at a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes... So, while I'm not saying the movie is terrible by any stretch of the imagination, I do think it is a bit overrated.
Also, like I often do when reviewing a new film, I'm going to avoid any plot points that may spoil the movie and, instead, offer up my overall impression of the movie.

Now, while I do love the X-Men comic book characters, I have always been pretty critical of the big screen adaptations but, the one consistent positive is Hugh Jackman. Like so many good and bad X-Men films that came before (all of which I've ranked in a previous post that you can check out by clicking here) it's hard not to love Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine. It is one of the all-time best live-action/comic book character castings, and Jackman doesn't disappoint in this one. And the same can be said for most of the acting throughout, I generally enjoyed most of the performances. Patrick Stewart is pretty solid as always and the girl who plays 'X-23' was good as well.

The overall look and feel of this film is a bit different than all the previous X-Men movies; It has a somber tone and a bit of a Western feel (which I liked), and also carries an R-rating which seemed necessary to tell this particular story. It's easy to feel some superhero fatigue with as many of these comic book movies that come out now but, this one felt like something fairly fresh in a formulaic genre. There are some great action scenes but, there are also a few times when the film drags a bit and the 137min runtime could've been cut down slightly. I didn't find the film's villain all that interesting , and there is at least one character that could've been completely cut from the film without it really affecting the plot at all. The first and third act I enjoyed but, it was the middle of the film that started to run on a bit. Additionally, if you are familiar with all of the previous X-Men movies then you may end up with a few unanswered questions throughout the film.

Overall, this is a movie that I really wanted to love and, while it is enjoyable as a whole, it's far from perfect. Maybe this one is worthy of the high praise it has received thus far, but I found it to be a slightly below what I was hoping for.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


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Ranking the X-Men Movies

 Well, it seems like the time has come to rank the X-Men movies. I've always loved the X-Men characters in the comics but, I find the films in this franchise to range from pretty good superhero movies at best, to barely watchable at worst. Now, I'm going to keep this to just the six films featuring the the actual X-Men team. So, spinoffs like the Wolverine solo movies and Deadpool aren't on this one. It's an interesting collection of films to compare because the films are also notorious for plot holes and continuity issues. That being said, here's how I rank them:

#6 X-Men: First Class (2011)

This was the first film to back track and show the formation of the X-Men many years prior to the events of 2000's X-Men film. Unfortunately, as with many prequels, this would start opening up plot holes and start really screwing with the continuity of the franchise.

#5 X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

There are moments in this one that were enjoyable but, overall, I didn't like the film. As with the two films in the franchise that proceeded this one, I'm not a fan of a lot of the cast and many of the effects are sub-par. Plus, the plot is all over the place.


#4 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

It was close between the #3 and #4 selections, because I think both films are kind of a mixed-bag. However, the boring plot and the fact that I like the original cast better lead to this one falling to the #4 spot. Also, while having Hugh Jackman back is a plus, it kinda gets canceled out by having Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique being a main character again.

#3 X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

This one I think is often regarded as a much worse movie than it actually is. There are some dumb moments and some of the characters introduced in it just don't work (for example: Juggernaut was horrendous). On the other hand, I thought Kelsey Grammer as Beast was a good choice. It's still watchable.

#2 X2: X-Men United (2003)

 This was a good follow up to the original, and in some ways was the superior movie. It's fun and there is some decent action. It's not my favorite, but it's several notches above all of the previously listed film on this list.

#1 X-Men (2000)

 To me the original did it the best. It's not a perfect film but I thought the cast was solid, the plot was straight-forward, it kept me entertained throughout, and I think it's the most rewatchable of the bunch.


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Best of 2016

2016 has come to a close and, as with every year, there were plenty of great movies and disappointments to hit theaters.
 I originally thought about doing a sort of every-man version of the Oscars and pick my favorite actor, director, supporting actor, film score, etc. from this year, but I ended up with just too many categories. So, I decided to break it down into three categories that stood out to me after all my trips to the theater this year.

Best Comic Book Movie:

Captain America: Civil War

Comic Book movies get their own category because now more than ever before there is no shortage of action-packed hero flicks hitting the big screen every year. There was a lot to be excited about going into 2016, but i would say there were more negatives in this category than positives. Civil War was pretty awesome and Dr. Strange was good but, for me, movies like X-men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and Suicide Squad either didn't live up to the hype or were flat-out disappointments. Some of these movies would have a good action scene or a fun character but Captain America: Civil War was thoroughly enjoyable and, as a result, was the one that really stood out from the rest of the pack.

Best Animated Movie:

Moana

Much like the Comic Book category this wasn't a close call for me. It had been a while since an animated film came around that I absolutely loved, and then Disney's Moana came out. I wasn't the biggest Finding Nemo fan so I didn't expect Finding Dory to thrill me,and it didn't. I found Trolls hard to sit through, Storks was funny, I didn't even get through all of Secret Life of Pets, Zootopia didn't really move the needle for me, I skipped out on yet another Ice Age sequel... Moana was the only one that really had me entertained, and I even went back to see it a second time.

Best Thing I wasn't Expecting:

Hacksaw Ridge

There were a quite a few movies I really enjoyed this year that caught me off guard. I was surprised how much I liked The Jungle Book remake, but the toss up was really between Hacksaw Ridge and In a Valley of Violence. Both were films that weren't even on my radar until right before they came out, and I thought both were really entertaining. In this category, I give the edge to Hacksaw Ridge because I think it's a bit of a better all-around film but I do recommend checking out both of them if you have the opportunity. (Here are links to both reviews Hacksaw Ridge, In a Valley of Violence)
As a bit of a side note: One movie that wasn't quite as good as I was expecting was Rob Zombie's 31. I liked it but it didn't blow me away.

  A big thanks to everyone who has been reading my reviews this year.

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