sabata_87

Logan (2017)

a HUGE disappointment... unfortunately

Usually I don't write Reviews as I think that everybody should get his own impression and not be influenced by somebody else's. But given the huge promotion for this movie as well as the misleading rating and comments here on IMDb, I feel kind of urged to leave this comment in order to warn all the people out there not having seen this mess of a movie yet...

Not being a big fan of the whole new Superhero Genre / Franchises, this movie even manages - among with the first "Wolverine" movie, which was quite much terrible - to be the worst in the whole "X-Men Universe" for me.

What makes it so bad?

• The Movie does NOT really have a STORY - or at least not something worth to be called alike. For sure a plot is there. But what exactly is the story? It's about a child that has been given birth to using mutant DNA in order to make them strong soldiers - as they do have emotions and don't obey, they shall be executed and replaced. One girl (DNA- infiltrated with Wolverine genes) flees (helped by a doctor) and goes on fleeing together with Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier. So in fact this is simply a PURSUIT MOVIE. No side-plots, nothing more to think about - nothing else of interest involved...

• Out of this tiny story, something huge emerges: BOREDOM. Never has there been such a boring Super Hero movie. Basically nothing happens for more or less 2 hours: Family Talking (which it is not: they are not a family in fact...) seems to be the only driving force for a long time...

why it doesn't work:

• For those calling it the first adult Super Hero movie that is not only about action: GIMME A BREAK. if you know a little about Independent Filmmaking and about stories with depth, "Logan" is a joke. It is totally SUPERFICIAL, the dialogues are not real to life, the emotions are fake Hollywood - it stays what it is: A COMIC MOVIE... So given the ambition to be a deep movie - something meaningful - it is a total FAILURE. It is simply NOT. Period. Go watch e.g. "Perfect World (1993) instead... It's not that I'm a Blockbuster fan only looking for spectacle and action in a movie. But a movie should STAY TRUE TO ITSELF: If it wants to be meaningful and clever, a lot more would be needed than this.

• On the other hand, on a Super Hero and Action Scale, the movie is an absolute FAILURE as well, as for most of the movie duration there is not a lot happening on screen. There are 2 well-crafted action scenes, however:

1. When Professor Xavier manages to stop time with his mind while Wolverine manages with his last force to kill all the bad guys who want to steal the young mutant (on the other hand, this scene is basically a rip-off of "X-Men Apocalypse" and the scene involving super-fast Quick- silver; thus: nothing new indeed. we have seen it all before...)

2. The scene near the end when they hunt each other through the forest with Wolverine jumping on the enemies running in front of him is quite amazing.

All the rest is rather cheap and / or unfunny; a cheap car-chase rip- off of "Mad Max IV" involved before they can escape behind the rolling train...

+ SPOILER: ... this extremely unsatisfying event, when Professor Xavier (the supposed to be wise guy) accepts the invitation (or rather forces Wolverine to accept) by this nice family who had problems with their truck... How stupid is this??? Obviously they are all killed in the end - but don't worry - no bad conscience involved...^^ Heck, they are on the run...! Xavier should be the rational, old, wise man, shouldn't he?! How bad writing is that? Too bad to be true... This movie is utterly ridiculous... :D

Are the 2 mentioned well-crafted action sequences worth your money for the entry fee? Certainly NOT! 7 minutes of enjoyment for 2h 10 of boredom? That's a bad exchange... Thus my advice: Safe your money, stay at home...^^ ...or watch something really worth your money! :)

Mo gui tian shi (1973)

Point Blank meets Martial Arts (once more)

With music from "Shaft" and the typical "Point Blank" plot, this Hongkong movie comes along pretty cheap, but entertaining. I liked it after all. So if you are into martial arts films, you might like it too (even though I wouldn't spend money to see it).

The story is the typical "Point Blank" revenge story: At first, the protagonist starts off down the hierarchy, always climbing higher until the final duel against the top gangster boss comes. You can watch the original "Point Blank", the quasi-remake "Payback" with Mel Gibson, or the neo-noir thriller "The Limey", directed by Steven Soderbergh instead. (and I'm pretty sure, that there are plenty of other similar plotted films around) Or, if you like this kind of story, watch all of those movies...!

Anyway - another option is to watch the Shaw Brothers classic "Bao chou", which does not only tell the same story, but also in the same style: with martial arts fights and the Asian setting. But "Bao chou" is for sure much better from a cinematic point of view and shows much more blood flowing; directed by legendary Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh, it is also quite entertaining.

But maybe "Wu Kung" is even more fun in its cheesiness - so if you are into trashy Asian movies and the typical 70's cinematography from most of the Charles Bronson flicks, you should check this out.