The World of Lucky

Absolutely, without a doubt, the single best superhero movie I have ever seen. Not only that, it is on the very top of my list of favorite "real movies" as well. I can't really come up with a better movie at this moment.

We went to see Logan in the RPX so we could choose our seat. However, it was a Tuesday and the RPX is double the price of the discounted Tuesday prices for other showings that there wasn't a packed theater. This meant no distractions and we could focus on the movie.

I can't go into too much detail here, I don't want this to have spoilers, but I can say I will post again and break it down. The movie had a huge personal impact.

What I can say is this is not your Avenger's big tent action movie. The focus is on an aging Logan, Professor X and a young Laura (c'mon its not a spoiler if its in the trailer). Laura is being hunted by a group of powerful mercenaries and Logan and Professor X are trying to protect her.

The R rating does allow people to see the brutality of what it would be like to fight Wolverine, limbs and heads amputated, faces clawed open and the absolute monster that Wolverine could be in a fight. That however was not what the rating really made better. The storytelling was much better. It could handle much more adult subjects such as aging, consequences of a life of conflict, and family. This movie is not for someone who is a child or who is only interested in a mutant battle. If that is the limit of a movie you are interested, go see the new Thor, Spider Man or Guardians of the Galaxy movies coming out this summer.

I won't say anything else about the plot of the movie except to say it mirrors Deadpool in a way. Instead of redefining a superhero movie into a darker comedy, Logan transforms this movie into a gritty western as much as a superhero movie. It has a very broad, if very adult, scope for an audience. Some have talked about Oscars. I think it would be justified to receive best actor/supporting actor nominations if not the actual Oscars themselves.

The emotional impact of this movie hit both me and the hubby that night. It was near the anniversary of my father's death (one year) and there were a lot of similarities, the movie was like a gut punch. Those I will talk about in my next post about Logan where I can break out spoilers.

The biggest takeaway I saw another critic say is that the R rating is an excellent injection into the superhero niche. Not for violence, but for the way it can open a story up and allow superhero movies to grow up and become full stories, not just comics.

It has been reported that this is Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart's last movie each for their characters. 20 years of Wolverine and Professor X wrapped up on the best superhero movie made. I am sad they are turning in their characters, but I have to say it was absolutely the best movie they could have chosen to do so.

The good: Absolutely the best acting in any superhero movie, and in the top for conventional movies. The story is tight, not distracted with explosions or too many special effects. It satisfies both the action need and the story need that no other superhero movie can.

Just watching Sucker Punch now. There are some pretty fight scenes, some of the filming is gorgeous. It is basically one long music video (and some of the imagery is spectacular). However, it is probably the most misogynistic film I have seen in years. With the constant near rape of all the main female characters, the brutal treatment of them and the dressing them all up in oversexed clothes really is a turn off.

Don't get me wrong, the way Baby Doll (the main character) was dressed it was sexy school girl outfit. Inappropriate, but she was a fast fighter and I can go with that (not realistic at all, but was a sexier version of Buffy). But all the other women were dressed in even skimpier outfits, lots of bondage themes, etc.

I think it bothered me most that if this was the same story about a young male character there wouldn't have been the constant near rape fantasies happening, and I doubt the overly sexxy dress for all the female characters wouldn't have been there. Worst of all, they claim this is a woman's empowerment movie, that is wrong, it was a fantasy of a 13 year old boy (I know, I was that 13 year old boy).

Wow, does this mean I grew up? Or more likely I got to see the issues the women in my life have had to endure and it sort of disgusts me when people claim this movie was empowering women.

Oh, and for all the action, it was the slowest moving movie I have had to watch in awhile. Oh, and I didn't even finish the movie, I stopped watching after Rocket died to the hugely obese and abusive cook.