CowherPowerForever

Hugh Jackman has been the face of Wolverine on the big screen since the first live action X-Men movie way back in 2000. Since then not only has he appeared as the character nine times on the big screen, but he has voiced the character twice in video games. No matter your opinion or my opinion of this movie, the fact will always remain that Hugh Jackman will always be remember as an excellent Wolverine. The following is my review of Logan.

Logan takes place in the future, and one of my biggest problems of this film was how they ignored a great deal of the past films, even films that were meant to set up future events, like in X-Men: Apocalypse. I understand wanting to strike while the iron is hot with a R rated comic book movie, and the character of Wolverine truly lends himself nicely to the R rating, but as a fan of the character overall, I wanted more. While the film doesn't completely skip over past events, there are too many plot points they did skip over. Director James Mangold, who also directed the previous Wolverine film(The Wolverine) even skips over plot details he had in that film. While I didn't care for the lapse in story, I thought the overall film was average, I cannot even deny that the action scenes directed by Mangold are stellar works of art for a comic book film. He utilizes the R rating perfectly, and truly brings out the character of Wolverine for the first time in this aspect.

Another great aspect of the film is the acting. Lead by Hugh Jackman in the title role, the supporting cast of Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier and Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 make this one of the best all around best Marvel films in terms of acting. Even though my feelings about the story bring down my rating for this film, I want to emphasize that the action and acting in this film alone is worth the price of admission.

Marco Beltrami is the composer of the film, another highlight of the film. While he is known for composing many films that aren't considered good, no matter my opinion of this film, Beltrami delivers greatness in this score.

In closing, Logan in my opinion is a film that suffers from a bad story, a classic arch from the comics that was rushed into because of the success of Deadpool. Nearly every other area of the film delivers well enough to watch, maybe even more than once, but it doesn't delivery enough to make me give this a good rating or higher. Even though I give the film a mixed review, it is still worth the watch for the action scenes alone.

5/10

John Wick is back for another all out action go around. If you enjoyed the first movie as most people did, this is without a doubt a must see right away. Very few sequels in general can get close to the original, but John Wick Chapter 2 may even exceed the first movie in my opinion. The following is my review of John Wick: Chapter 2.

Chad Stahelski is once again back to director this action packed sequel to his 2014 surprise hit both critically and box office wise. Stahelski really came out of nowhere with the success of the first film, as before that movie he was really only known for stunt work, even working with the star of these two films, Keanu Reeves on the Matrix films. The best parts of the first film are Stahelski's vision to make a true classic action film that not only featured amazing gun scenes, but also featured hand to hand combat scenes that were mind blowing. This sequel ramps up both of those areas in this film. The goal of an action sequel is to even more action packed, and surprisingly this film does that. The action is real, and very little CG is noticeable in the film. It is corny to say a film is packed with action from start to finish, but this film literally is. Stahelski proved three years ago he was capable of directing an all out action film, and now he has proved he can continue that great success with a sequel that delivers even more so than the original in many regards.

Derek Kolstad is back to write the John Wick sequel. Similar to director Chad Stahelski, Kolstad is pretty much an unknown, having only wrote low budget films starring Dolph Lundgren, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Steven Austin. The story however for the John Wick series is pretty easy to write, but there are some good one liners that needed to be placed perfectly in the film, and Kolstad does another excellent job there. So even though the plot is thin, the great acting and action take center stage of the thin plot.

Tyler Bates(John Wick, 300, and Guardians of the Galaxy) and Joel J. Richard(John Wick and The Bourne Identity) are back to compose the score for this action film. Both composers have an excellent track record, more so for Bates, but both of these guys already delivered a fantastic score in the film movie, and the score is just as memorable this time around. If you are someone like myself who appreciates a good score in the heated moments of the fight scenes, you will truly enjoy this.

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a must see action film, and a must see for those who really enjoyed the first film. The action is even more intense, and the scenes don't look fake like many films in this genre tend to these days. The cast is truly magnificent, and even though the downtime in the film seems like it drags a bit too much, the acting makes it worth the wait.

9/10

After a long hiatus of not reviewing movies, I am back, and it feels great. I will start things back up first with The Lego Batman movie, then tomorrow with John Wick: Chapter 2. So without further delaying, here is my review of The Lego Batman Movie.

2014 bought us one of the best animated films to date, The Lego Movie, and riding the success of that film comes this movie. To be honest The Lego Movie is one of my favorite films period in this decade. In comparison The Lego Batman movie is a well written movie in terms of comedy and action, but the story is not as well developed as the previous Lego movie. The other film was able to interject many adult points into the plot without overcomplicating things. The Lego Batman film is without a doubt a fantastic movie to watch with the entire family. It has nonstop laughs, pokes fun at comic book movies in general, and is never boring. This is surely a must watch movie.

Chris McKay is the director of this movie. McKay is known for having directed many episodes of the adult animated show, Robot Chicken. For a director on a show like that to make the big transition in terms of the extreme level of comedy from Robot Chicken to this film is very impressive. Some of the jokes do get close to raunchy, but never actually cross that line. There are a few actions scenes that are really impressive to watch, especially if you get to see this movie in IMAX. McKay as the director really delivers in this aspect. This is truly one of the best elements of the film, and director Chris McKay deserves credit here.

Probably my favorite part of the movie besides the fun actions scenes and the jokes was the amazing score from composer Lorne Balfe. Balfe is known for working on movies such as Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Inception. While you can easily say the score here is more of another joke towards the comic book genre in general, it certainly fits this movie. As someone who really enjoys scores, I will be listening to this again and again.

In closing, this is truly the first great movie of the year, while the plot is thin compared to the previous Lego movie, it is well worth the price of admission. The extra money for IMAX is also worth it in my opinion, especially if you have the option of IMAX 3D. Animated movies seem to be the best bang for your buck for the 3D movies. This film is also great fun for the entire family, so taking your kids to this movie is certainly a must.

8/10