God tier. An emotional rollercoaster and I can comfortably sit this one next to the likes of The Dark Knight.
Damn straight.
Couple of minor issues with Caliban's make up and the villains(specifically Richard E Grant's lack of screetime) aside and I would agree. The missus bawled her eyes out at a couple of scenes, and there were a few bits that had me cringing in my seat at the brutality but I loved every bit of it.
Not as good as TDK but it was bloody good all the same.
Massive respect for them going for a 15 certificate. It benefits enormously. The violence if crunching and awesome. The leads are great and it's a very cool understated comic turn from marchant as well.
Denster wrote:Not as good as TDK but it was bloody good all the same.
Massive respect for them going for a 15 certificate. It benefits enormously. The violence if crunching and awesome. The leads are great and it's a very cool understated comic turn from marchant as well.
9/10
Except there's no way it should have got a 15, its an 18 all over, don't know who they bribed to get it classified as a 15.
Anyway.
Its disjointed, meanders quite a lot and doesn't really get going till 2/3rds of the way through.
Its not that I didn't like it or that I didn't think it was good, but if you go in expecting anything anywhere near something like TDK, I think you are asking to be disappointed by it.
Denster wrote:Not as good as TDK but it was bloody good all the same.
Massive respect for them going for a 15 certificate. It benefits enormously. The violence if crunching and awesome. The leads are great and it's a very cool understated comic turn from marchant as well.
9/10
Except there's no way it should have got a 15, its an 18 all over, don't know who they bribed to get it classified as a 15.
Isn't it generally sex and drug use that get movies an 18 over here? Most R-rated movies from the States are 15. John Wick Chapter 2 being another recent example.
chalkitdown wrote:Isn't it generally sex and drug use that get movies an 18 over here? Most R-rated movies from the States are 15. John Wick Chapter 2 being another recent example.
BBFC for 15 wrote:Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.
I would say the violence was repeatedly more than just strong. There's decapitations and blood all over the place from the first minute of the film.
Denster wrote:Not as good as TDK but it was bloody good all the same.
Massive respect for them going for a 15 certificate. It benefits enormously. The violence if crunching and awesome. The leads are great and it's a very cool understated comic turn from marchant as well.
9/10
Except there's no way it should have got a 15, its an 18 all over, don't know who they bribed to get it classified as a 15.
Isn't it generally sex and drug use that get movies an 18 over here? Most R-rated movies from the States are 15. John Wick Chapter 2 being another recent example.
I saw an interview with the head of IFCO (the Irish classification office) and their concern is weapon violence, drug use and sexy time. They dont mind a pair of tits or some fella waving a gun around, theyd be more inclined to give a stabbing scene an 18 cert over a scene involving guns because knives are easily accessible and kids could actually pick up a real knife from the kitchen to mimic what they saw on tv. He explained it a lot better than that but they werent overly concerned about gun violence or kicking and punching, unless it was extreme, stabbings and chokings were of more concern in movies. Violence during sexy time was a guaranteed 18.
One interesting thing is he also mentioned that if the movie was of historical or educational merit they would lower the rating, one example he gave was the Michael Collins movie, it was of obvious historical and educational interest so they gave it a 12 instead of a 15 classification.
Unfortunately both Predator and Terminator are vastly more enjoyable films. It has some classic Arnie quotes and one liners though; "Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired..." gets me every time I see it
It's a Western. Straight-up. No doubt about it, a Western in the same mould as Unforgiven, The Shootist, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Searchers and Shane. An aging gunslinger that no longer belongs in this world, trying one last time to do right before time comes for him.
And strawberry float me, they actually pulled it off. There's the occasional hiccup where it veers back into standard comic book fare, but overrall it's a genuinely mature, sombre film. Jackman has made the role his own for years now, but this is a real chance for him to show what he can really do, and the same goes for the rest of the cast and filmmakers. They've paid their dues and now the studio has given them enough leash to pursue something more intimate and less blockbuster. It's really good to see James Mangold bring out the promise he showed in Cop Land and his remake of 3:10 to Yuma (if anything it's blindingly obvious that he's been wanting to make Twilight Westerns for years) and the film excels at showing the potential comic book movies have outside of the standard formula they've been confined to for the last decade. I saw one criticism of how the film lacks memorable set-pieces, which I would argue is actually in its favour: Every fight has a brawl-like quality to it, choreography being intentionally rough which reaffirms the more serious tone of the film. It's not a film about big battles and epic moments, it's of characters trying to get by, and I'm glad to see that the filmmakers know that how the action is portrayed is a key aspect of the storytelling (a lot like how John Wick's clean, methodical style is reflective of his character).
It's easily up there amongst the best comic book films. It's one of few that tries to do something different, commits to it and actually succeeds.
Banjo wrote:I saw one criticism of how the film lacks memorable set-pieces, which I would argue is actually in its favour.
You mean there isn't a mcguffin that shoots an energy beam into the sky whilst Logan fights endless waves of completely generic robots/aliens/robotaliens?
Unfortunately both Predator and Terminator are vastly more enjoyable films. It has some classic Arnie quotes and one liners though; "Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired..." gets me every time I see it
Unfortunately both Predator and Terminator are vastly more enjoyable films. It has some classic Arnie quotes and one liners though; "Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired..." gets me every time I see it