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| Hugh Jackman in Logan |
Logan (2017)
In 2016, Hugh Jackman made the announcement that he would be playing Wolverine in one more movie. In fact, he and director James Mangold (who worked together on Kate & Leopold and The Wolverine) had been talking about doing such a film that was more grounded in reality, more mature, and where the setting is much more brutal and harsh. And with a hard-R rating, it’s as if the filmmakers behind Logan were doing the exact opposite of most conventional comic book movies and saying, “We’re gonna show you what would really happen when this character is in a fight.”
Set in the year 2029, where the mutant population is nearly extinct, James Howlett a.k.a. Logan is older, much more grizzled and bruised, full of regrets and doubts, and has practically given up on life. He spends his days as a limo driver, saving for a boat to leave civilization, and caring for an ailing, more senile and dangerous, and seizure-prone Charles Xavier. But when a mysterious girl comes into their lives, it becomes an unlikely trio of three mutants forced to go on a road trip, to an Eden-of-sorts that may or may not exist.
Again, Logan pulls no punches with its graphic violence and profane nature. From its opening five minutes alone, the filmmakers assure us that we’re in for a completely different X-Men-related story. As one character describes, “There used to be a time when a bad day was just a bad day.” When the aforementioned Laura (Dafne Keen, in an otherwise impressive screen debut) first shows off her fighting skills, it’s lethal, aggressive, and unexpected. (It’ll be hard for many viewers to see a child actress endure so much violence, including one gruesome moment where she’s impaled.) Another shocking sequence finds Logan facing one of his worst nightmares.
Then there’s the secret program that’s been breeding and imprisoning child mutants, attempting to create merciless killers. (Some references to suicide turn up here and elsewhere.) Other moments of dialogue throughout Logan criticize the more fantastical elements of comic books, drawing a hard line between fantasy and reality. Make no mistake, this movie is rough! To its credit, the film (like Deadpool) was never marketed as a child- or family-friendly movie. And parents and adults shouldn’t make that mistake either.
But Mangold and co-writers Scott Frank and Michael Green present more than just visceral onscreen brutality. Partially based on Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s “Old Man Logan” issue from the late-2000s, and with a powerful and thrilling score by composer Marco Beltrami, they’ve crafted an engrossing and evocative story—one with strange poignancy, mind you—about aging and remembering what it means to live and love (“You should take a moment and feel it. . . . You still have time.”) There are even some surprisingly spiritual and Biblical parallels. As for Xavier, Patrick Stewart has never been more dimensional or poetic with this role.
Logan also stands as a unique futuristic western, paying a few homages to the 1953 film Shane, in terms of the consequences of killing. (A black-and-white “Noir” version was released later that year, with more uniquely visceral and immersive, character-focused results.) For all their faults and flaws, these characters (Logan, and especially Charles and Laura) still have feelings, and long for something better than what they were made into, including a future full of hope. (For most of the story, Laura wears a shirt with a unicorn and rainbow.) And what a bold stroke for the filmmaker’s to end on such a shot/note. Logan is, in more ways than one, a surprisingly deep and layered conclusion to Jackman’s two-decade run with this character.
Or so he thought . . .
The New Mutants (2020)
The concept was intriguing: a group of five teenage mutants, who have not yet mastered control of their powers, are locked in a psychiatric ward and eventually come face-to-face with dark forces that represent each of their biggest fears. The fact that director Josh Boone’s take on Marvel’s New Mutants comic book series was going to be a full-on horror feature combined with a coming-of-age story (think Wes Craven-meets-John Hughes) made the project distinct from its predecessors. Its small, engaging, and diverse cast (Blu Hunt, Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, and a chilling, against-type Alice Braga) also showed promise, as did the film’s singular setting.
Unfortunately, that potential and momentum slowly died down for a number of reasons. For one, the film was originally scheduled for an April 2018 release (its teaser trailer premiered six months before), but was delayed several times due to reported reshoots, COVID, and the fact that Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019, thereby cancelling any future plans for a potential new franchise. When The New Mutants was finally released from its waiting prison in the fall of 2020 (as the world was getting out of lockdown), the concept was still interesting, and its style was very distinct. (It turned out to be the last film credit for executive producer Stan Lee.) But the execution was mediocre.
Glimpses of these characters’ tragic pasts (from abuse to survivors guilt) run rampant, as do nightmarish and disturbing images of slender men with freaky teeth, and references to the Essex Corp (as seen in X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan), in terms of surveillance and voyeurism. Then there’s the same-sex romance at the center of the film, with scenes of kissing and other suggestive/steamy moments involving hormonal and rebellious teenagers.
Earlier in the film, there’s a metaphor of two bears, one that is darkness and one that is light. The one that wins is the one you feed. But there’s also a metaphor of baby rattlesnakes, regarding uncontrollable or dangerous powers. With that in mind, The New Mutants has a lot of bite, but feeds more bleakness than light. It’s a very emo vibe that wasn’t all that worth the wait.
Deadpool 2 (2018)
When Deadpool was released in 2016, it blew the roof off of superhero conventions and tropes we’ve been seeing in cinema for over a decade. It also opened doors for violent, R-rated comic books movies--a trend that continued with Logan the following year. Tim Miller was originally tapped to return to the director’s chair for this 2018 sequel, but left due to creative differences. He was eventually replaced by David Leitch (director of the teaser short, No Good Deed, which played before Logan in theaters), who, along with star/co-writer Ryan Reynolds, basically took what was done in the first movie and amped it up, while giving it a slightly new style.
Following opening credits in the style of, once again, Screen Junkies’ “Honest Trailers,” as well as James Bond and Monty Python, the plot of Deadpool 2 involves a plus-size teenage boy (Julian Dennison) who can shoot fire from his fists, a time-traveling cyborg on a mission to change history (sound familiar?), and a teamup to save the former from the latter. (It’s interesting that Miller’s next directing gig was a sequel in The Terminator franchise.) Deadpool argues “this is a family movie,” considering the grief he goes through, while helping this kid becomes a way for him to get through it (commendable, but in a misguided, dysfunctional, and hypocritical way).
As with its 2016 predecessor, Deadpool 2 has its moments. Reynolds delivers clever fourth-wall jabs at Marvel (including the MCU and X-Men), as well as the DC Universe and other pop culture trends (“Is dubstep still a thing?”). He may also be the first person to realize what should’ve been an obvious connection between Barbara Streisand’s Yentl and Disney’s Frozen. Zazie Beetes absolutely kills it as Domino, as does Josh Brolin as Cable; references to the actor’s roles in The Goonies and Avengers: Infinity War are an added bonus. I would’ve liked to see more of the naturally-funny Rob Delaney as Peter. This sequel also has a little more heart and substance than the last movie, as the towering and chrome-covered Colossus still believes in Wade, despite all of the merc’s faults and poor choices.
The thing with Deadpool, however, is how naughty he and his movies are. This one practically opens with Wade blowing himself up, apparently over the ending of Logan (Because he has healing abilities, he comes back.) And it’s not just those passive suicidal references that are disappointing. While there are no graphic sex scenes this time around, and sexual abuse and pedophilia are seen as terrible things, there are still raunchy sex-related jokes, and a gratuitous scene where the Merc With the Mouth regrows his legs after literally being ripped in half. And let’s not forget the guy’s pansexual orientation.
Deadpool 2 wallows in foul content, including graphic violence that slices and dices through numerous foes and characters, harsh and offensive language (Jesus and God get some ruthless jabs), and one scene where Wade blasts an entire cocaine bag in his mask. The movie may have one of the most ingenious post-credit bits (“Just fixing up the timelines”), but it also plays music by Dolly Parton, Cher, and Celine Dion, for dark laughs. Plus, the way it subverts expectations of a potential team-up, while clever, is unexpected and outrageous.
A PG-13 recap of both movies (titled, Once Upon a Deadpool) was released at the end of 2018, featuring Fred Savage reprising his role from The Princess Bride, and being forced to listen to DP’s retelling. If you want to see a better example of a meta superhero comedy from that same year (one that even references Deadpool in a PG-rated way), see Warner Animation’s Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. It’s hilarious!
Dark Phoenix (2019)
Simon Kinberg had been working as a screenwriter and producer since the turn of the 21st Century, and has played a key role in the X-Men franchise. In fact, his first credit as a writer in the popular film series was in 2006 with The Last Stand. Kinberg has since had regrets over how that particular movie turned out, specifically in how it adapted the Dark Phoenix saga from the original Marvel comics. Fast forward 13 years later and Kinberg made his directorial debut with another attempt at the tragic story of the telepathic mutant Jean Grey’s transformation into a dangerous entity.
Dark Phoenix certainly had a lot going for it. Unlike the previous ensemble entries, Kinberg and company aimed for a more grounded and personal story that elevated the emotional stakes as much as (if not more than) the visual spectacle, almost on the same lines as Logan. The main characters were given their iconic yellow and blue outfits (as we saw in the Deadpool movies), if only for a while. Sophie Turner (who debuted as Jean in X-Men: Apocalypse) was given a more compelling role as the title character, who encounters and absorbs a cosmic convergence during a rescue mission in space, which unleashing dark and uncontrollable forces (and some long-kept secrets and traumas) with it. She has an equally compelling dynamic with Tye Sheridan’s Scott Summers, and a challenging one with James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. The film also marked a return to superhero movies for composer Hans Zimmer (whose previous such credit was Batman v Superman in 2016).
Filmed around the same time as The New Mutants and Deadpool 2, Dark Phoenix went through some post-production reshoots, since a few elements were reportedly too similar to Captain Marvel (released four months earlier). Both films feature extra-terrestrial beings; the species in Phoenix (headed by the always-magnetic Jessica Chastain, no pun intended) is a malevolent race that wants nothing more than to resurrect their kind and annihilate earth. (Yeah, what else is new?) Then there’s that inexplicable age gap of these characters from one decade to the next (Dark Phoenix is set in the 1990s). Its third act was also changed due to some poor test screenings. And while the final product had a fairly consistent tone throughout (thanks, in part, to Zimmer’s score), the overall effect was a polarizing and depressing way to finish out a long-running series at Fox.
It didn’t help that the film was released one month after the MCU’s penultimate Avengers: Endgame (both were dedicated to X-Men co-creator Stan Lee, who passed away in the fall of 2018), not to mention 20th Century Fox being purchased by the Disney company that same year. Plus, the dialogue can be conventional, its narrative can be predictable (although, it does get hopeful), and some of its character arcs can be flawed. Combined with this movie’s poor box-office results, any plans for future installments (including a crossover with the cast of The New Mutants) were abandoned.
In retrospect, Dark Phoenix isn’t the worst X-Men movie. To be fair, this series has been hit-or-miss for nearly twenty years. Kinberg and company did manage to make a more engrossing attempt at the aforementioned comic book saga. In some ways, it could’ve been better. With the MCU now owning the rights to these characters (and hoping they do these characters and stories justice), there is, like Jean, hope for a new beginning. Hey, they don’t call it “a phoenix rising from the ashes” for nothing.
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