LOGAN

dir. James Mangold, USA 2017.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/

By their very definition, mainstream movies are drawn from both the loftiest and basest instincts of their surrounding zeitgeist. But sometimes, there’s a window for that commercial confluence to really hit home. For audiences still reeling from the depressive effects of a society coming apart at the seams in the wake of recent sea changes, LOGAN guides them from the darkest sorrows of survival once again towards the idealism that is never too far from our hearts.

At his finest, James Mangold deploys contemporary talent to effect the most enduring aspects of classical 1970’s cinema. With shades of forbears like Walter Hill, Sam Peckinpah, Don Siegel, and George Miller in the DNA of this story largely liberated from the sometimes clunky baggage of its encapsulating franchise (yet what a joy to see writer Marjorie Liu given a special credit for her work in establishing key parts of this mythos!), Mangold and company revive the adjunct cousin to the blockbuster– a tightly well-crafted piece of viscerally unsentimental cinema. Like when the B-side to that hit single resonates with you even more than the song that brought you to the party.

Fox continues to eke out a worthy space in the cinematic superhero renaissance that keeps teetering on the edge of its zenith, treating this film’s R rating with respect and honesty. A story that is willing to button up its arcs rather than cravenly spilling over into the next tentpole is the welcome respite we didn’t realize we needed, in more ways than one.