2016 was an AWFUL year for films. I was hoping 2017 would have started out fresh and wow, has it ever. I’ve got 4 reviews for you and it’s been too damn long and my apologies for not getting these out faster.
First one is the final installment of Wolverine simply titled, “Logan.” Hugh Jackman gets into ripped shit shape and straps on the adamantium for the last time. This one takes place in the future and Wolvie is looking OLD. He’s even having problems healing himself. Hell, he’s even taken up being an Uber driver. You think he looks bad? Wait till you see Professor X, he looks like a mummy in a wheelchair. Mutants are all but extinct. So Logan is keeping Professor X hidden as the government put out an APB on him because Xavier’s uncontrolled mind powers have caused a few problems, including the Westchester incident. Unfortunately, we don’t get a chance to see or hear more about it…unless they broke it down when I ran into the bathroom for 2 minutes.
Logan is approached by a Mexican woman who asks that she takes care of her daughter who turns out to be, surprise, a mutant. Immediately, a security force wants her back and Wolverine is none too obliging. X-23 is the mutant in question and she’s a Wolverine clone, amongst other mutants. So of course, Xavier and Wolverine take on the challenge of getting her to safety.
The first 2 standalone Wolverine films are trash. Xmen Origins and the Wolverine were major disappointments. They were goofy (in a bad way, not like how Deadpool pulled it off masterfully), anti-climatic, and you left just not giving a shit what happened for 2 hours. Logan is not disappointing for many reasons. One: This is R-rated and you can take a good guess why. Jackman slices and dices like OJ did Nicole Brown Simpson one fateful night in 1994. You see limbs, heads, and dignity get sliced off with geysers of blood…as it should have been. The other X-Men/Wolverine films were PG-13 so they were cautious about keeping the gore to a dull, singular spray of blood here and there. Not Logan, they’re not shy about showing it all. Secondly: this film is DARK, just as the way it should have been. You feel for Jackman’s descent into loneliness as he attempts to patch all inward holes with drugs and alcohol. You feel for him as he takes care of a degenerating Xavier. You feel for him as he adopts the undesirability of protecting X-23. One of the few knocks of this film is that I felt it did drag toward the end and could have cut out 10 minutes or so.
Third time’s the charm as they close out the Wolverine with class and sadness.
I give this a 7/10
Next up is the surprise hit of the year thus far, “Get Out.” Jordan Peele of “Key and Peele” fame as well as infamy for “Keanu” (what a piece of cold dogshit that was) creates his directorial debut. Get Out is the story of a interracial couple that visit the white woman’s parents’ house in upstate NY. Chris, the lead character, has trepidation while meeting her parents (Allison Williams, the only attractive one in the show, Girls) that go over the top to prove that they’re not racist. Katherine Keener plays Williams’s mother who is a hypnotist that can cure Chris’s penchant for smoking. After tricking him into temporary hypnosis, he begins to notice things aren’t what they seem with the family as well as their friends.
And that’s all I’m going to tell you about this because the payoffs for this film are too great. You can see Peele guiding the audience down a usual path in the first act but the 2nd and 3rd act are where his writing and directing skyrocket into the stratosphere. This isn’t your typical thriller with cheap jump cuts with sound effects to scare the audience, this is much more than that. You’ll thoroughly enjoy the ride as well as Chris’s best friend who is a TSA agent that fills his head with ideas about crazy white people.
This is easily one of the best thrillers I’ve seen and one of the smartest written films I’ve seen in a LONG time. The hype is well deserved and this is hopefully just the beginning of a long, successful storyteller and director.
I give this a 9 out of 10
One of the surprise films of the last few years was “John Wick.” When I saw the preview, I thought what most people did and that was, “Who gives a shit, it looks like every generic action film in the last decade.” Well, this turned out to be a pleasant hit and a cult classic. Keanu is back as the Russian hit man with little to say and a lot of ass whooping to do. The film with him getting back his car that got his wife and dog killed in the first one. Then, he’s called back out of retirement (again) when a favor is called in by your typical scumbag. Keanu does it and of course, is double crossed and then has every hit man (and lady) hunting him down in NYC. The only type of person NOT trying to kill him was a hipster on a unicycle.
This film seems to have coined the phrase, “Gung Fu,” which is the combination of kung fu and gun play and there is plenty of it here. Plenty of solid action with a decent plot and they beautifully tee up John Wick 3. If you like the first one, you’ll like the second one, maybe just a little less.
I give it 6.5 out of 10.
Last and certainly not least, is a holdover from 2016. Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, one of the all time most recognized and reviled businessmen in this country. The Founder chronicles how Kroc goes into business with the McDonald brothers, who created a workflow to get burgers to customers in less than 2 minutes, and then takes over by franchising their operation. This film was completely shut out of the Oscars and what a joke that was. Keaton MASTERFULLY plays the hero and the villain. One moment, you’re rooting for Kroc to take McDonald’s to the promised land. The next, you’re aghast he strips the McDonald’s brothers of their rights and profits. Keaton should’ve been nominated as should have this film…and they both would have won in my book. I only saw Arrival of the nominated films as of posting time of the article but I’ve yet to hear how Moonlight or the others could knock this off the perch.
I give this an 8.5 out of 10.
Kevin Gootee 