I picked up Logan on bluray recently and i highly suggest to anyone reading this that they do the same, or at least watch it now if they missed it in the theatres.
That bit of news alone wouldn’t prompt any post on here, and i’m not going to make it a habit of reviewing home releases; but a curious addition accompanied the bluray in the form of Logan Noir. A black and white version of the film, where they (as the name would suggest) remove the colour from the film for a different version of the same film.
So i figured i would take the opportunity to look at the film in a different light, and address some things that i hadn’t in my original review.
2ND TIMES THE CHARM?
I had thought that i might have rated Logan a little higher than it deserved, but a second helping of the film quickly put that to rest. The movie remains a poignant and touching last outing for Hugh Jackman’s take on the beloved character, and i really don’t have any complaints other than the ones i voiced in my original review.
Which leads us to what i think of this noir version.
The first thing that i noticed about the black and white version of Logan was that the removal of the colour affected the action scenes most; the choreography was easier to follow, however the violence lost a bit of its visceral qualities. Which is a bit of a hit, as the gore definitely felt refreshing in a genre that is mired in PG-13 hand holding.
Also considering the film is in black and white i will naturally compare it to the two greatest examples of black and white cinematography: Gregg Toland’s work on Citizen Kane and Janusz Kaminski’s work on Schindler’s List.
And naturally it doesn’t hold up, through no fault of its own as Logan was shot as a colour movie, switching it to black and white reveals the use of colour to create visual contrast. As differing shades of the same colour can help the exposure of the shot look proper, whereas that isn’t an option when colour is removed. I find if there’s no strong white shades in a black and white shot the picture looks muddy, and there are a lot of muddy shots in Logan.
However, that’s not to say that all of Logan looks bad in black and white, far from it. The scenes shot at night make great use of back lights, light shafts, and reverse key lighting. It would also seem that the movie underwent some timing corrections, as some shots that are dark in the colour version have their exposures corrected (with Xavier realizing Logan is X-24 being the most noticeable example).
Lastly it is a bit of a shame watching the noir version of Logan, as the movie is quite colourful throughout its running time. Neon lights, deep greens, yellows, oranges, and of course reds are plentiful in the movie proper and are quite pleasing to the eye.
So in the end Logan Noir is hardly necessary (in fact it defines the word superfluous), and i find removal of the colour palette doesn’t enhance or undermine the already great drama in the film. Nonetheless it remains a curious oddity and if you happen to like black and white movies you might like what’s on display here on the bluray release.
MOPPING UP
When i was walking out of the theatre, my girlfriend and i overheard another couple’s thoughts on our way out the theatre. I take it they weren’t as impressed as i and she were at the film, and were busy nitpicking it in the frustrating way that people who didn’t actually watch the movie usually do. I remember a couple of incredibly flimsy “Plot Holes” they were discussing and i’m petty enough to put them to rest here months after the fact.
Wouldn’t wolverine’s claws cut through X-24’s skeleton as well? Why would a bullet work? Yuk Yuk Yuk.
A real gotcha moment there, except for the fact that a bullet is moving a lot faster than logan’s or anyone else’s hand could possibly move. While the specific ballistics of the situation escape my know how (and my desire to learn about), if IMFDB is to be looked at the round was fired out of a Smith & Wesson Model 386. Which can be chambered in either a .38 special or .357 magnum round, and if this guy is to be believed a .357 magnum round would put 583 ft lbs of pressure on a very concentrated point. Thus fracturing X-24’s skull and killing him.
But hey but elite boxers can generate up to 1300 psi of force which is equal to 187200 ft lb of force!
Ignoring the technicalities of the physics that would allow for that amount of force to be developed in that given situation; this is where the fantasy of the situation plays in. As it is seen in Wolverine that when heated adamantium will cut through the same material. The temperature of a bullet exiting a gun wouldn’t make steel red hot, and the temperature would still depend on a number of factors. However the force and the heat of the round in combination with one another sufficiently (on my part) passes suspension of disbelief to have X-24’s head cave in from being shot with an adamantium round.
Also this is just another example of weak nit picking, Wolverine showed that adamantium isn’t as invincible as its made out to be; and a bullet exiting a gun is going to do more damage to someone’s head than a knife or a hand would.
Wouldn’t X-24 just heal and get up after being shot? He is the Wolverine after all, ha ha this movie sucks.
Observations like this make me lose faith in humanity, we’ve made technology that can send all of the accumulated knowledge of the human race across the air in seconds and still people can’t pay attention to details.
Logan opts to show and not tell its exposition, which is what everyone apparently wants. As it is shown that X-24 when injured can heal, up to a point. Logan’s slashes are healed immediately, but when X-24 is run over by a truck, impaled, then shot in the face he is shown to have trouble healing until given a serum.
Clearly, as in as clear as the sun shining, X-24 isn’t a perfect clone of Logan. He can be killed when injured enough, and that’s what happens when half of X-24’s brain gets ejected from his skull by a speeding bullet.
Yes i know in the comics Wolverine survived being blasted by a nuclear bomb, and seemingly the only way to kill him is to suffocate him somehow (ie. drowning). But honestly i prefer Logan as he was in Claremont’s original Wolverine mini series; where he could be injured severely and even killed by his wounds.
Anyways, in the end watch Logan. It’s a great movie
Ten Years Too Late 