Logan has become an anticipated entity in the world of superhero movies for 2017 but is it a “superhero movie”? The ongoing campaign promotion of the upcoming film has been a subtle but effective one, drawing in fans by posting pictures every week of what could potentially be glimpses of the film. And all the pictures show a film that may not really be a superhero movie.
The superhero movie has a formula that works no matter who the character may be- a protagonist who has super powers due to an accident or something he was born with goes on a mission to save the world from a villain with a grudge, all the while making some friends that may or may have some influence to the plot. Logan seems to have moved away from traditional tropes and explored new grounds with the new film.
The R-rating for one gave the movie a lot of space to see how a tempestuous hero with a violent nature would react when he is cornered into a bit of trouble. But that does not mean he would revolt his attackers with explosions and special effects. In a Flicks and the City interview with James Mangold, the director discussed what Logan actually is. The director said:
“We wanted to make a movie that’s really a drama. If you cut out the action, what you’d have is a powerful drama about interesting character. Whether that makes us different or not, I’ll leave others to judge but I tihnk it was our goal to make a movie that earned its audience from feeling real. Really feeling human or feeling intimate.”
As Mangold said, the new film’s trailer alone showed more emphasis on the relationship between the characters than focusing on saving te world from another attack. Comic characters like wolverine have a rich background and history which, in real life would psychologically do more trauma to a person’s character. And it looks like Logan will finally give light to the darker parts of being born a mutant, without becoming a villain.
