 I recently finished up an 8 month long comic book movie brackets letting the viewer decide the winner via votes. I did almost 100 comic book movies and the winner unsurprisingly was The Dark Knight. Now comic book films are going to continue to come out year after year, but I didn't think one at the level of respect and caliber as The Dark Knight would come anytime soon. I thought it was a pretty safe bet. Enter Logan. I've broken this down a million times but here we go again. The Dark Knight cast is of course pretty damn nice. You got Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Cain bringing their level of sophistication to these flicks. Christian Bale reprising his role as The Dark Knight himself and he does a much better job when he's under the hood this time. Maggie Gyllenhaal takes the reins from Katie Holmes as a love interest Rachel and since I'm talking about The Dark Knight for the 800th time I will once again beat a dead dick and say she's one of the only weak links in this picture. Maggie is a great actor but because they switched actresses it lessens the death scene later on. I'll circle back to the villains in a bit but I want to switch gears and talk Logan. While the film doesn't have the same quantity of esteemed actors it makes up for that with some really fantastic performances. Mainly from Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart. Joining them on their road trip is X-23 played by Daphne Keen. Although silent for most of the picture she still gives one hell of a performance. These three come into contact with Farmhands, a mutant tracker and cloned children but it's really the trio that makes the movie. While the villains are stronger than The Dark Knight these really are two different types of movies. The Dark Knight absolutely rests on the performance of Heath Ledger's Joker. While many people loved and raved it there were some that said he was overrated. I think time has proven just how amazing this role was. Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face was handled remarkably well considering it was such a sideline story and comparison. I will argue to this day though that killing his character off early before he really had a chance to blossom in the third was a huge mistake. Logan's antagonist is a cyborg hunter of sorts named Pierce played by Boyd Holbrook. I liked his accent and his glasses that's really about all there is to the character. And since Logan is still fresh in theaters I'm going to avoid talking about any spoilery things including the other baddie in the room. It was a bit jarring at first then I realized and thought about it a little bit more it's a nice tip of the hat to the actor. Logan is a lot of things. It's a story of redemption. It's a story about family. It's a story about confronting your past. It's a plot point literally at times. And it's a story about peace and finding that peace. Xavier and Logan respect and love each other but there is a level of burden and bitterness shared as well. Xavier is suffering with a brain disease and some dementia. He has powerful seizures that affect everyone around him with devastating consequences. That plot point alone is very powerful considering who we're talking about here Xavier a man who almost is always in control with his thoughts. A man who always has the answers is now unable to think straight and is basically a weapon and a danger to those he loves the most. He has to rely on ironically the one man who never seems to think straight. The main plot sees a new girl come into Wolverine's life. She's being hunted by a small army and seeks refuge in North Dakota. Yes we are clearly in the worst timeline of the X-Men universe when people want to go to North Dakota. So a reluctant Logan takes his dysfunctional family across the country while being pursued at every turn. There's no big hero moments or buildings being ripped up from Earth. It's a very grounded comic book film. No pun intended for once. The Dark Knight was this way too. Gotham City is brought to its knees by a clowned menace who seeks out anarchy. He is the polar opposite of what Batman represents and this leads to some great character moments. The Joker constantly puts choices in front of our hero and the victims caught up in the crossfire. He makes Batman choose between the love of his life and a man who will bring security and hope to the city. The Joker is completely unhinged and free from morality and consequence. This makes him dangerous and extremely entertaining to watch. This film not only tests the characters but the audience itself having them reflect and think about how they would make these choices if they were in these situations. Not many comic book superhero movies do that and that's why Batman slash The Dark Knight is considered one of the best comic book films of all time. Let's go to round three. I'm a simple man. When I see the Wolverine go into berserker mode and start slashing off body parts, all is pretty right with the world. Ever since watching Hugh Jackman's Logan put his fucking adamantium claws through a nameless soldier in X2, all while keeping eye contact and screaming full blast in his face, I knew 100% this was the guy born for the role. Unfortunately, Fox and the screenwriters didn't give him a chance to really unleash. Not until that glorious R-Rating was gifted to director James Mangold and what a beautiful conclusion they finally reached after almost two decades. And I'm sure most of that's thanks to Deadpool, probably all of it. But hey, they got there. The action in Logan is intense, visceral, unhinged and just plain glorious and surprisingly there is a lot of it. The Dark Knight isn't the most action heavy flick. In fact, the fighting is probably the least exciting thing about the movie but that's not the intention here. There are some nice hand-to-hand scenes and obviously the practical effects are shot well. The locations are a sight to behold with large sweeping IMAX shots giving you a grand view of Gotham. I really took notice of the score in Logan. It's got this sort of western grit to it. It's somber and heavy with a good use of piano and drums. Composer Marco Biltrami is to thank for this, providing some amazing material. Hun Zimmer crafts an equally intense score with grand strings and booming bass. The title track is over 16 minutes long and just keeps building beautifully. Have I jerked off enough over these two films? I think so. Let's conclude. Make no mistake, these two flicks are some of the best in the business. If you ask me what you did, you're on my channel. Now I personally prefer Logan over The Dark Knight just because I love the character and I thought that movie was just perfect, just champagne filmmaking. But I'm more interested in what you have to say. Give me your thoughts on these two amazing flicks. Hope for your winner. And remember, this is more than just reviews. This is Movie Feuds. And I still would like to feud Logan versus Children of Men versus The Road. Three emotionally impactful films. But if I had to sit through all three of those in one night, my God, where's The Rope? You know? Fuck, those are dramatic.