Logan

by James Mangold, Scott Frank, Michael Green

126 pages, Unknown Binding

About the author

James Mangold is an acclaimed American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his versatility across genres. He made his directorial debut with Heavy in 1995 and quickly gained recognition with Cop Land (1997) and Girl, Interrupted (1999). His work often blends strong character development with rich storytelling, as seen in later films like Identity (2003), the Oscar-winning Walk the Line (2005), and the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007).
Born in New York City, Mangold grew up in Washingtonville, New York, and is the son of artists Robert Mangold and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by Alexander Mackendrick, and later earned his MFA in film at Columbia University under Miloš Forman’s guidance. Early in his career, he worked at Disney, co-writing Oliver & Company.
Mangold’s success continued with Walk the Line, which earned five Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress win for Reese Witherspoon. He later directed The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), both starring Hugh Jackman. Logan became a landmark in the superhero genre, praised for its emotional depth and realism, and earned Mangold his first Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2019, Mangold directed Ford v Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Mangold’s ability to combine dynamic storytelling with human drama was widely recognized.
In 2023, he directed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, taking over from Steven Spielberg for the franchise’s final chapter. He also directed and co-wrote A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. The film earned Mangold his first nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director at the Academy Awards.
Looking ahead, Mangold is set to direct a Swamp Thing film for the newly rebooted DC Universe and a Star Wars film exploring the origins of The Force. He has expressed a preference for storytelling grounded in emotional truth, steering away from multiverse narratives and franchise overexpansion, which he believes can dilute storytelling's emotional core.
Mangold's directing style focuses on finding a personal and emotional center in each project, whether adapting a real-life story or a popular franchise. He believes that changing genres keeps his work fresh and allows lessons learned in one style to influence another. His films often feature strong, nuanced characters navigating complex worlds, blending genre conventions with a deeper, emotional resonance.
Throughout his career, Mangold has demonstrated a remarkable ability to move between independent films, large-scale franchises, and biopics without losing his distinctive voice. His ongoing projects and past achievements cement his place as one of the most dynamic and respected filmmakers of his generation.

Reviews

[Stina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #24 for 2018
The Legendary Book Club of Habitica's Ultimate Reading Challenge: A book about a villain or anti-hero
The Ultimate PopSugar Reading Challenge:
- A book about a villain or anti-hero
- A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
Better World Books: A book inspired by a feature film
Mt TBR Challenge #14

I got burned out on the X-Men movies and quit watching them some time ago, so I haven't seen this one. This is also the first screenplay I've ever read before watching its film version, so I am not sure what effect that has on my reading of it. I had no trouble envisioning the scenes, however, so I think that says a lot for the writing skill. I also liked the conversational tone used in the descriptive sections. Gee, I wonder why....

This is a character study as well as a "passing the torch" story, but dang, it chose the dark path. It is very fitting for these dark times, though, with Logan representing the increasingly rapid disintegration of our world due to the poisons that used to give it strength. I also liked the visual asides about how the prosperity gospel currently in fashion is corrosive to the fabric of society. For a story about giving hope to the next generation, the ending is super-ambiguous. But yeah, I get it. Hope is only hope, after all.

[Ross Bonaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every year before the Oscars, I try and read every one of the nominated screenplays. After years of doing this, the first action film that has been nominated is Logan, which after reading, shows what makes it different from the usual action films, but also why action films aren't exactly fighting for Oscars.

Reading Logan, it's fascinating how much of this story centers around the relationships between Charles Xavier, Logan and his newfound daughter, Laura. When the screenplay focuses on these three, and in the case of Logan and Charles, the decades of history they have together, Logan shines, and it's hard to tell this is even an action film. It's dreary and bleak, filled with reminders of death and mistakes of the past. As a character piece, Logan is quite solid, and better than the average superhero film.

However when Logan does become more action-oriented, the flaws in reading action become abundantly clear. The action sequences are muddled, to the point that they don't make sense. There are grammatical errors and even the wrong character's names are said at the wrong time. Logan becomes sort of a mess. Also, James Mangold's occasional interjecting into the screenplay makes this far sillier than it should be. I recently listened to a podcast from Mangold, where he stated he wanted to write a film where drama and violence weren't far from each other, but he seems to mistake violence for maturity, and that's not how it works at all.

In that interview, Mangold also said that he wanted to write a film where someone who had never seen an X-Men film could watch it and enjoy it. And yet, so much of this film has to do with the history of the X-Men, and Logan, and Charles, that it's insane to imagine someone watching this film and understanding the stakes at hand.

For superhero films, I think Logan will end up being an important screenplay in terms of superhero films learning how to utilize maturity over darkness masquerading as maturity. Mangold does this well for the most part, but the times when this screenplay becomes overtly superhero-esque holds the screenplay back overall.