Logan

Ever since the first X-Men movie hit theatres in the summer of 2000, I have been a fan of Wolverine as well as Hugh Jackman himself. Over the course of the next seventeen years, I followed his cinematic exploits from both the good (X2, Days of Future Past, The Wolverine, that awesome cameo in First Class) to the less than great (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Now, it comes time to bid farewell as Hugh Jackman gives the beloved Wolverine, his real name is Logan, one last ride and this one's a doozy. 

Set many years in the not so distant future, Logan (played by Hugh Jackman) is living a quiet life making ends meet driving a limo and living in a secluded area close to the Mexico border. He's grown older and his regenerative abilities are starting to fade. He needs eyeglasses to read and is starting to slow down. Living with him is a now 90 year old Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), who has become prone to seizures that are not only a threat to him but, thanks to his incredible mental powers, a threat to those in the immediate vicinity and as a result is kept heavily medicated. Helping him take care of Charles is another mutant named Caliban (played by Stephen Merchant), who has the ability to sense and track other mutants. One day, Logan is approached a woman named Gabriela (played by Elizabeth Rodriguez), who asks Logan to take her and the young girl she is with, Laura (played by Dafne Keen) to North Dakota, where she says there is a refuge for Mutants called Eden. He initially refuses, but once he discovers that Charles has been communicating with Laura, as well as witnesses Laura's abilities that are shockingly similar to his own, he agrees to take them, along with Charles. Hot on their trail are Donald Pierce (played by Boyd Holbrook) and Zander Rice (played by Richard E. Grant), who experiment on and clone children based on Mutant genes, which is where Laura came from. It's going to take everything Logan has left to try and keep Laura out of their clutches. 

Taking inspiration from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's seminal series of comics "Old Man Logan", director James Mangold and co-writers Scott Frank and Michael Green mange to create a fitting final chapter in the X-Men series for two of the most popular characters, Wolverine and Charles Xavier. There is a nice sense of things coming full circle for the two characters that made me really glad I re-watched all the previous X-Men films prior to this one (Yes, even X-Men Origins). In the original film, Charles begins to help an amnesiac Logan try to recover his lost memories and in this film things have come full circle with Logan looking after Charles and trying to help him the best he can. The film is a dark and gritty film that most certainly earns it's R rating (and is also most assuredly not for kids). We also get to see perhaps the truest berserk attack from Wolverine, something we've seen in the series before, notably in both X2 and X-Men: Apocalypse, but now without the burden of PG-13, they are able to show it in all it's gruesome intensity. The film also ups the stakes considerably as Logan has grown weaker over the years and become considerably more mortal, making the threat that Donald and Zander (along with all their goons) pose all the more foreboding. Yet, at the same time James Mangold gives the film room to breathe and let the smaller, more character driven moments really develop which in turn strengthens the film.   

For his final outing in the role (and he has sworn up and down this is his last time playing Logan), Hugh Jackman gives the role his all. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor guy, seeing him as a broken down man hiding from society. It really is a touching performance from Jackman as he gives the Wolverine one last heroic outing doing whatever it takes to get this one girl, and later the kids like her (in a section of the film that reminded me more than a little of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) to safety. Likewise, Patrick Stewart gave a great turn as an older, stubborn Charles Xavier who has to convince Logan that they still have it in them to help one more mutant child, to one more time find some purpose in their lives. It's an equally touching performance and yet hard to see Charles in such a state, a great mind that is also betraying him. It's not hard to see how both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have stated they are retiring from their roles. Might as well stop while you're on top. I also have to mention Stephen Merchant as Caliban as the role is a pretty significant departure for the actor, mainly known for his comedic roles (and I will probably always remember him best as Ricky Gervais' clueless agent on Extras). It's a wonderful and sympathetic performance. 

Overall, Logan is without question the best of the standalone Wolverine films and easily one of the best X-Men movies period. It also shows that there is a place for thoughtful and well-made comic book films made for an adult audience. It's dark, gritty and intense but also explores deeper into it's central character than before with a sense of maturity and honesty that hasn't been seen in this genre before. It's a refreshing change of pace and will be curious to see what, if any, future films follow this one's lead. As a send off for the Wolverine, it's pretty much perfect for me.