A good example of why X-Men is consistently the best comic-to-movie series

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2017)

I can't say Logan is my favorite movie in the X-Men series - it's too darn depressing - but this gritty meditation on heroism and mortality represents why the X-Men movies are so consistently good; the focus on character and psychology.
In the age of modern comic-book adaptations, I'm not sure anything else is quiet as pared-down is this. The leads are sick and dying, and the fights throw out flying and weather control in favor of what is basically a series of violent martial arts blade fights.
This is a very dark movie with a high death toll and a consistent bleak sense of place. It is emotionally powerful and surprisingly uncompromising within the movie superhero world, although it's still full of exciting action sequences.
At the same time, I think it's easy to be overly impressed with this movie because it's so different from a typical superhero movie. Some viewers are responding to Logan as though director Mangold has created a movie for the ages. I think that's pushing it a bit. But it is an absolutely terrific movie.