The Best stand-alone Wolverine Entry

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2017)

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine for nearly 20 years now. He has promised that it's his last, and before hanging up the claws it's very evident he wants to go out on a high note. He has mastered the role by now and does it true justice in this third and best entry in the Wolverine franchise.
Everything seemed perfect by the end of Days of Future Past, the time-line corrected its self and resurrected all of the fan favourites from the first three movies that proceeded the events. Fast forward six years after the that film, it's now 2029. He is nearly 200 years old, he's a shadow of his former self, he's struggling to heal, drinks and curses a lot. He makes a living as a chauffeur to pay for his booze and medicine to prevent Xavier's frequent deadly seizures. He is hiding away in a desert outpost near the Mexican border, joined by mutant Caliban who is referred to as an albino by one character. They both look after Charles who is battling dementia. Without spoiling anything else, I'm going to stop blabbing on.
Logan isn't your typical superhero movie, inspired by the Mark Miller/Steve McNiven comic, it takes the sometimes formulaic and tiresome genre in many new directions. Tonally it feels like a western more than anything else with hints of horror and sci-fi elements. This is director James Mangold's second attempt at the hero and he is clearly given more creative reign of the movie than the 2013 outing of the famous character (which wasn't too bad, certainly better than the 2009 film). Oddly though, Wolverine works as a future-set western and the director isn't shy of making a good western (Copland and 3:10 to Yuma being fine examples) he delivers in spades with this. There's no spandex to be seen here, no build up to other films, no outlandish super-villains and no macguffins in the form of a stones. Instead it's a striped back, gritty character piece, that takes its time with its premise and doesn't throw everything in your face at once.
It doesn't hold back on the violence and when it's brutal, it really is brutal, no cartoonish nonsense. There's More blood, guts and bad language in this than the entire X-Men franchise combined. It doesn't feel like it was spliced together in the editing room, like many movies such as The Expendables 2 and Die Hard 4. It's very obvious that it was shot as a 15 rated film. It feels natural and fits the story well, the film just wouldn't work with a 12 rated certificate.
This film could have been very different if not for last year's Deadpool which arguably raised the bar for comic book movies aimed at adults. That movie proved producers wrong bringing in over 800 million at the worldwide box office. This film will probably make more as audiences are getting a craving for violent action movies.
Cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator, X-Men First Class) gives the film that unique look. Shot in anamorphic, it really does give the film that western look the director was going for. Each shot looks like the graphic novel coming to life with establishing shots, shots of Logan drinking in a rain drenched graveyard etc. The action sequences are filmed very well with no shaky cam nonsense or quick cuts. Composer Marco Beltrami also deserves recognition here too with his brooding, atmospheric score. His third collaboration with Mangold, this one is easily his best as it isn't your typical fantastical comic book movie score. It's very noticeable that everyone is on their A-game here to make this the best possible movie they can.
However there is some nitpicks, only minor. For instance Boyd Holbrook's cyborg arm villain isn't given much to do other than deliver monologues and give orders to his team. The last act does raise a lot of questions which make you scratch your your head, However it is a fitting finale for the claw wielding character and a lot better than the dreaded Silver Samurai ending in the last Wolverine film.
Verdict It certainly wouldn't be surprising if Hugh and co. get some awards recognition next year, especially Patrick Stewart who gives an emotional final performance as Xavier. By far the best stand-alone Wolverine movie and easily one of the best comic book movies in recent memory.