He's a bloody animal

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2017)

This review of Logan is spoiler free
**** (4/5)
IF ONE COULD simply describe how old Wolverine the same way X-Men Origins: Wolverine showed it we would be here all day, describing different timelines from when he was born to when he had the adamantium enhancement. So we're just going to say that he is old, like really f*cking old, sure superpowers are one thing, but nobody ever said that he was impenetrable to tiredness, or said that he was invincible. Yes he can heal but now it takes a lot longer to heal his aged skin.
In Logan Hugh Jackman's last time as the clawed mutant, he's tired, set six years after the sentinels killed thousands of mutants in X-Men: Days of Future Past we track Logan as a limo driver retired from the killing, having to look after another old codger, namely Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier who now at 90 years-old is very frail, restricted to a wheelchair he barely remembers who he is, he has constant seizures that are more powerful than ever that can be stopped by medicine. He is spending retirement with his trusted friend, Caliban (Stephen Merchant), who's a mutant tracker he can sense a mutant from miles away, however he's always worried when Xavier has one of his seizures. It's here when Logan meets Laura (newcomer Dafne Keen), a mutant with extraordinary powers but also like Wolverine has a dark past this quickly comes to show, and essentially she uses her dark past to control her power. Logan soon sees that she is more powerful than he anticipated, using her two hand-claws to brutally attack oncoming killers. He has to travel cross-country to a paradise for mutants who the mute Laura, learned from a comic book Logan, is convinced that she made it up but he goes anyway lugging along tiredly through the roads.
Director James Mangold's material showing the brutality of her past is powerful it shows that Wolverine isn't the only one with torture in his life. In addition he lives up to his promise by keeping the CGI to a minimum there's a slight ounce of CG here-and-there but compared to Marvel movies there's barely any. Mangold's technique here is not only in intricate detail of the character studies of Wolverine and Laura, but he's good with blood too the violence doesn't let up; sure there was violence in the previous X installments but nothing like this. There's splats of blood-and-guts everywhere it's sometimes unnerving, he Fs, he decapitates, he impales, and slashes - seemingly never-ending brutality here, Wolvie has been this bad-ass before in the other installments showing bloodless killings, but here we see the Wolverine we've been waiting for.
However the film isn't perfect, there is a flaw in the second act the film slows it's momentum in a moment when Wolverine learns more about Laura, her abilities, her family, and her life learning what kind of person she is. Explaining a little slowly but all essential material to the third act as it picks up its pace again. It's here when the material gets a lot stronger, Logan now a lot more tired has to pull through one last fight against Holbrook's soft-speaking, yet brutal killing machine, it's here when Mangold inputs sentimentality as Wolvie is beginning to get weaker when his medicine wears off, he shows strength though but it's not enough going into the final few moments. Laura/X-23 fights alongside him with a team of child mutants, she shows strength too she has seen a lot in her young life and killing is the only thing she knows.
There is a moment in the finale when you may let out a few tears when Logan, is on the edge he puts in the effort to stay up but it doesn't work. Mangold keeps this on a high, keeping up with the material from the previous two hours. Sure Logan isn't perfect but it is the best Wolverine has ever whet mistakes Mangold made with 2013s The Wolverine he cleared them up here. After nearly seventeen years and 9 X-Men movies (not including Deadpool) either playing as the main character or a cameo Jackman's Wolverine has been through a sh*tload of stories in the X-Men universe and this is no exception to his brutality. It's fair to say Jackman's final time as the Wolverine ends on an emotional high.
VERDICT: A bloody brilliant Wolverine movie, it's brutal, action-packed and endlessly exciting, this is the best Wolverine has been in years.