Third time is the charm.

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2017)

By far this is the best Wolverine stand alone film. I guess third time really is the charm as X- Men Origins: Wolverine is an abysmal mess, and The Wolverine is just mediocre at best. What always held Wolverine back was the PG-13 rating. Now with this R rating, everything makes a ginormous difference.
The smart and bold script written by James Mangold, Scott Frank and Michael Green affords Hugh Jackman the opportunity to totally reinvent his portrayal of Logan/Wolverine, and the result is one of the best performances of Jackman's career, and ranks up there with one of the most impressive superhero movies of this decade.
It's very layered, and although at times there are a couple moments where it can drag, a lot of it is devoted to characterization of our leads. Patrick Stewart turns in one of the most thoughtful performances as Professor Xavier. Every scene with his banter and relationship with Logan is golden. Stephen Merchant also has a nice supporting role as Caliban. Boyd Holbrook has a very good asshole role as the ruthless Donald Pierce. A little underdeveloped, but he comes off as someone you love to hate and he does a good job selling that. Dafne Keen is Laura/X-23, and she is a superstar in the film. Granted she doesn't have much dialog, but she rules every action scene she's in and in the moments that she does talk, she doesn't come off as if she's reading the dialog in the script, but actually evoking the emotion that it needs.
James Mangold brings the tone, the pacing and the feel of a Western, particularly the movie Shane. Mangold is no stranger to westerns as he directed the great 3:10 to Yuma remake. Even in the set pieces, most of the film does not take place in a large cityscape, but rather in a desert like scenery, the road, the woods, a lonely convenient store, etc., making the film feel more isolated. This is an extremely violent film I might add, in which guts and blood are spilled and splatted everywhere. This time there's a visceral punch every time Logan brings out his claws to slice and dice.
Logan is a deep and somber character study of Logan himself. He and Xavier are old, withered and been though a lot. Even when Logan reluctantly honors Xavier's wishes to protecting Laura, it's clear after years of being bruised and battered, all he really wants to do is to drink and forget, to the point where he is numb to everything and anything resembling human feelings is irrelevant to him. The R rating is organic and doesn't feel out of place. Violence happens for a reason as it serves the story very well and Logan does not hold back in this one.
After seventeen years, and nine appearances as Wolverine(including this one), Hugh Jackman goes out with a bang. His dedication and commitment to playing this character for so long is a remarkable feat, so thank you Hugh Jackman for bringing out the best in you, even if some of the other movies weren't exactly great.
However, after seeing this film, I'm not ready for him to leave just yet. This and Deadpool are so far the best entries Fox has provided since X2: X-Men United. If only Fox can just come to Jackman's house with a dump truck full of cash. I hope Ryan Reynolds does everything he can to have him return for a Wolverine/Deadpool crossover, or perhaps Kevin Feige works his magic? Unlikely, but one can hope.
This is the Wolverine film I wanted to see. Better late than never. Hugh Jackman gives it his all, and I think it's very Oscar worthy. Yup I said it.
9/10