A Nice Send-Off To Hugh Jackman's Role That Solidified His Career

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2018)

Emanating in the year 2029, the mutant race is on the brink of non-existence. An aging, disheveled shell of his former self, Logan (Hugh Jackman) the once mighty brave leader of the X-Men s now living a secluded lifestyle working as a chauffeur in a dystopian junkyard desert in Mexico with his ailing mentor Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and his loyal, pale complexioned tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant). Trouble starts brewing as Logan against his better judgement must protect mutant girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) from an assembly of bounty hunter in pursuit to wipe them out led by Donald Pierce. (Boyd Holbrook).
Since 2000, Hugh Jackman has played the iconic Logan/Wolverine ad it's this role alone that definitively put a stamp on his career. After 17 years, this ride mut come to an end and in "Logan", Jackman will unleash the dreaded claws for one more hurrah. The big difference between this movie and the previous solo films about Wolverine is that the action is more tense, the drama is more uplifting and the action scene are violent, but very well choreographed. The best thing about this movie is that director James Mangold give superhero action fans what they want add to that what they deserve, an R-rated film that shows no remorse or any watering down in its action scenes. Through all that dicing and slicing with his claws Jackman looks like he's never lost his step.
Aside from the gory scenes, Mangold and his screenwriting cohorts Scott Frank and Michael Green have successfully managed to fully bring Mark Millar and Scott McNiven's "Old Man Logan" comic series juxtaposed with an homage to the classic Westerns like 1953's "Shane" and 1992's "Unforgiven". The character of Logan himself has an identical psyche to Alan Ladd's Shane and Clint Eastwood's William Munny as a vigilante who's willing to leave the past behind him and unwinds until something horrifying happens that resurrects his old habits. In spite of the gloom settings and cynical tones, there is an equally balanced humour to lift one's spirits so that you won't leave the theatre depressed.
Performance wise, Jackman delivers a strong performance as Logan being that it is his swan song as the film that made him who he is gives everything he can to close out this chapter in his movie career. Patrick Stewart is remarkable as Professor Charles Xavier and though it can be sad seeing this once powerful mentor in the aging condition he's in, Stewart still pulls it off convincingly. Wonderful performances come from the strong support from Stephen Merchant and Boyd Holbrook as Caliban and Donald Pierce respectively. The real scene stealing comes from Dafne Keen as mutant Laura who was near flawless.
If I could find a solitary flaw in this story it have to be the editing. The main scene which could've been better was when the mutants are hiding in a remote area.
When everything sums up we should not say this is the end, we should just say, see you later. Even though Jackman may not play Wolverine, there might be another performer who might play Wolverine. Though this may be the end of an era for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, at least he went down in a big way thanks to his endearing performance and Mangold's sharp direction. This will truly be a send-off everyone will remember.