Bleak, vicious and wonderful.

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2017)

In 2000 a fresh-faced Aussie actor with only a handful of local credits to his name scored the prized role of Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men. 17 years on, Hugh Jackman delivers his ninth and final performance as the metal-clawed mutant, and it's arguably his best. Set in the not-too-distant future where mutants are all but extinct, our eponymous antihero is eking out a living as a limo driver on the U.S-Mexico border, predominantly to fund his alcohol addiction but also to provide for the mentally declining Professor X (Patrick Stewart). Happy to drink his remaining years away, Logan's waste of a life is upended when he's forced upon to transport an enigmatic girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), across the country to safety. Shedding the usual superhero template, this entry into the X-Men universe plays out more like a slow-burn, gritty Western, or a violent, modern-noir road trip flick; you can take your pick. The emphasis on building character and atmosphere through weighty dialogue, metaphorical plot devices and an unrelentingly sombre tone won't be for everyone's tastes—especially those expecting the normal comic-book fare—but it's undeniably ballsy and mostly poignant. There are long stretches without action, however when the set pieces come along they're executed with a brutality that is both completely apt and utterly surprising. Wolvie slices and dices his way through hordes of henchmen, but this time they actually bleed. There's a reluctant grimness to the fighting this time around too; the carnage doled out by Logan is not presented as 'fun' or 'enjoyable' in the they-had-it-coming kind of way, but rather as a heavy burden that weighs him down. At the core of the proceedings is the two-hander between Jackman and newcomer Keen; the former all weary pessimism driven by regret, the latter naively filled with optimism and hope despite the odds against them. Anchored by two powerhouse central performances and a smart narrative that dispenses with superhero convention, Logan is the bleak, vicious and no-holds-barred farewell this iconic character deserved.