The third and final chapter in one of Marvel Films' greatest cinematic trilogies.

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2017)

In X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, we learned that Logan was born in pre- Victorian England as James Howlett (half-brother of the youngster who would grow up to be Sabertooth). We learned how they became mercenaries in every major conflict in world history. And, we learned how he became a Cold War spy/commando whose skeleton became laced with adamantium in an attempt to create the ultimate living weapon.
In plain old WOLVERINE, we learned how he saved the life of one of his Imperial Japanese Army captors the day the U.S. dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima. Leading to the debut of the Silver Samurai, over half a century later, as part of a convoluted attempt to make use of Logan's mutant healing factor-enhanced longevity.
Now, in this speculative sequel to X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, we learn the possible outcome of Logan's alteration of history. It is 2029 (twelve years from now). And, instead of a dystopian future ruled by the robotic Sentinels, we have a future in which mutants are virtually on the edge of extinction because of a mysterious drop in the collective birth of them. Well that, and a strongly hinted-at disaster involving the School for Gifted Youngsters and Professor Xavier's telepathic manifestation of Alzheimer's Disease,
Enter the high-tech mercenaries known as the Reavers and their leader, Donald Pierce. These guys are looking for a Mexican woman who ran off from a top-secret (and highly illegal) genetic research facility. One that's been using abducted Mexican women as surrogate mothers for what are basically test-tube mutant babies!
With the one called "Laura" (brilliantly played by newcomer Dafne Keen) being Logan's surrogate daughter.
The rest of the movie is somewhat predictable. The mercenaries are working for one of those half-mad scientists who now find it more profitable to work for shady bio-tech corporations rather than trying to conquer the world. In this case, Transigen (a corporate front for Logan's old friends at Alkali Lake). Once again, they want to breed the ultimate living weapon. And it appears they have succeeded!
The form that success takes is the biggest surprise in the whole film. Unfortunately, it's almost cancelled out by what happens to the Munson farming family (played by Eriq LaSalle, Elise Neal, and Quincy Fouse). I really wish they had been spared! I know they were introduced in order to serve as an example, to Logan, that one can have more than one kind of family in one's life. Nor does it necessarily have to be a biological one.
But, their getting massacred shortly afterward still struck me as counter-productive.
That's one of the reasons why I deduct one star from the perfect ten I would otherwise like to give it. The other reason, of course, is that this film marks the swan song for Hugh Jackman's almost twenty year-long portrayal of Marvel Comics most popular mutant. The anti-heroic one who was always the best at what he did! I understand he wants to avoid being irreparably stereotyped, like Adam West was after the BATMAN series went off the air.
Yet part of me still hopes that he might return to the role someday, once he's satisfied his search for versatility. A search that, I must confess, has ended quite happily for other movie stars who have undertaken it.*
*Remember Robert Deniro's precedent-setting portrayal of the comatose mental patient in AWAKENINGS?