Gritty, dark, and everything missing from the rest of the X-Men franchise

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2019)

Superhero films typically have to go down one of two avenues: colourful and humorous (e.g. Avengers, GotG) or more realistic and tough (e.g. The Dark Knight, Watchmen). Logan opts for the latter, producing a film worthy of Hugh Jackman, an actor typically starved of decent screen roles when playing Wolverine. Previous instalments in the Wolverine franchise have been average to poor, making Logan an important film for multiple reasons (especially given X-Men's loss of ground to the rest of the Marvel universe). By stepping away from the rest of the Marvel universe, the story doesn't become saturated with other characters crowbarred into the plot, giving Wolverine what he deserves.
To merge these two themes of darkness and lightheartedness is near-impossible, as pandering to child and adult audiences is more than difficult. Logan does as good a job as can be expected, using humour sparsely without ruining emotional moments that make up the core of the film. Jackman is unshakeable in his titular role, bringing the same intensity he has to the Wolverine role he had for the previous 16 years; this film allowed him to flex his acting muscles slightly more freely, not constrained by superhero films' typically wooden scripts. Patrick Stewart is also excellent as Professor X, reduced to an ambling shell of what he used to be, but ultimately Logan's only friend.
The storyline of Logan isn't a world-beater (Wolverine seems to suffer from a lack of decent plots), but for someone who has stuck with the franchise for its duration, it will surely satisfy any hardcore fans. As a standalone, Logan holds itself in higher regard than almost any other superhero film, delivering emotional punches successfully without cheapening scenes using ill-timed humour.