Emotionally draining, but spectacular

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2017)

"Logan" isn't good because it's rated R; it's good because it's one of the most emotional and intense superhero movie in years. It's involving, it's dramatic, it's emotionally draining, and it's spectacular.
Starring Hugh Jackman, "Logan" is about a broken, beaten down, and tired Wolverine. He's tired of fighting. He's tired of helping people. He just wants to be left alone, and if being left alone takes an adamantium bullet in his skull, then so be it. "Heartbreaking" is one word to describe what it feels like to watch our beloved Wolverine in this state; "gut-wrenching" is another. In fact, this film feels like one big continuous sucker punch to the emotions over and over. It's plain sad to see Logan in this manner, and it's even sadder to see him slice and dice and gore his enemies. Like I mentioned, he doesn't want to fight. But yet, people still seem eager to fight him, and with every stab to the face and slice to the gut, the sadness becomes more tangible. The violence is so brutal and animalistic that you don't actually want to see Logan kill anyone, because he himself doesn't want to kill anyone. Killing people is all he's ever done and the more he does it the worse he feels. It's hard to watch, but it's effective. Wolverine growls, yells, and screams as he rips people to shreds, and it's like watching an animal tear into its prey. Be warned, this movie is graphic and full of extreme violence that will wear you down and exhilarate you at the same time. It's hard for me to describe exactly what it feels like watching the action scenes, but you'll know what I mean once you see the film for yourself. But this isn't to say that the action isn't cool to watch, because you best believe it is. Wolverine goes nuts in this movie, tearing arms off and stomachs open. It's brutal and it's badass and it's honestly beautiful.
Hugh Jackman gives a performance so Oscar worthy that if he doesn't get nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role I may never watch the Academy Awards again. Seriously, it's a performance that you'd never expect in a big budget superhero film. He reminded me a lot of Tobey Maguire in the first three "Spider-Man" films; Hugh was subtle and nuanced, with pain and frustration in his eyes. But when he went berserk, he held nothing back. And Dafne Keen was probably one of the best child actresses I've ever seen. The other child actors in this film? That's a different story, but she was magnificent. Patrick Stewart was amazing, do I even need to say that? It was a bit weird to hear Professor X cuss so much, but I understood why, and if I lived in that world you better believe I'd be saying the f-word as much as he does, too.
This isn't a perfect movie though. Around the halfway point the film introduced a character that mildly took me out of the movie, but I can't deny that the introduction of that character brought forth some of the most intense, nail biting, and exciting fight scenes I've EVER seen. I was seriously holding my breath during the first fight scene with this character, and I didn't even notice it until the fight ended; that's how engrossing this movie is. I also disliked how little tension some of the fight scenes had. Most actions scenes feature Logan fighting a handful of evil goons, and it's fun to watch, but it's nothing we haven't seen before (except for the graphic nature of the violence). Don't get me wrong, the action was amazing, I just wish there were a few more creative set pieces instead of just having Wolverine fight some expendable goons every 25 minutes.
There is also a scene of obvious, immersion breaking exposition, and the story is almost nothing new, but the fact of the matter is we've never seen Wolverine in a story like this before, and that's what makes this movie fresh. Seeing Wolverine in this broken, beaten down way is painful, but it's an intense and gripping watch. "Logan" is definitely one of the best superhero movies that has been released in a long, long time and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.