A Gritty, Heartfelt Send-Off for a Legendary Character

Rating: 8/10 (15 March 2017)

In purely literal terms, Logan is a comic book movie. However, it's a significant departure from the standard comic book movie formula. It does not have a super-powerful threat intent on destroying the city/world/universe. It does not have a gigantic CGI battle sequence. It does not have a contrived romance subplot. It doesn't even depend on the audience having seen some number of previous films to understand the plot or character motivations. And it certainly wasn't made for the standard PG-13 audience. Instead, Logan plays out in way that could perhaps best be described as an extremely intense, violent, and emotional family road trip. And as strange as that may sound, it works almost perfectly.
The tone of the film is one of weariness and struggle; from very early on it is made clear that Logan and Professor Xavier are in hiding. The look of the characters and world itself both reflect this tone perfectly; Logan and Xavier both look like they've seen better days. Not long after the film begins, Logan becomes the begrudging guardian to a seemingly mute young girl, Laura, who is being hunted by dangerous people. What follows is a road trip across the country, punctuated by a mix of quiet, heartfelt moments and brutal, unforgiving clashes. The tension of being pursued is a constant driving force giving our characters' actions a sense of purpose, and keeping the audience engaged at all times.
If I were to note a flaw with this otherwise very strong story, it would be the abrupt introduction of a large number of characters towards the end of the film. They are mentioned previously, but they aren't really developed beyond the bare minimum. They weren't particularly necessary to the ending, and it is hard to care about them seeing as we barely know them. I couldn't help but find myself thinking that if they were written out of the story it would have been more focused overall.
That being said, the three main characters work perfectly together as a strange little family, and they are developed in such a way so as to not alienate viewers who have never seen any of the other X-Men movies. The villains are also threatening and scary throughout while still being completely believable, albeit fairly one-dimensional. The near-future world in which the events take place is also a very grounded and believable one instead of a monolithic comic book fantasy world. References to events in past films are also minimal, though they reward people for following this character through his various past adventures. The ending is incredibly satisfying.
Overall, Logan is a highly compelling standalone film that can even entertain crowds that have no interest in comic books or the movies based on them. It is one of the rare comic book movies that transcends being great within the comic book genre to being simply great, period.