Quasi-"superhero" movie focusing on the grim reality behind the comic book

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2017)

Released in 2017 and directed by James Mangold, "Logan" takes place in 2029 when loner Logan, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), is a weary Uber driver near the border in West Texas. No new mutant has been birthed for 25 years and Wolvie lives with the Alzheimer's-suffering Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the albino mutant-tracking Caliban (Stephen Merchant) in an abandoned smelting plant across the border. After a mysterious new mutant girl enters the picture (Dafne Keen), Logan, Xavier and the lass flee for possible sanctuary in North Dakota hounded by a malevolent security team from the dubious corporation in which the girl originated. Donald Pierce plays the arrogant cybernetics-enhanced chief of security.
This is the third and arguably the best Wolverine movie, although I slightly prefer 2009's underrated "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2013's "Wolverine" was okay, but overall meh). "Logan" focuses on aging & death contrasted by new birth and the potential thereof. For a superhero flick, it's gritty realistic with compelling drama & characters and an entertaining road trip, not to mention loads of hard R-rated violence. The movie explores the possibilities of what would happen when high-powered mutants become aged and diseased.
Some of classic Marvel Comics' best moments were when one of their superheroes, e.g. The Thing or The Black Panther, was thrust into an everyday scenario, like talking to regular folks on the street or shopping at the market. There's a lot of this in "Logan." It dares to slow things down and focus on the characters and is the better for it. One of the best extended sequences is the trio's meeting with a hospitable black family (Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal & Quincy Fouse) after a highway mishap somewhere north of Oklahoma City. This episode is Exhibit A in why "superheroes" can't mix with regular folk for too long, for their own welfare.
"Logan" ranks with the best superhero movies because, like 2009's "Watchmen," it dares to be different. It's anything BUT a conventional superhero flick. Unfortunately, it's overlong at 141 minutes. The movie should've ended shortly after the trio's arrival to their destination, with some kind of potent dramatic close. But the filmmakers insisted on tacking on yet ANOTHER action-packed attack by the antagonists and it therefore ends on a tedious, redundant note. Disregarding this caveat, "Logan" is a great 'superhero' flick.
My favorite mutant, by the way, is the chubby black boy.
The film was shot in Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Newhall, California; and Pauls Valley & Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The screenplay was written by director Mangold, Scott Frank & Michael Green.
GRADE: A-