Emotional. The best X-Men movie of the series (that I've seen). 85+%

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2017)

I became interested in seeing this film after I saw Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart interviewed on ABC TV's (Australia) "Lateline" programme. Here's the link to that interview (01/03/2017), with a transcript and video of the segment:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2016/s4628874.htm
I'm surprised to see that it looks like I've only reviewed "The Wolverine" at this site, which I scored 72.5+%, however, I have seen the first X-Men film in the series, at least. Which is to say that I'm a casual viewer of this franchise and I'm not particularly invested in the characters, so for me to like a film in this series so much speaks volumes for what they've accomplished here. It's a movie which effectively manipulates your emotions, in a way that other, lesser films, attempt to do, but fail, for example "Star Wars: The force awakens".
Seeing as "The Wolverine" was the last X-Men related film in this franchise that I've seen, I can't say that I've kept abreast of what's happened in this universe. By the looks of it, the mutants of this world are no longer a force. The reasons why are, presumably, covered in previous instalments of this franchise. In any case, there seems to be a little expository dialogue by the characters to help you understand what's going on better.
Logan (The Wolverine) and Charles Xavier (Professor X) are living in less than ideal circumstances. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are both very good in the physicality of these now older, more feeble mutants (maybe that's not so much "acting" from Stewart!). Jackman's Logan looks a bit like Saddam Hussein, just after he's emerged from his "spider hole" (foxhole)!
The major narrative arc of this film concerns Logan having to – unwillingly – escort a young girl to safety from what looks like a paramilitary operation which desperately wants to capture her. Visually, the film has touches of movies like Mad Max 2 for its vehicle action and it probably has similarities to an American Western which is regarded as a classic, but which I don't think that I've seen. In case naming that film might provide some spoilers, I'll refrain from doing that, but this film does show clips from that old movie and even reiterates dialogue from it. There's a scene with Logan and his ute which reminded me of a similar scene involving Basil Fawlty from the TV series "Fawlty Towers", but stripped of the hilarity of that earlier Britcom. There are actually some amusing scenes in this film...an unintentional example of that was Logan at a funeral near the start of the film...seeing what he does with litter, the phrase "Keep America tidy" popped into my head! It should also be pointed out that the film does get "meta" at times...there's an interesting series of comic books which appear in this film!
There was an enjoyable interlude in this film with a family which invites Logan, Charles and the girl to dinner. Seeing as what the family looked like, I did wonder how things would develop and my hypothesis was borne out, as far as the family was concerned.
Back to the topic of emotion in this film (as a viewer response)...it's delivered. Near the end of the film, there's a scene where Logan enters the fray. Whilst it didn't fill me with joy, it was pleasurable, which is unusual in these kinds of Hollywood superhero or action movies where they aim to produce this feeling in you...but fail. The last scene featuring Logan also produced an emotional response in me, of a different kind. Again, the contrast with "Star Wars: The force awakens" is marked, where the scene designed to produce that feeling in you failed to deliver it, again.
Miscellaneous observations:
* A Johnny Cash song opens the closing credits. For a moment I thought that the song was "A boy named Sue"...which would have totally spoiled the moment! Firstly, I'm not that familiar with Cash's music, but I did realise that I knew the song that he was actually singing (vaguely). Interestingly, the credits list the song's writer as "John R. Cash" and the performer as "Johnny Cash"! Also interesting was hearing the line, perhaps for the first time, concerning what the singer was kicking against...I had heard it before with regard to Australian alternative artist Nick Cave...but looking up that phrase now on Wikipedia, it seems that perhaps both Cash and Cave were referencing a bible quotation, surprisingly, rather than it being a case of Cave referencing Cash. Just looked up the name of the song that Cash sings in the end credits, "The man comes around"...it mentions that Cave actually sang on that Cash album of cover songs!
* I have no idea how or if this film differs to any comic book treatment of the life of Logan. Whatever the case, I do like how this film deals with his story.
* It's possible that the Lateline interview has Jackman mentioning that he wanted this film to be rated "R", for artistic reasons. Here in Australia, it has an MA15+ rating, which means that children under 15 years of age can't see the film except with an adult accompanying them. Interestingly, the "R" rating which this film gets in the US means that children under the age of 17 can't see the film, except with an adult accompanying them. As for this violence, the film does get quite bloody but doesn't reach the point of requiring the next restriction in Australian ratings, "R", for people 18 years of age or older. Not even being accompanied by an adult would allow somebody of under the age of 18 to be able to view such a film.
In closing, I appreciated the sombre, gritty nature of this film and the lack of the previous instalments' risible elements, such as bizarre mutant abilities (like controlling the weather, ffs!).