Logan, Not Your Average Superhero Movie

Seventeen years ago, Hugh Jackman became The Wolverine in the X-Men movie franchise. He was
an instant success. Despite some often panned movies, there was always Jackman's Logan, Weapon X, Wolverine...that fans loved. He is a fan favorite and will remain the iconic actor by which all who follow in the role will be measured. Even though Jackman's Wolverine never donned the famed yellow spandex of the comic book, He leaves us with his last and probably best of the X-Men movies ever made, Logan.

Logan is inspired by the comic book series Old Man Logan. It is loosely based on the alternative world series, but still, it works as yet another timeline in the X-Men saga. The movie is set in 2029. That does not mean it's the same timeline as the other movies since most of the X-Men movies are not sequential anyways. It is as Time puts it, perhaps the most complex timeline in the movie universe. It also doesn't actually mean that Logan takes place in any of the timelines.

Only a few minor spoilers follow. Nothing that isn't revealed in the exposition of the movie. 

Logan, who has tried to leave Wolverine behind him, drives a limousine in Texas. He has taken the now 90 plus year-old Professor Charles Xavier to live in an abandoned mill in Mexico. While he drives to make his living, Charles is cared for by mutant and one-time mutant hunter, Caliban, an albino. Professor X is suffering from a deteriorating brain disease which makes his powerful telepathic mind a danger. There are several veiled references to the three mutants as being in hiding because of an event in which Professor X lost control of his ability. There are also references that most of the other mutants have disappeared or died, but there is no reference or detail. Patrick Stewart returns as Professor X and has also announced that this too will be his last time in the chair.

Logan has finally begun to age. Something is physically wrong with the superhero but has he also lost his drive to do good? We will find out when Logan and Professor X are introduced to a young mutant named Laura. Laura is a mutant that was created through genetic manipulation using Logan's own DNA. In the comics, she will become Weapon 23 who donned the mantle of the Wolverine in the alternative world. In the movie, she is a child who was first trained as a weapon and killer.  She is played by the newcomer, Dafne Keen who plays a very believable child-weapon. They are confronted by villains galore. Most notably is the leader of the military team trying to recapture Laura, Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and evil mad-scientist Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant).

Logan is a different superhero movie. Its tone is somber and often dark. Wolverine is not the man he once was. He is beaten by what he has witnessed by his long life. His only remaining "family" is Professor X and the albino mutant, Caliban, that once hunted him and others like him. It is this that drives the movie, and also makes it probably the best in the saga so far. I for one will miss Jackman and Stewart but I also look forward to the new. Logan is the perfect bookend to the time that Jackman has spent as The Wolverine and the best, I think, of the X-Men franchise.

Logan is rated R for language and its extreme violence. The rating truly matches the gritty tone of the movie. It also has no after credit scene. Don't despair. It makes perfect sense and if you truly miss the after credit scene, you get a brief preview of Deadpool 2 at the beginning.

I will buy the Blue-ray.