Hugh Jackman has portrayed the character of Logan/ Wolverine for 17 years, beginning with 2000’s X-Men. Since then, he has taken the character to new heights (X2: X-Men United, X-Men: Days of Future Past), and has even made the character a joy to watch when given not so good material (X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins:Wolverine). Let me say that 2017’s Logan ranks a cut above the greats, it being the best. Set in the year 2029, 6 years after the conclusion of Days of Future Past, we see a poorly aged Logan, now a chauffeur attempting to make enough money to buy a boat so he and an even worse Charles Xavier, can sail out to the ocean to live out the end of their days. When a woman comes to him with special cargo, he quickly declines but is pulled back into the hero role one more time, reminding villain and viewer alike that, although hidden, his berserker rage is very much alive and given the films R-rating, it gets to shine. Written and directed by James Mangold, this film may be his, as well as Jackmans Magnum Opus, with a beautiful and thought provoking story, wonderful set pieces, and a cast at the top of their game to hold it together. Jackman gives new depth to Logan, portraying him at the end of his days, tired and beaten, healing factor failing, just wanting to secede from the world and go as unnoticed as possible. Patrick Stewart, having portrayed Charles for as long as Jackman, also gives his all on his last outing as the character. Once having the most powerful mind in the world, it is now unstable and considered a weapon of mass destruction. Charles is quickly losing control, but in his moments of clarity is when he becomes the wise professor once again, advising Logan to take a moment and embrace life because it probably isn’t going to get better for them. With them is Laura/ X-23, played by Dafne Keen. In only her second role, Keen really owns the character and shows so much emotional range without having any dialogue for most of the movie. She is quickly on her way to becoming a fan favorite character due to her being just as savage as Logan and still maintaining her child like innocence while decapitating and dismembering her captors, led by Pierce and Dr. Rice (Boyd Holbrook and Richard E. Grant). These villains don’t suffer from the typical comic book movie formula of uninteresting motivation, but they don’t have the most original motives either. The Reavers are not a great X-Men villain to begin with, but the film gives them a compelling presence. Taking aspects from the Old Man Logan story the film is loosely based on as well as pages from other X-Men stories, Logan feels like equal parts comic book movie and western, with a dash of Mad Max thrown in, seeing as how the villains are pursuing the heroes throughout the film. With Logan not being the typical flashy comic book movie, it doesn’t need much in terms of special effects, but the effects present are some of the best displayed, making claws ripping through and cutting  flesh very realistic and graphic, never going over the top with the violence by keeping it grounded. The musical score, by Marco Beltrami is very effective and always captures whatever emotion a scene is portraying, making is a memorable score, an improvement on his work on 2013’s The Wolverine. Clocking in at 2 hours 17 minutes, the film doesn’t suffer from the runtime and is given time to breathe and rest like our heroes before the next big scene comes, pacing the film very well. With this being Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewarts last time as Logan and Charles, they put everything into their last performances and it shows. This movie is not only a perfect swan song for Jackman and Stewart, but for the X-Men movie franchise that started in 2000. Come the inevitable reboot of the character/ franchise, this is how it ends, on the highest of notes, and with a bang.

10 out of 10.