Logan was released in 2017, and was directed by James Mangold. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Defne Keen, and Patrick Stewart. In the distant future, most mutants are extinct. Logan, the Wolverine, must escort a young new mutant, Laura, to “Eden,” a place where she will be safe, and no longer hunted by her creators. 

     Hugh Jackman brings his all as Logan in his 9th time portraying the character over 17 years. Jackman’s performance feels grounded, real, and it’s clear he didn’t just take this role for a paycheck. Patrick Stewart, as Charles, is simply glamorous. Stewart takes an interesting approach to the character he’s played in the past, but the character change feels natural and makes sense.

     New cast member Defne Keen is excellent as Laura. For a majority of the film, Keen doesn’t speak, but her facial expressions are enough to tell us how she feels. This is incredibly impressive considering most child actors aren’t the most fantastic in the world. 

     Probably the most admirable aspect of the script is that it is more of a Western than a superhero film. Which makes it the prefect superhero film, for people who don’t like superhero films. The world built within the story feels practical and down to earth. The dialogue is terrific.

     Overall, the script heavily utilizes the R-rating in both it’s dialogue and action scenes. Limbs get cut off, people get impaled, Logan’s claws go through people’s heads, and lots of blood is shown. This works not only in helping to further build the tone of the film, but the importance of how far Logan has dropped off the deep end.

     The plot itself is pretty much the same as the video game The Last of Us. This similarity takes absolutely nothing away from the film, but it was prevalent enough (at least if you’ve played the game) that I felt it was important to bring up.

     There is one scene in which Logan and Charles are watching a video on a phone that is used for exposition, but the video itself doesn’t make much sense in terms of how it’s on a phone but is edited as if through Adobe Premiere. 

     James Mangold’s directing is outstanding. The directing and cinematography give the film the same tone as classic Westerns such as The Searchers, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Marco Beltrami’s score is also in nature of classic Westerns, and is excellent. 

     Excluding one very blatant scene of exposition, Logan is divine is every aspect of the word. 

[My grade for Logan is an A+]