Crucially, character nuance is favoured over whiz-bang set-pieces, and the stakes remain mostly personal.There are super powers on display but they're always employed out of desperation. Everyone in Logan is vulnerable, even its previously-invincible hero.
The movie is more concerned with the psychological toll of living an endless life, and having pain be a day-to-day part of one's existence (both giving it and receiving it). Logan keeps moving the goalposts with regard to what is acceptable in a comic book film, with relentlessly graphic violence that reaches horror film levels at certain points, but it's always there to underline the film's existential concerns.
Logan provides the tough, adult version of Wolverine that fans have been wanting for a long time, and it earns it not just with blood and f-bombs, but by saying a thoughtful goodbye to a long-lived character with real emotional weight.
By the end, the film's perfect, poignant final image feels incredibly well-earned.
-Tony Stamp (flicks.co.nz)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook
Director: James Mangold
Running Time: 137 mins
Rating: R16 (Graphic violence, offensive language and cruelty)
Verdict: A super end to a super hero.