Logan's last run is a homer

Dafne Keen (l) and Hugh Jackman

Despite its near-futuristic setting, the super powers, and the mutants Logan is essentially a Western. Just in case we don’t get the point George Stevens’ classic 1953 film Shane is referenced at a couple of key moments. Shane, for those of you who haven’t seen it, is about a gunman with a mysterious past who arrives to save a bunch of homesteaders from the depredations of nasty landowners.

I can certainly see some of that in this film but in terms of Western tropes I felt it struck more of a chord in comparison to Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), and not just because of the grizzled Hugh Jackman’s resemblance to Eastwood. In Josey Wales, Eastwood is a former soldier who has lost everything he loves when his family is murdered. He joins a group of settlers, becomes their de facto guardian angel, and in the process rediscovers his sense of family.

Anyway, whichever it is, these are both classic Westerns and in its way Logan is a classic superhero movie. Much of this is because there’s not a cape or a Lycra onesie in sight; this is a plain clothes superhero film.

It is set in 2029, a time when there are no more mutants and Charles Xavier and his X-Men have been discredited after the mysterious ‘Westchester incident’ in which 700 people and most of the X-Men were killed. Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is now in his nineties, living in isolation and cared for by the mutant tracker Caliban (Stephen Merchant) and Logan himself.

This is very much a superhero in decline story. If The X-Men were a new pantheon of gods and heroes then this is very definitely the twilight of the gods. The aged Xavier is barely in control of his psychic powers – he has seizures which devastatingly impact everyone around him – while Logan’s mutant healing power is waning thanks to the prolonged toxic effect of his adamantium endo-skeleton.

However when a young girl, Laura, (Dafne Keen) arrives looking for their protection, Xavier convinces Logan that they have a responsibility to look after her. She is one of a generation of new child mutants who are effectively being weaponised buy a powerful quasi-governmental corporation.

There is a definite end of an era feel to Logan and director James Mangold and writer Scott Frank convey that sense of one last gunfight. Mangold and Frank are proper, grown-up, film makers and they understand the importance of motivation, stakes, and character development in engaging and audience. This is a well-written and impressively set up piece of action movie-making.

Although they do contribute to some brutally effective action sequences – this film deserves its ‘15’ rating – Logan’s powers are secondary. This is essentially a character-driven film; it defines the relationship between the surrogate father Xavier and the prodigal Logan and gives both actors some lovely moments.

The Wolverine series has always stood slightly outside X-Men continuity, although this one does hark back slightly to X-2 (2003). Logan is a very satisfying and handsomely mounted conclusion to the trilogy and, if they choose to, will also usher in a whole new franchise.