★★★★☆

‘MAYBE a quarter of it happened and not like this.” So says Logan, our X-Men hero Wolverine like we’ve never seen him on the big-screen before, as he dismisses how a comic book has overly exaggerated their heroics. “In the real world people die.”

It’s a moment that sums up the aim of this decisively grittier take on the clawed, healing hero which takes place in 2029 in a world that hasn’t seen a new mutant born in a quarter of a century. A weary Logan is making a meagre living as a chauffeur while taking care of a 90-year-old, dementia-suffering Professor X (Patrick Stewart) on an abandoned worksite near the Mexican border.

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Their struggling but nevertheless relatively peaceful life hidden away from the world is interrupted when a mysterious woman begs Logan to take care of a young girl named Laura (newcomer Dafne Keane) who, as he soon discovers, exhibits extraordinary mutant powers not dissimilar to his own. The three of them then hit the road as dark military forces, led by the ruthless soldier Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), chase them down.

Yes, this is technically yet another superhero movie but it’s one with a creatively risky approach – a superhero movie with the heart of a grizzled, old-fashioned Western. It’s more graphic, more melancholic and thoughtful, more profane and thematically weightier than we’ve been conditioned to expect from most of the more crash-bang-wallop, CGI-led superhero blockbusters that have overrun the multiplexes for a lot of the 21st century, the X-Men franchise included. This is most definitely not one for kids.

It’s a film where the action, bloody and ferocious and wince-inducing when it comes, feels born out of character drama rather being thrown in there to simply wow you with yet another CGI set-piece. But it’s in the quieter moments where things really sore, where tension grips you by the throat as much as it can tug at your heart strings with surprising force.

The performances are far more at the forefront than we’ve come to expect, too; it’s about more than just costumes and powers this time. Jackman gives his best ever performance of the character with a portrayal that feels thoroughly informed of his 17-year history of bringing the character to life.

You can feel the weight of the character’s past on the present as he struggles to survive both those hunting him down and a body that isn’t healing like it used to. He feels like a real world hero, wizened by time, broken down and tired of fighting — the powers are almost incidental.

If this really is to be his final outing then it’s a fitting swansong.

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Stewart is fascinating as we catch up with the wheelchair-bound professor as a rambling nonagenarian giving life lessons and ear-piercing bouts of mutant energy exertion due to his failing mind. Keene defies her young age with an intense, near-wordless role that demands your attention, whether she’s giving Logan a loaded stare or screaming as she defends herself against those who want to capture her.

This is the kind of comic book movie for those who don’t like comic book movies, but also the perfect follow-up for ardent fans as it delivers on the build-up. It’s not about being morose or po-faced just for the sake of taking the series to a darker place. It’s about taking itself seriously so that we can take it likewise. The result is a hugely satisfying, confident and compelling comic book movie with a difference.