With Mangold’s take on Indiana Jones causing divisiveness in the theatres, I thought it was maybe time to revisit Logan, his take on an older Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and was delighted as I settled into this dark, violent, and bloody R-rated Marvel movie to find that it’s more or less the Marvel Universe take on classic westerns, even paying homage (and showing clips on screen) from one of the most iconic westerns of all time, Shane.

It’s been twenty-five years since the last mutant was born, they aren’t around anymore, they are dying out. Logan is hiding out along the Mexican border, working as a limo driver to make money to keep a slowly degenerating Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in pills to stopper his increasingly erratic abilities.

Trouble arrives in the form of a young girl, Laura (Dafne Keen), who may have some very familiar mutant abilities, and she is being pursued by Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) who is working for Rice (Richard E. Grant).

It seems a company is creating mutants, genetically engineering them as weapons, as products, and when they hit paydirt on one of them, they were going to destroy the rest (read as kill a bunch of kids) an escape was created, and Laura eventually finds her way to Logan, who has coordinates for a gathering of mutants, and possibly safety.

Logan is more than reticent to help Laura, but Charles won’t let it go, and they end up on the run together, tumbling from one threat to the next, and it becomes a costly tale for all involved.

Despite my hangups about some of the action beats in Dial of Destiny, Mangold’s work here is exemplary, and Logan is arguably his best film. It gives us aged and worn-out heroes, who are just trying to survive, called to serve one last time, like some legendary gunfighter, fighting for a purpose, a reason they may not initially believe in, but come to stand and fight for in the end.

Fantastically paced, brilliantly acted, this one shows Logan the way he should be, and the violence that he does so well is on full display here and doesn’t seem to be toned down at all. The first fight sequence is shocking because we’ve never seen Logan portrayed on screen so violently, but it works because every fan knows this is who he is, and he and Jackman are finally given a chance to cut loose on screen.

Both Jackman and Stewart are completely on point as older versions of their beloved characters and every beat just feels authentic despite the superhero trappings the characters exist with.

Logan is one of my all-time favourite comic book movies, and a bit of a western as well. I need to watch this one more often.