Alison Rowat reviews Logan

Dir: James Mangold

With: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Stephen Merchant

Runtime: 137 minutes

GETTING on in years is enough of a bore for us mere mortals, so spare a thought for ageing comic book superheroes. Who will fetch meals on wheels to wherever Spider-Man is lurking? Can Specsavers cater for the changing ocular needs of a greying Cyclops? And how will Iron Man cope when the rust sets in?

The questions are endless, but at least now, courtesy of James Mangold’s action drama Logan, we know how Wolverine, he of the giant sideburns and Freddy Krueger-like talons, gets on after the bus pass arrives. Not terrifically is the short answer, but stick around for the long take because Mangold’s picture, set in the near, bleak future, is far smarter than your average comic book bear.

It even ventures successfully into the territory of being genuinely moving, though the extreme violence rather takes the soft edge off that aspect. There will be blood in Logan, and lots and lots of slashing. Note that 15 certificate - they are not kidding around. This is a movie for those who have grown up with Wolverine, not for youngsters just starting out on their comic book movie odyssey.

As is usual with such movies, a Masters in superhero lore is required to work out what the heck is happening initially. It is 2029, and Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is working as a limo driver, a man driven mad by the young punks he has to ferry around. Depressed, drinking, and on pills, he spends his downtime heading across the border to Mexico where Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart) is being looked after by mutant tracker turned good guy Caliban (played by Stephen Merchant, complete with West Country accent).

Logan’s life is complicated enough without a mysterious woman with a strange child in tow turning up to ask for his help. Who is the girl and why is she being hunted by what looks like half the US special forces? All will be revealed over a too long running time of 137 minutes. No one could accuse director James Mangold (who also helmed 2013’s The Wolverine) of short-changing fans. They are here to see how their hero’s story plays out, and Logan delivers.

Most superhero movies make a stab at showing their characters enduring long dark nights of the soul. But there is something about watching grown adults, often men, usually in Lycra, cavorting around like sugar-drunk toddlers that brings out the comic in comic book movies. Logan, however, manages to be a genuinely convincing portrait of a man/mutant in torment. One feels every crick of those old bones, every spasm of conscience as he looks back on a life of violence and loss.

For that, the film and fans can thank Jackman. Courtesy of the Les Miserables actor, Wolverine has always been much more than a grumpy sort badly in need of a manicure and a course in anger management. In Jackman’s hands he is a fiercely romantic rebel with a cause, a Jimmy Dean with sideburns and attitude to burn, the last mutant holding out against a society that wants him destroyed. Oh, and he has a cute way with a funny line too.

Logan finds Jackman adding another dimension to the character, with some winning scenes between Charles, Logan, and the silent child who wants to go to a certain address in North Dakota. At times, when Jackman and young Laura (Dafne Keen) are on screen, Logan plays out like a bizarro remake of Paper Moon with Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. As for Stewart, he is the perennial class act as Xavier, here going through his own trials.

Mangold keeps the action tearing along. Speaking of tearing, the fights are watch through the fingers stuff to those of a nervous disposition, while the language is strong enough to strip paint. Neither Mangold or his cast are messing around here, with all concerned determined to deliver a final, hugely satisfying, one-way trip for this A-list member of the X-Men. As for what might come next, one fancies fans will like that too.