'Logan' Footage Review: Hugh Jackman's Last Wolverine Movie Gets Off To A Rousing Start [UPDATED]

Normally, when a studio offers us the chance to preview footage from an upcoming film, we're treated to a handful of clips. In the case of James Mangold's Logan, we saw the entire first act — perhaps 30 or 40 minutes of footage. Such a move speaks to 20th Century Fox's faith in the film, touted as Hugh Jackman's very last performance of Wolverine after 17 years. And based on what we saw, that confidence is well placed.

Mangold's Logan feels unlike any superhero movie in recent movie, and yet its gritty Western vibe feels perfectly suited to Jackman's world-weary take on the character. If this really is the last time we'll see his Wolverine, it seems like a fitting end to his tenure. Read our Logan footage review below.

Note: Logan plot details have been removed at Fox's request.

There's no mistaking Logan as anything other than a Wolverine movie — he unsheathes those adamantium claws in the first few minutes of the film, lest you forget who he is or what he can do — but Logan actually doesn't feel like your typical Marvel blockbuster. More than anything, it feels like a modern Western with sci-fi elements. That first trailer, set to Johnny Cash's "Hurt," seems like a pretty good representation of the film as a whole, at least based on the 30 or so minutes that we saw.

There's a sense of bitterness and regret hanging over Logan. It's there when Xavier spits that Logan is a "disappointment." It's there when Logan is forced to drug Xavier can't accidentally kill people. It's there when Caliban can't be bothered to worry about Logan's maybe-suicidal tendencies because Logan's so messed up that his self-destruction is more a matter of when than if. At the same time, though, Logan comes by its self-seriousness honestly. While Logan doesn't seem overly reliant on existing X-Men continuity (and thank God, because those movies are a mess right now), the tragedy does hit harder because we've been with Hugh Jackman's Logan for 17 years now.

If Stewart's Xavier and Jackman's Logan seem like they're at the end of their lives (or at least the end of their tenures as the central players in Fox's X-Men film franchise), Laura (X-23) feels like the exciting next step. From the moment she appears at Logan's house, she commands the audience's attention. She feels like Stranger Things' Eleven if she'd been raised by Mad Max: Fury Road's Furiosa; she's Kick-Ass' Hit-Girl without the cutesy schtick. She looks like an early contender for one of 2017's big breakout characters.

Among other things, Laura doesn't shrink away from violence any more than her reluctant guardian Wolverine does. Logan is a film that makes the most of its R rating. The kills are ugly and bloody — at one point, Laura stabs a guy through a car window and his blood splatters all over the glass — but the violence feels appropriate for the world the film is set in. It also gives Wolverine plenty of chances to say "fuck" — and Xavier, too. I lost count of how many times the good professor dropped the F-bomb in the footage we saw.

Again, we only saw the first third or so of the film, so we don't know what's to come in the last two-thirds. But from what we saw, I'd say Logan looks like a glorious end to Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine.