Logan (Hugh Jackman) is old and sick, living out his golden years as a limo driver. When he's not chauffeuring drunken hen parties, he's in Mexico, tending to Charles Xavier, who now suffers from dementia. After a woman called Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez) comes to him looking for help, Logan unwittingly becomes the protector of a young mutant called Laura (Dafne Keen), who is being hunted by a ruthless scientist (Richard E. Grant) and his armed cronies.

Director James Mangold takes a decidedly different approach to this follow up to his 2013 superhero flick The Wolverine: whereas his first outing for the Adamantium-clawed X-man was pure comic book silliness, Logan goes for gritty realism. While the sombre tone is a gutsy move, Mangold's film does have a tendency to slip into over-ponderous mode as the director attempts to add depth and poignancy to his character.

Mangold's story also leaves much to be desired, being yet another case of young mutants persecuted by the authorities, with our ageing hero caught in the middle. Logan's character arc is easy to predict, as is the inevitable outcome, while certain elements aren't adequately explained (the drug used to keep Xavier from having seizures, the origins of the comic containing the co-ordinates of Eden). Trite as it may be, the plot at least offers up plenty of opportunity for action, which the director handles with aplomb, his R-rating allowing for lots of blood and severed body parts.

Ultimately, Logan is a mixture of exhilarating (brilliantly executed fight scenes) and exasperating (the uninspired plot), bringing fans some of the best the series has to offer, but also some of the worst.