Logan screens extended preview, early reactions praise gritty tone

It sounds like Hugh Jackman’s aging Wolverine still has a few tricks up his sleeve to go with those razor-sharp claws.

20th Century Fox screened a 40-minute press preview of Logan on Thursday, and early reactions on social media have largely praised the gritty, violent, Western-inspired tone of the X-Men spin-off.

Directed by James Mangold (The Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma), Logan takes some cues from the Old Man Logan comic storyline and is set in a world where mutants are in decline. Against that backdrop, a grizzled Wolverine battles bad guys known as the Reavers and gets mixed up with a mysterious girl (played by Dafne Keen) who’s very much like him.

Slashfilm’s Angie J. Han wrote that Keen, whose character Laura is also known as X-23, “steals every scene she is in.” She also said Logan feels less like a comic book movie than a modern western.

Mike Ryan of Uproxx described Logan as “VERY violent. Very much rated R. Logan and Xavier are old and sad. It’s depressing. I liked it.” According to Ryan, Mangold said his influences included Little Miss Sunshine, The Wrestler, and the 1977 Clint Eastwood movieThe Gauntlet.

The Playlist tweeted, “Fans are finally getting the bloody, primal Wolverine movie they always wanted. Feels more like standalone X-Men movie. More Western and lone samurai film with faint traces of x-superhero mold.”

Kate Erbland of IndieWire was more measured, writing that she’s “cautious on LOGAN.”

Read more reactions below. Logan is scheduled to hit theaters March 3.