Most people will tell you the third installment of any movie series is always going be the worst one. But it seems the “Wolverine” trilogy has done the exact opposite. “Wolverine: Origins,” the first film in the franchise, released in 2009, gained infamy as one of the worst comic book movie adaptations of all time and is believed by many to be the reason most of the original X-Men were recast as young adults — to fix the continuity errors caused by the film. But “Logan” (which opened last Friday, March 3) seeks to make us forget all about the aforementioned sins of the previous films, and instead focuses on telling a story about an aging Logan who is struggling with the repercussions of his former life as a member of the X-Men, his weakened healing factor, and the task of taking care of a mentally unstable Charles Xavier, all while living in a world where mutants are far and few in between. This all changes one day when an 11-year-old girl with abilities similar to Logan’s shows up, along with a small army of gun-toting bad guys who are trying to capture and kill her, and from here our story kicks off.

Before I walked into the early press screening of “Logan,” I didn’t know what to expect. I guess you could say that I was cautiously optimistic, and I’m happy to say I wasn’t let down in the slightest. Fox truly delivers with a film that has equal parts action and despair, and it also answers the prayers of X-Men fans everywhere. Fans wanted a film adaptation of the “Old Man Logan” comic series? Fox delivers. They wanted to see Logan cut someone’s head off? Fox delivers.

Speaking of which, the violence in this movie is super bloody, with numerous dismemberments occurring onscreen during all the action scenes. I know this may sound weird, but it’s so refreshing to finally see the true brutality that Logan fights with, instead of the camera cutting away every time he dismembers someone. And the movie has no qualms with throwing more than a few swear words around (Charles Xavier himself even drops a few “f-bombs”), so I think it’s pretty safe to say “Logan” has earned it’s hard R rating.

Aside from the brutal fight scenes, the acting in this movie is stellar. Actress Dafne Keen as Laura, (aka X-23) steals just about every scene she’s in. She barely has any lines, but she still delivers a performance that is rarely seen among child actors today, and I’m very excited to see where the franchise takes her character. Hugh Jackman goes all out for his last outing as Logan and completely nails his portrayal of an older, more hardened version of the character, struggling with the demons of his past while doing his best to lie low. I was pleasantly surprised with the range of Jackman’s performance since we rarely get to see Logan in a mood other than angry.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you, but Charles Xavier is the comic relief. Most of the humor in the movie comes from his character, and without him this movie would be depressing as hell. Sir Patrick Stewart, as always, does a great job, especially considering that he isn’t really much of an authority figure as he is in the other “X-Men” films, and is now a sick old man who can’t be left alone for fear of what he might accidentally do. This means he relies on Logan for just about everything. I loved the father-son dynamic they had, and it really showed how these characters have grown closer during the course of the film series.

“Logan” is the best film in the entire X-Men franchise and, really, one of the best superhero movies ever. Movies like “Logan” and “Deadpool” show the superhero movie genre is undergoing a paradigm shift, where depictions of mature content and grounded scenarios are becoming more prevalent.

At the very least, “Logan” is a groundbreaking film and a sorrowful goodbye to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine that everyone should make time to see. It’s the only movie I can think of that is action-packed but still manages to have moments of true sorrow and despair. This departure from traditional superhero storytelling demonstrates how, if done right, can make for excellent cinema.

Kenneth, 16 attends Druids Hills High and he “mains” Sombra in “Overwatch.”