MOVIE REVIEW: Logan doesn't pull any punches

DON'T take the acne squad to see this one.

It's dark. Very dark.

There's something so intrinsically wrong with an innocent looking 10 to 12-year-old child carelessly flinging a bald, severed head that Logan is definitely NOT for junior fans of Marvel films.

Within the first five minutes I thought I had accidently sat down in a Tarantino flick because of the gallons of blood and gore.

Logan is the final installment in the X-men series and this film and the first from the late '90s are light years apart in atmosphere.

Even in the seedy back-waters in the first instalment, there was a PG polished glow about the production, and once we were introduced to the school, a sleek, industrial modernist look provided a barrier of hyper-realism so you knew this was a fantasy film.

With Logan, that barrier is gone.

This film is raw. It's brutal.

Even though there are elements of the fantastic about it, the performances by Hugh Jackman (as Logan/Wolverine) and Patrick Stewart (as Charles Xavier) are believable and heart-breaking in their character's very human flaws.

I found it difficult to watch the struggles, in particular of Patrick Stewart's character, who is the essence of a frightened, frail old man whose strength and nobility have been stolen from him by time.

Jackman's character is no longer the wise cracking, sex symbol and reluctant hero.

Wolverine has aged and it's obvious he's dying, but at last we get to see how he earned his name with his ferocity and brutality so reminiscent of the small, stocky bear-like creature with the reputation of being able to kill prey several times its size who is his namesake.

This movie is grim, gritty and far too full of syringes for this tripaniphobic, but well worth a look if only for the intense performances of its lead characters and to see Jackman's final performance of this iconic anti-hero.

Logan opens nationally tomorrow.