People are tired of comic book movies. People are tired of superheroes. Of course, I don’t mean this in the all-encompassing, general sense, as there are very many people--myself included--who enjoy and welcome everything related to comics and superheroes with open arms. But there’s no denying that the disillusionment with these fictional characters and their stories is there, especially given how flooded cinemas have been in recent years with comic book movies. Even James Mangold, director of “Logan”--a comic book movie and the latest in the “X-Men” film franchise--is feeling tired with people in spandex and capes. And “Logan”lets us know about it.

It is the year 2029 and mutants are little more than rumors or occasional oddities, not the hidden many they were in previous “X-Men” films. The titular Logan (Hugh Jackman) has put his days as the X-Man Wolverine behind him, living under the radar as half limo driver, half caretaker. The person in his charge? A nonagenarian, delirious, and slightly grouchy Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who is far different from the benevolent and calm teacher he once was. Logan--and, by proxy, Xavier--are effectively forced out of retirement to do one more good deed: bring to safety a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) and ward off the mysterious forces seeking to capture her.

Throughout “Logan,” we are given enough clues to deduce that the notion of the superhero has been discarded, unable to hold up against the grim and hard-hitting parts of reality. All that remains of the romanticism of Logan and Xavier’s glory days is in the pages of comic books, several of which the young Laura keeps around. Of course, Mangold has no intention of just leaving the situation there--the movie would be pretty short if Logan and Xavier just let Laura be and called it a day.

The compelling conflict of “Logan,” then, is not just present in getting Laura to a safe place, but also in the title character’s coming to terms with what once was--and whether or not playing hero is actually worth something in a bleak, cynical world where many things can go wrong. Through impactful, engaging visuals and actions, as opposed to a deluge of words and fight scenes, Mangold communicates the difficulty that Logan endures with this conflict. Logan is a drunkard and a drug addict, and his father figure and mentor is now an old, grumpy mess; understandably, escorting a little girl is the last thing on his mind, as it will inevitably lead to nothing but more trouble.

All of this is subtext for Mangold’s tackling of comic book culture and our real-world societies, examining the superhero as ideal--and, that like all ideals, superheroes can be dismissed as wishful thinking and base, raw, unrealistic hope. But, like all ideals, these superheroes have the potential to bring aboutchange, to make people’s lives better, and fight the good fight for something greater than themselves. Xavier, despite his bluntness, swearing, and mental frailty, tries to get Logan to see the latter, coaxing him to help someone just one more time to show him that he doesn’t have to be a lost soul anymore. The tug-of-war moral dilemma driving the story of “Logan” gives the film the bearings of an old-fashioned Western; though it trades in Colt revolvers for adamantium-coated claws, the thought-provoking conflict between the self and the changing environment--which echoes similar conflicts in Western classics like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”--is at the heart of “Logan,” easily setting it apart from most comic book fare.

“Logan” ensures audiences it's not just another comic book movie out to get the money of fans. It has action sequences, but they never feel silly or overblown and are just the right amounts of violent and kinetic. It has quite a bit of talking, but it never gets grating or melodramatic or pointless. It has established ties with a huge comic book film series, but decides not to focus on flaunting the prestige of those ties and instead focuses on standing on its own two feet. On top of all that, it is a comic book movie that doesn’t fall back on the bombast and the tall-tale theatrics of its source material, but instead opts for a story that is gripping, thoughtful, and--surprisingly enough--realistic.

You could argue “Logan” is the black sheep of the “X-Men” franchise, the one thing that throws off the whole series’ identity. It very well does, make no mistake, but it’s for the greater good. Like “The Dark Knight” before it, it uses the platform of the superhero genre to address more down-to-earth issues in a creative way. Mangold’s spot-on direction guides a sprawling, Western tale with plenty of emotion, drama, and impact. It is a capstone and epilogue for the story of the most popular X-Man of all and one that cannot be missed.