12 Best Performances In 2017 Films (So Far)

Veteran actor Patrick Stewart (alongside his long-time BFF Ian McKellen) brought a touch of class to the superhero genre when he first began playing Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise back in 2000 and in Logan – his final outing as the genius mutant – Stewart’s performance was as brilliant as ever.

Ravaged by Alzheimer’s and prone to devastating telepathic seizures, one of which inadvertently killed several civilians and fellow mutants, the nonagenarian Professor X is a man racked by guilt at his own destruction of everything he worked to build even as senility loosens his grip on reality.

Stewart’s performance isn’t all doom and gloom however. Cranky in his old age and rendered uncensored by all the drugs he’s on, Xavier is often foul-mouthed and the funniest part of the movie’s dialogue while the surrogate father and grandfather role he plays to Logan and Laura is heartfelt. All in all, a beautiful and bittersweet farewell to a much-loved character.