Over the course of 17 years, Hugh Jackman redefined what audiences would expect from leading actors in superhero roles with his take on the beloved Marvel Comics character Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan).
His tenure as the character, whilst the longest so far in the pantheon of superhero roles by a considerable margin, was not always smooth and had its undeniable low points as well as its triumphs. Let's look at all of the movies and their scores on review aggregate site Metacritic to provide a clearer understanding of how critics responded to each of his appearances.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (40)
Though it's the lowest-rated of the X-Men movies overall, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is by no means the most hated movie of the series and is often more the subject of playful mockery, even within the franchise itself.
It was the first standalone venture of Jackman's take on the character but its cheesy story and unfinished-looking effects made it a certifiable clunker with critics despite all the goodwill that the typically great cast brought with them.
X-Men: Apocalypse (52)
Jackman only appears briefly as Wolverine in the ninth X-Men installment but it's by far the most memorable cameo of the character and it makes up one of the best scenes of the entire movie.
Providing an alternate origin for the character and their adamantium skeleton in the ever-confusing timelines of the series, the main heroes of Apocalypse find themselves trapped within the Alkali lake laboratory established in earlier movies and are forced to release 'Weapon X', who proceeds to slice and dice his way through the entire facility in one of the best action sequences of not just Jackman's run as the character but the franchise a whole.
X-Men: The Last Stand (58)
Often maligned as one of the worst comic book adaptations of all time, The Last Stand brought the original X-Men movie trilogy to an end on a low note which no doubt resonated with the experience critics had with the following movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, causing accusations of substandard quality to cement around the title.
Jackman was never quite sold as the out and out main character of the original trilogy though he essentially was. This became most apparent in The Last Stand, in which his version of Wolverine is forced to take on an uncharacteristic leadership role which certainly didn't help the movie's overall lack of direction.
The Wolverine (63)
The second standalone Wolverine movie, and the first from director James Mangold, The Wolverine changed a lot of things up and the effects, whilst not among the highest highs of the franchise, greatly assisted in salvaging the brand's, and the character's, image within the movies.
Taking place as the first sequel to the events of the end of the original X-Men trilogy, the movie mostly takes place in Japan and incorporated a number of distinct stylistic elements from Film Noir and Westerns which would go on to be explored in more detail by Mangold within the series to even greater acclaim.
X-Men (64)
The original X-Men movie was a landmark within the superhero genre for a number of reasons and one of the biggest has always been the breakout performance of the then-virtually-unknown Jackman as Wolverine.
True success within superhero roles is still measured by a kind of inseparable and symbiotic bond between character and actor and few have been as synonymous with each other as Hugh Jackman and Wolverine.
X-Men: First Class (65)
Only appearing in a very brief cameo, Jackman reprised the role of Wolverine again for only one scene in this prequel movie but, unlike Apocalypse, the appearance can only really be described as more of a gag than a sequence.
The joke is that the character pops up in a recruitment montage in which Magneto and Professor X approach a variety of mutants to join their early iteration of the X-Men, with Logan rebuffing them in the most abrupt and characteristic way possible.
X2: X-Men United (68)
The first X-Men movie sequel remains one of the most significant developments within the superhero genre not only for widening and enriching its already very impressive ensemble of actors and characters but for intensifying the action and drama beyond a point that audiences had experienced before from a comic book adaptation.
Continuing Jackman's journey to the absolute forefront of the franchise, X2 focusses a lot on Wolverine's mysterious past through the movie's antagonist, who would reappear multiple times throughout the series themselves.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (75)
Of the mainline X-Men movies, Days of Future Past sits as the favorite amongst critics and many fans. The gigantic movie combined the two main halves of the X-Men movie universe's many-sided timelines with Jackman and Wolverine serving as the primary bridge between the original cast and the newer actors playing younger versions of the same characters via a time travel plot.
Though he would cameo in the following X-Men movie, the story provided a semi-conclusive ending for Jackman's take on the character even though his greatest achievement in the role was yet to come...
Logan (77)
One of the highest-rated Marvel comics adaptations of all time amongst both critics and fans alike, Logan legitimized Fox's run of X-Men movies in a way that no other entry can match.
Developing the Western themes of The Wolverine, in particular, James Mangold's second stab at the character was a smaller, more emotionally-driven, road movie that handled Jackman's retirement from the role with a commendable amount of finesse.