While it may lack some of the weight of the two previous films, X-Men - The Last Stand is filled with over the top mutant action, and is a fun movie from start to finish. The film has a much more “comic book” feel to it, and director Brett Ratner’s work does hold up to the job director Bryan Singer did in the first two X-Men films.
With that said, the movie does have some problems, and diehard X-Men and Singer fans may not enjoy it as much as the first two X-Men films. From the very start of the film, it seems something is missing, and the entire movie has a rushed feeling.
Since this is supposed to be the “last” X-Men movie and completes the trilogy, Ratner and friends overrun it with mutants, but comic fans might be disappointed in some of the mutants that finally make it to the screen. They also may not like the movie versions of their beloved characters (umm, what’s up with the Juggernaut’s outfit), and might still feel a little cheated at some characters absence from the films (we finally get Beast and Angel, but still no Gambit). Non-comic fans might feel a bit overwhelmed by the huge cast of characters, but the huge cast does help you not notice some of the story’s weaker moments (there is too much action for you to really notice the story is a bit shaky).
For the third and “final” X-Men film, the big names (Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, and Rebecca Romijn) are back, and are joined by some new faces (Kelsey Grammer, Vinnie Jones, Ellen Page, and Ben Foster).
Magneto gathers his army including Phoenix
* Note: I am skipping over various parts of the film’s plot (such as character deaths) to not give too much away.
The film pretty much picks up right where the second one ended. The movie’s plot revolves around a mutant “cure” which forces mutants to take a stand (those pro-cure and those against it); the government finally moving toward a more anti-mutant policy (they want to use the cure as a weapon), and the return of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) in the form of Phoenix (a plot element that will probably upset every X-Men comic fan thanks to the changes made).
X-Men - The Last Stand basically has two plots (the mutant cure and The Phoenix storyline) that merge about halfway through the film. Ratner and cast handle the story elements well, and as a comic fan it was nice to see The Phoenix included since it is such a huge part of the X-Men comic history. With that said, I personally didn’t like the changes made to the Phoenix story, but they didn’t bother me enough to ruin the film. They wouldn’t even be noticeable to someone not familiar with the comic.
The movie goes into Jean’s history more (we see a flashback meeting between Jean, Professor X and Magneto), and then quickly brings the character back to life (she was actually never dead just wrapped in some kind of mental cocoon according the Professor X).
While this is going on, we also get introduced to the Angel character and a boy with the mutant ability to cure other mutants (huh?). Naturally, science has developed a way to turn his mutant ability into a drug that can cure all mutants and the government secretly already has plans to use it as a weapon to solve the mutant problem once and for all.
This development is all Magneto needs to start gathering an army of mutants together for his goal of a war between the humans and the mutants (which is set on Alcatraz Island where the mutant boy is being held). Magneto has even go so far as to convince Phoenix (which is Jean Grey’s split personality) to join his cause and abandon her X-Men friends.
I found the Danger Room effects a bit disappointing
Just as Magneto thinks he has the first battle won, the X-Men show up, and decide to stand on the side of the humans. This leads to a rumble between the X-Men and Magneto’s bad mutants – which pretty much makes the movie worth watching. The film’s ending does manage to wrap things up nicely, but also leaves a hint that more X-Men films could still come. Does anyone really believe this franchise is over?
Although I did ultimately enjoy X-Men - The Last Stand, the movie is not as good as X2 (or X-Men 2: X-Men United as it was also called), but I will go out on a limb and say it was a little better than the first X-Men movie. By far, the second one is the best of the series, but the third film has enough action and characters to make it stand out just a bit from what Singer did in the first X-Men film (I know many will disagree).
While it felt rushed at times, I thought the movie’s pacing worked well for an “action” film, and the big action scenes (from Magneto’s attempt to rescue Mystique to the Alcatraz Island final battle) help the movie make up for its problems. The film’s special effects are solid (although I was a little disappointed with the effects in the Danger Room scene), and live up to what has been done in the past movies.
When I heard the news, I didn’t think Ratner was going to be a good choice for the director of the film, and there is no doubt that Singer’s presence is missed. With that said, Ratner did deliver a good “comic book” movie that has the big scale action that you would expect from the X-Men. The actors all do a good job in their roles (by now they know the characters), and the new faces work well (Vinnie Jones was great as the Juggernaut, and Kelsey Grammer is the Beast).
The final battle scene makes the movie worth watching
Sadly, many of the new characters (such as Angel – who is important to the story but doesn’t have much screen time) don’t receive large enough roles to matter, and seem added just to give the film some comic base. The film works as a “conclusion” to the story that Singer put into motion, but the question will always be asked if it could have been better with Singer involved.
The DVD’s special features include commentary with Ratner, writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, producers Lauren Shuler-Donner, Ralph Winter, Avi Arad, and David Gorder. There are three alternate endings (none earth shattering), and ten deleted/extended scenes. The features also include the movie’s theatrical trailers, a look at the World of Marvel (which has trailers for other Marvel films like Daredevil and Elektra), and an inside look at A Night at the Museum.
The DVD also has some Easter Eggs – including Beast reciting Shakespeare and the X-Jet landing in Washington D.C. There is also a “Stan Lee Collector's Edition” of the DVD that features a different cover (Wolverine’s claws over the X symbol) and includes the same special features plus an exclusive original mini-comic written by Stan Lee.
The film has plenty of new characters
Overall, I was not disappointed in X-Men - The Last Stand, and found the film to be pretty entertaining from start to finish. It is a solid ending to the trilogy. With that said, the movie does have some problems, and there is more than enough material for comic fans and Singer fans to find reasons not to like the film.
It doesn’t have the same “weight” as Singer’s take on the X-Men, but does manage an entertaining “popcorn” feel that works for this type of movie. While it isn’t a great film, it is entertaining, and simply fun to watch.
X-Men - The Last Stand is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
EugeneOct 7th, 2006 - 17:17:12
Despite being somewhat of a letdown, the film does bring in some interesting parallelism to the first two films. Speaking of the first films, I recommend viewing them right before or soon after seeing the third, as viewing them reminds you that you do care about the characters (being underdeveloped in X3). Most should find the third entry reasonably enjoyable and miles ahead of poorer entries into the superhero genre (Fantastic Four, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Ultraviolet, and the extraordinarily bad Batman Forever and Batman and Robin).
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Sincerely yours, Eugene
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