X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

 

Third Film is Far From “X”-traordinary, But

“X”-cellently Entertaining

 

 

            Professor X, Wolverine, Storm, Mystique, Magneto and the all the powerful colorful and loveable (if destructive) mutants are back in the third X-Men Movie, X-Men: The Last Stand.  As the title of my review indicates, The Last Stand isn’t an exceptional film, but it’s a very entertaining, summer action popcorn movie.  Seeing or not seeing this movie shouldn’t be a tough decision at all for moviegoers.  If you liked the first two movies, you’ll like this one.  If you didn’t like them, you probably won’t like this one.  It’s as simple as that.

           

This time around a way to rid mutants of their “mutantness” has been discovered.  They call it “a cure.”  But quickly, the government begins using this cure as a weapon, and a number of mutants, led by Magneto (Ian McKellen), rise up against the cure in mutiny.  Thus the “good” X-Men must fight the malevolent mutant brotherhood to save humanity.  And Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), the most powerful mutant, a “level 5,” has suddenly been resurrected.  And it’s not clear whether her intentions are still good or whether she’s yearning and leaning towards the dark side. Lots of explosions, fire, ice, storms, claws, growls, flying, and flying bridges ensue.

 

Much has been made over the Directorial change, Bryan Singer (the first 2 Xs, The Usual Suspects, and working on the new Superman Movie) being replaced by box office hit but critic enmity Brett Ratner.  I must admit, I’m not a fan of Ratner, nor did I like either of his overrated hit Rush Hour movies.  But X-Fans, rest easy.  While Ratner certainly hasn’t crafted a masterpiece, he hasn’t screwed it up too bad either.  Ratner’s film has less substance (arguably a lot less) than the first two, but makes up for it with style, fast pacing, and some dynamic, explosive action scenes.

 

The main problem with the film is the problem with X-Men movies in general: there are just too many characters.  And The Last Stand throws in even more characters (Beast, Angel, and the Juggernaut), making character and story development even more difficult.  It’s a great looking film, but with so many stars battling for screen time it’s a bit hollow around the edges.

 

In the acting department, Ian McKellen again excels brightest as Magneto.  He’s able to bring a real passion to the “old, bad, but used-to-be good” role and the eloquent, fiery monologues he delivers.  He (like all of them) is not on screen enough, but while he is you can really feel what he’s fighting for.  He’s simply… magnetic (sorry).  It looked terrible on paper, but Kelsey Grammer (“Frazier”) is surprisingly good as the blue Beast, even if all he does is basically stand around in an Armani pinstripe suit most of the movie.  Rebecca Romijn as Mystique again isn’t required to act, but boy does she make blue look good and put the “body” in body paint.  Vinnie Jones (Snatch) in about 2 minutes of screen time brings enjoyable energy as the Juggernaut and gets to deliver a classic, cheesier than cheesy one-liner.  And Hugh Jackman is still likeable as Wolverine (my favorite character from the animated series) even if his whole shtick is getting a little tiring and stale.  The losers are Halle Berry as Storm, her increased screen time just making it more obvious that she’s reaching, as well as Patrick Stewart and a plethora of others (especially Famke Janssen as Jean) who just aren’t on screen long enough to flesh out their characters and make them work.

           

But what it lacks in development, it usually makes up for with awesome special effects.  There is a scene involving a bridge that in one word is simply spectacular.  And though we don’t see nearly enough of them, in what little time that we do see them the mutants are surprisingly human (flawed) and two-dimensional, unsure exactly where the line is between right and wrong and good and evil.  The Last Stand also provides some thought-provoking emotional dimensions.  The whole “cure factor” is provocative and the film additionally suggests that perhaps sometimes victims can simultaneously be victimizers.  But now I’m probably analyzing the movie way too far.  It’s just a good popcorn action flick. It reminded me a lot of last summer’s Fantastic Four, “X”-Cept “X-3” has Rebecca Romijn instead of Jessica Alba, and it has so many characters it’d be more like the “Fantastic Forty.”

 

If I had to rank the X-Men films, I’d say the second was the best, and the third was better than the first one.  But they’re all so very similar to the point of darn near indecipherability I think that I’d give them all about the same number of stars.  In the first one, you get to meet the mutants, the second you get to know some of them and see them in full swing, and in the third you get to watch them battle one another and see a few of their lives conclude.  Again, if you liked one of the movies then you’ll probably like them all.  And believe me, the third one, despite being called “The Last Stand,” leaves plenty of ample room for a fourth one.  Taking in over $45,000,000 it’s first day in theaters, “X-3” looks like a cinch to crucify the box office.  And if you check it out, be sure to stick around through ALL of the end credits, so you don’t miss something “X”-tra.

 

                                                - Movie Review By G. Roger Priddy (5-27-06)