I know the last couple of days sucked, but I promise that today... is not much better.
X-Men: The Last Stand begins as a politician creates a "cure", taken from a mutant child who has the power to make another mutant's ability disappear. This development sparks debate amongst mutants and humans, but Magneto (once again played by Ian McKellen), only believing this cure will be forced upon his kind, gathers an army together to locate and eliminate the source. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the X-Men are preparing for whatever may happen, but Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who gave her life for her friends at the end of X2, suddenly returns from the grave as a lusty, all-powerful mutant called Phoenix. She proves to be a deadly, unstoppable force and joins with Magneto in his quest, forcing the heroic X-Men to into the battle of their lives.
I was maddeningly disappointment with X-Men: The Last Stand when it first came out in May 2006. My complaints were that: a) the film felt like it was in a rush to be over, b) it was dumbed down, and c) Fox opted out of doing the Dark Phoenix Saga- one of the most famous arcs in comics- by using one of my very favorite screenwriting cop-outs: psychology. There were things I did like about it, so for a while I was conflicted about how I really felt about The Last Stand. Now, eight years later, when I watch the film it just pisses me off.
Bryan Singer, who directed the two previous X-Men movies, moved on to Warner Bros' Superman Returns, taking his X2 writers with him. With the adults away, 20th Century Fox were ready to play. Fox hired Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) to give them what they wanted: a shorter, more action-oriented third entry. Nothing wrong with that in any other circumstance. However, watching this movie, there is a blatant disregard that permeates from this picture for what Singer accomplished with the previous films. It doesn't just move at a swifter pace than the last film, it is trying to get to the end as quick as possible. Like it has somewhere else it needs to be. In addition, the filmmakers are out to get rid of as many returning characters as they can, either by the "cure" or by killing them off. Many of the new characters are just cartoons (in really gaudy outfits), not worth any investment. Fox is not very interested in a future with X-Men so much as they are with just one X-Man, and that is Wolverine, who ultimately ends up center stage in the film.
At least Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is an aspect about X-Men: The Last Stand worth praising. Jackman has proven to be a steady rock in this series. There are other great aspects like Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, and the Alcatraz Island climax. In the end, it's Jackman's presence that consistently gives the film some much needed ethos.
I have yet to forgive 20th Century Fox for reducing the X-Men films to the kind of backwards-thinking silliness of their Daredevil and Fantastic Four films. If the upcoming Day of Future Past proves to be the payoff I'm hoping for, maybe- just maybe- I can stop giving my TV the finger whenever X-Men: The Last Stand is on.
X-Men: The Last Stand
2 out of 5 Cap shields
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