Mutants. They are the key to our evolution. They also happen to be the key to the box office. But will the third time be the charm? With a change of director and a slight change of feel, X-Men: The Last Stand steps up to the plate and attempts the ever-dreamed of Home Run.
With the bar being set so high from 2000s 'X-Men' and 2003s 'X2: X-Men United', 'X-Men: The Last Stand' does a good job of keeping up the pace that had been set by the previous installments of the franchise. The film picks up with the tradition set by the first film; flashbacks, only this time featuring the character of Jean Grey, and the newer addition to the cast, Angel.
From that point on, it’s like the New York Marathon as the film races into action, hardly ever stopping from start to end, something that the first two films didn’t achieve very well. The film introduces an idea that would’ve been in ‘X2’ if not for budget and time constraints; The Danger Room. It’s very well played out, and even includes a glance at the one thing that would cause fan boys and girls everywhere to scream out loud and have what can only be described as a ‘geekasm’; a Sentinel.
Returning to the cast, respectively, are Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Halle Berry (Storm), Famke Janssen (Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix), Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Aaron Stanford (Pyro), Daniel Cudmore (Colossus), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), and Shawn Ashmore (Iceman).
The new mutants include Kelsey ‘Frasier’ Grammer (Beast), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Ben Foster (Angel), Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut), Dania Ramirez (Callisto), Cameron Bright (Leech), Ken Leung (Quill), Mei Melancon (Psylocke), and Omahyra Mota (Arclight).
The film brings out the emotion and loss and feel of an entire full out war. The X-Men and the Brotherhood both lose mutants to their cause. Friends return, friends die. Most of the characters all have their shinning moments, which seemed incredibly hard to do as the film, compared to that of ‘X2’, is relatively short. Mystique is her usual ass-kicking self, Cyclops’ and Wolverine have sort have switched places in terms of personality. Rogue deals with her usual problems. Storm faces new challenges, and Magneto still deals with her paranoia over the human race.
The film, in total, brings out emotions most probably didn’t think a regular Super-hero movie could even manage. Is it the best in the series? No. But is it the worst? No. That doesn’t really mean much of anything anyway as when ‘X2’ hit theaters, everyone knew it would be incredibly hard to beat. In terms of emotion and action, this one brings to the table the Royal Flush. Does it manage the Home Run? The simple answer is yes. While it isn’t perfect, and neither were the other two, this one is still a great addition to the X-Men franchise and will make any X-Men fan happy enough to want to watch it over and over again.
A word of advice. Stay until after the credits, you’ll be happily surprised to see that there is still hope that this won’t in fact be ‘The Last Stand’ for the X-Men, but instead the Brotherhood of Mutants, and that the X-Men still have many more movies to come for the big screen and your home DVD players.
9/10 from me.
