X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) January 13, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Brett Ratner
With comic book adaptations a firm mainstay in the summer movie schedules, it wasn’t going to be long before some reached a full trilogy. The two strongest Marvel Comics franchises, X-Men and Spider-man, both reached their third outing with giant budgets and revenue-hopeful May release dates. Interestingly, both series also followed a similar path to reach this point, with a popular first movie giving way to an even more impressive sequel. A shame then that this third feature would take a step down in overall satisfaction, maybe trying too hard to live up to such overwhelming fan-boy popularity.
This time around, the X-Men are forced into a corner when a powerful mutant boy named Jimmy makes it possible for a cure to be developed for the mutant condition. Adamant that they should not be ‘cured’, the team are forced into a war against a renegade group of mutants lead by arch nemesis Magneto. He too wants the cure destroyed, but is willing to go to much more violent ends to see it happen. Meanwhile, Jean Grey returns after being thought dead, but there is something different about her. Professor X reveals that he once had to constrain Jean’s mind from a second identity known as the Phoenix - an entity more powerful than almost any mutant. Escaping from the medical bay, Jean, now The Phoenix, lends her talents to Magneto, resulting in the most difficult battle the X-Men have ever faced.
Director Brett Ratner really had a difficult job to do here. Coming off the widely argued love them / hate them Rush Hour movies, he was the new guy on the block, and having to fill Bryan Singer’s shoes (The Usual Suspects), no less, who had helmed both X1 and X2 before leaving to work on Superman Returns [review]. Any faults or dip in quality was immediately going to come down on his shoulders – and it did, incidentally, when The Last Stand failed to garner the same critical acclaim or positive fan reaction as the first two. But in all fairness, and as I have argued on numerous occasions, to blame him entirely is completely unfair.
Firstly, this is not actually a bad movie. In fact, it’s very far from bad, and in a similar manner to this year’s reaction to Spider-man 3 [review], it’s more a case of over-expectation not being lived up to that generated such a negative buzz around the film. Secondly, this movie has inherent story problems that no director, not even Singer I would venture, could fix. For the most part, the film is confidently shot, the action sequences are impressive, and the computer effects work is outstanding, which should all lead to a rip-roaring comic book extravaganza – so where’s the problem?
Well, like any successful film translated from the world of comics, you have to balance your eye-popping visual sequences will some real moments of character development. Peter Parker has his double-life complications, Bruce Wayne has his parent’s death hovering over him and, in a similar fashion, Singer had used his movies to create a world where these X-Men were real people – Wolverine’s sporadic memory of his past, Rogue finding a place of acceptance, and the ever-present Scott / Logan / Jean Grey triangle. X2 had fleshed these elements out to great effect (especially Logan discovering his origins) and turned a good action flick into a terrific film. On this occasion, however, many of those elements are pushed aside due to actors not being available (James Marsden’s appearance is criminally short), or a lack of time to delve deep enough.
So while we get to see hints of the mutual respect that exists between arch enemies Magneto and Professor X, it never quite gets a chance to really mean anything – a shame since this is one of the more interesting elements of the X-men world and the ‘20-years earlier’ opening to the film sets it up nicely. This movie also cements Jean Grey’s role as The Phoenix, but there’s so much going on around her that she never gets the focus this character deserves. The ending too, comes rather abruptly with little explanation of why things have suddenly changed for the better, plus the final showdown suffers from being visually stunning but no match in dramatic terms for the mid-film face-off between Jean and Professor X.
If this sounds like a lot of criticisms then it’s only to highlight where the failings are. The film gains plenty from assured return-performances by Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, and Rebecca Romijn. It’s an impressive cast list and one that has bolstered the credibility and quality of the X-Men movies since their inception. Newcomers such as Kelsey Grammer (playing mutant politician Beast) and Ellen Page (as Kitty Pride), fit in with comfortable ease, but, along with maybe six or seven other ‘new’ roles, expand an already unserviceable cast of characters. Meanwhile the familiar X-Men score is used to good effect and there are flashes of past greatness in the script by Simon Kinberg and X2 writer Zak Penn. The movie even restrains itself with a very conservative 104-minute running time - so, you see, any negatives are only detractions from what is otherwise a solid feature.
Maybe it’s just a curse of the comic book world that no third part can ever be as successful as the prior releases? Just look at Spider-man 3, Superman 3 or Batman Forever – all are notable for being the stumbling block in an otherwise popular franchise. Recovery has thus far only been possible through a few years rest and then a character reboot (Superman Returns, Batman Begins), but the X-men team aren’t giving us that grace. Whether we’ll see a straight-up X-Men 4 is still unsure, but we are getting a Wolverine spin-off directed by Tsotsi [review] and Rendition [review] director Gavin Hood, as well as the possibility of a similar Magneto spin-off in the near future. As for the X-Men, if this is to be the group’s ‘last stand’ then it’s an enjoyable but flawed final segment. Losing Singer was a cost to the series, but anybody would have struggled to follow X2 – fair play to Ratner for facing the fan-boys and giving it a good shot.
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