X-Men: The Last Stand
Movie Review
by Frank PittareseI went into this film with low expectations after reading a few reviews on Ain't It Cool News and some other sites. Eff those guys—this movie was the best of the bunch!
Keep in mind, I'm a bit of a X-geek. The first X-Men comic I bought was Uncanny #135, right in the thick of "The Dark Phoenix Saga." It's one of the most revered storylines in superhero comics, and rightfully so. The problem is that I think a lot of reviewers walked into the theater expecting/wanting to see that storyline brought to life (especially in the wake of that final, ambigous shot in X2). So I'll tell ya flat out. This isn't that story. There's no Phoenix-flamebird effect. No Shi'ar. No Hellfire Club.
However, the thematic elements are there, and everything flows in accordance with the universe Singer established in the first two films. There's death and sacrifice, politics and action, loads of soap opera. It's true that this movie has fewer character moments than we've seen before...those quiet, personal scenes, like Storm's conversation with Nightcrawler in X2, but at this point, after two relatively small X-Men films, a larger-than-life war movie is exactly what's needed.
It's not perfect, but then neither are X1 or X2. I re-watched both of those this week, and was amazed at how much X1 plays out like a big budget TV-pilot. X2 was an improvement, a step forward. In terms of sequels, it's one of those rare times the child improves upon the parent. But regardless, it's disappointing because, like the first movie, the plot amounts to the X-Men running around trying to stop someone from using a machine. There isn't much by way of mutant-vs-mutant action. But they manage to work.
X3 (is anybody really calling this X-Men: The Last Stand?) is the big payoff. All the loose ends from the first two movies are tied up: the Scott/Jean/Logan love triangle, the political issues regarding the mutant gene, Rogue's problems with dating Bobby.
Jean's transformation into Phoenix...her rebirth...is explained with a bit of exposition that, again, makes sense within the context of the movie universe. And as Phoenix...well, she does some pretty shocking stuff. In the comics, she destroyed a solar system and its inhabitants. In X3, she doesn't go that far—but what she does destroy is far more shocking and hard-hitting. Make no mistake, Phoenix has her moments in this movie.
So, what didn't work?
A particular character is written out of the movie rather gracelessly. The "red shirt" mutants in the Brotherhood are often ill-defined. There's one character who hangs out with the core Brotherhood group for most of the film, and we don't know her name or what her powers are, nor does she speak, till the end of the movie. In fact, I thought she was a guy the whole time. Angel is woefully underused. For the final battle, it would have been cool to see the X-Men "promote" some of the younger students, especially Jubliee, who's appeared in all three movies, and Siryn, who's in X2 and (I think) X3. Also, a line of dialogue explaining Nightcrawler's "disappearance" would have been appreciated. (I think the video game covers his absence, but I don't go for that sorta cross-promotional b.s.) There's actually no reason they couldn't have called him in for the big battle. Alan Cumming was contracted for the movie, anyway, before they booted him in favor of Kelsey Grammer's Beast.
What does work?
Everything else. Jean's two big Phoenix moments at the middle and end of the film. Every scene involving Ian McKellan. Every scene involving Pyro. The Danger Room. Fastball special. Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde. Mystique's arc. Magento's relationship with Mystique. Kitty vs. Juggernaut. The Beast's action scenes. Jamie Madrox. Wolverine's arc, regarding Jean (thankfully, they dropped the Weapon X flashback business, which we'll get plenty of in the Wolverine movie). Storm using her powers effectively. Iceman vs. Pyro.
In short, don't listen to the negative reviews. If you're not an X-book reader and have only seen the first two movies, you'll enjoy this one. If you are an X-book fan, and can put aside any need to have a literal adaptation of the Claremont/Byrne years, you'll have a damned good time!
