LuckyWillX-Men(3): The Last Stand; Movie Review
November 21st 2006 15:15
The third and final X-Men film of the trilogy (following X-Men and X2) lives up to its namesake of being climatic and comprehensively conclusive. For a start, one of the key members is presumedly killed off in roughly the first 30 minutes! Then, two others die while another few lose their mutant abilities entirely, reducing them to boring old homo sapiens (just like the rest of us). But, the new director Brett Ratner does a commendable job taking over from Bryan Singer who elevated the series initially and rounds out a trilogy that has style and substance (unlike Fantastic Four) a worthwhile story (unlike The Avengers), altogether with an intriguing plot with cooler characters than Spiderman. Oh and did I mention it's much more fresh and entertaining than Superman?
So what we have here is a colourful action film that does the intertextual comic book origins justice while issuing a film that can almost stand on its feet singuarly but also rounds out a satisfying last part of a trilogy. All in all, pretty good you're probably thinking? Well, you wouldn't be wrong. Let's run down where we're up to and where we're going:
Characters - most of the usual suspects are here including favourites like Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Charles Xavier with some of the bad guys and gals including the totalitarian Magneto and the delicious Mystique. Additionally, we have some inclusions as well to keep it fresh and no doubt keeping the comic book fans coming back, including Beast (superbly casted as televisions "Frasier", Kelsey Grammer), Archangel, Kitty Pryde and Collosus. Notably, some new villians make an appearance as well, such as Juggernaut and Mutliple Man.
Plot - Following Jean Greys apparent suicide to save the team at the end of X2, the viewers are introduced to the plot arc known as the Phoenix Saga, whereby Jeans powers take on a cataclysmic potenial that even she and Charles Xavier battle to control, let alone contain. Whereas the first couple of films dealt with the X-Mens battle against their mutant bretheren and the fearful humans who percieve mutants as a risk; the third film arguably highlights the inner battle each X-Men endures on a personal level. For example, dealing with a world that has invented a so-called cure for mutantism, the longevity of the X-Mens dreams and how each fits into the role assigned to them in the group in emotional terms. But, that's not to say there's heaps of action scenes, explosions and character vs character duels that we're all used to and secretly love.
Transition - The film coherently takes place after the sequel and we're again presented with familiar characters and their individual interactions in the group. Ratner has done a good job here. The acting is all satisfactory especially Patrick Stewart who plays Xavier and Ian Mckellan playing Magneto. Again we see the complexity of their relationship dichotmously opposed philosphically, yet are shown why they're essentially part of the same coin yet reveal two different visions like the metaphor explained in the "Extras" section of disk2 in the DVD. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine with vigour as the half animal half human mutant with similar straining affections to his role as more of a lone wolf than a team member.
All in all, it's a satisfying, fast-paced, action romp made believable by the characters and plots held together by familiarity, while giving a few new twists while not upsetting the balance and tradition of the films. Is it the best X-Men film? I don't know. Is it an enjoyable conclusion to the series? Yes it is.
3/1/2 starz
Images taken from:
wikipedia.org
polg.blogs.com
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