"X"-ceptionally Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2006)

X-MEN UNITED; THE LAST STAND (2006) *** Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammar, Rebecca Rominjn, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Ben Foster, Dania Ramirez, Ellen Page, Cameron Bright, Michael Murphy, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Josef Sommer, Bill Duke, Daniel Cudmore, Eric Dane, Anthony Heald. Exceptionally entertaining final chapter in the vastly popular and kinetic comic book franchise this time with a potential 'cure' splintering the factions of good and evil mutants both hell-bent on stopping this attempt to make all 'normal' with the usual pyrotechniques and hellzapoppin' special effects/visual fireworks ensuing. The Dark Phoenix storyline of the resurrected Jean Grey (the statuesquely sexy Janssen) will appeal to the inner fanboy as well as a fierce Jackman as the impervious to pain Wolverine (earmarked as the next solo X-Men character worthy of his own film) struggling to do the right thing in his ongoing crush for the lovely yet malevolent Jean. Director Brett Ratner, filling in for Bryan Singer who had commitment to "Superman Returns", does a better-than-imagined attempt yet allows too many new additional mutants getting short-shrift and lost in the shuffle with the exception of blue furred Dr. Hank McCoy AKA "Beast" (well-cast Grammar) as the liaison of "mutant" affairs. A well-choreographed Golden Gate Bridge climactic battle makes up for the mishandling of story lines in the long run and a fun screenplay by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn.