If all the X-Men films could be this good, I could watch one every week . . .

Rating: 9/10 (29 May 2006)

When I was a kid, my parents used to give me a Big Carrot to look forward to all week, one that could only be realised on Saturday mornings. Every Saturday, I would troop down to the local cinema with my buddies for the kids matinÃ©e and, after the Pathe News and a cartoon, we would be treated to the Big Picture - usually a monster movie or superheroes spectacular. By standards of grown ups, the Big Picture wasn't that big or spectacular - usually a B-movie with awful special effects: but we would thrill to every leap of the hero, feel every whack as the monster or bad guy took a beating, and hide our boyish tears (or whoop and laugh manfully) as the heroine died in the arms of her lover.
X-Men, the Last Stand, brought back that magic to me. If I could watch a Marvel-Comic-made-Celluloid this good every week I'd soon become an addict again. I caught the late night showing expected to be mildly entertained - and was awed. Comic book adaptations have advanced by leaps and bounds over the past few years - from the intellectual and emotional involvement of Spiderman 2 to the remarkable mixed media look of Sin City. So much so, comic book cinema no longer has to apologise for itself, play exclusively to children or appeal to a minority of fans. There are some people who will be turned off by the idea of mutant humans with super powers - you know who you are, and this movie is not for you; but for anyone wavering about going to see it, this represents a quality offering in what has now become an established and respectable genre. The story lines and moral dilemmas are well thought out, the acting on a par with any good mainstream film, and the special effects accurately delivered. I am no longer a pre-adolescent in short trousers, and yet felt my spine tingle to the magic of the X-Men's Last Stand the way I did years ago to those tearfully boyish Saturday matinees.
This story revolves around a new 'cure' developed by a leading pharmaceutical company that can suppress the mutant gene of creatures like the X-Men. At first, the serum is offered only to mutants who want it, who long to be simply human, but the political battle over the rights and wrongs of the new discovery soon reach fever pitch. Of the two main groups of mutants, one, led by Patrick Stewart, seeks only peaceful coexistence for all - mutants and homo sapiens. The other, led by Ian McKellan, sees the battle as one between the two species. The lines are soon blurred as the new serum is misused by the government, and also as one very powerful mutant, known as Jean or Phoenix, awakens with part of her powers lodged with her subconscious and so beyond her control.
For those that like reading meaning into science fiction and fantasy, many questions about evolution are raised, about democracy, freedom of the will and where (and how) individual freedom ends. Halle Berry's role (as Storm) has been slightly expanded, but it remains an excellent ensemble performance from all the main characters.
This was not a film where I expected the audience to remain behind for the credits, so I was somewhat surprised to see so few people leaving their seats. Was I (as a non cult follower of X-Men) in the dark about something they all knew? Quite possibly - there is an extra scene kept back for dedicated fans . . .