A so-so ending to the trilogy

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2006)

The third installment and perhaps the last of the X-Men series dosn't expand much on the story, where X-Men introduced the main characters (Xavier, Magneto, Storm etc.) and X-Men 2 further developed many of the characters (mainly Wolverine and Cyclops) and introduced a few new, Last Stand is quite weak, it does introduce a few new cool ones and re-introduces Jean Grey but it just dosn't develop the others further, in fact it concerns itself more with being an action flick rather than anything else which is sad considering that the Marvel universe is very diverse.
This episode or in fact the whole trilogy dosn't deliver what the comics or the universe promises and this is in no way due to poor performances or effects. Ian McKellen in particular does a magnificent job as does Famke Janssen.
Last Stand does have it moments, Grey's super-status and resulting inner struggle, Wolverine's single-minded lust (maybe not the right word there) to find/rescue Grey, Xavier and Magneto's relationship and history, Rogue's desire to be able to touch other people without hurting them, but somehow this dosn't come off as more than minor sub-plots and is relegated to a backseat on a bus position by the producers/Director's desire to make a full blown action party out of this great story/universe, which it indeed is or could have been if handled in the right way, perhaps much of the problem lies in the fact that in X-Men they tried to introduce too many characters and then didn't develop them or few of them much further in the sequels so when Grey dies in X-Men 2 and Cyclops goes the same way you don't care much unless you know them from the comics.
I was considering buying this series on DVD after having seen X-Men 2 but much relied on Last Stand to further develop and better the series but sadly I was putting too much fate in the producers/Directors and I don't feel they delivered what this universe has to offer.
I give Last Stand a 5 out of 10 due to the characters and as a Trilogy X-Men gets a 6 again due to the characters and a slightly better overall feel (in a great way due to X-Men 2).