A very good addition to the franchise

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2006)

This Memorial Day I got a chance to get out to the theaters and see X-Men: The Last Stand. The third installment of Fox's X-Men franchise, The Last Stand takes place some time after the second. A "cure" for people containing the mutant gene is found, leading to a political uproar that draws battle lines between The Brotherhood, a group of misfit mutants led by Magneto(Ian Mckellen), and the X-Men, still led by Professor Xavier(Patrick Stewart).
The cast of characters have essentially stayed the same. Most all the characters from the previous film appear in The Last Stand save for Nightcrawler(played by Alan Cumming) who has been written out of this one. Fans of the Nightcrawler character should check out the new X-Men official movie game to find out the details of his departure. New faces include Frasier star Kelsey Grammar as Dr. Hank McCoy(aka Beast), the U.S. secretary of mutant relations. Snatch's Vinnie Jones is playing the role of Juggernaut, and two young up and coming stars Ellen Page, who is the third actress to play the role of Kitty Pryde(Sumela Kay and Katie Stuart were the other two), and Cameron Bright(Ultraviolet, Thank You for Smoking), playing Leech, the young boy whose mutant power is the cure for others mutant gene.
Being the third installment in the franchise leaves a lot to live up to, and without actor/writer David Hayter(who wrote the screenplay for the first two) writing the script, it leaves a little to be desired. While the characters are very believable and real, the story itself, with the exception of a few well placed plot twists, is a little dodgy.
On the topic of directing, Brett Ratner, director of Red Dragon and both Rush Hour films, left production of the problematic Superman Returns(and was replaced by The Last Stand's original director, Bryan Singer) and was hired to finish this film nine weeks before filming was scheduled to begin. He took what he had, which was a decent script, half built sets, and a bunch of grumpy Fox executives and made a good film.
Pros: Great digital effects. Many companies had a go at the effects on this film, predominately Weta Digital, LTD.(the same company that did the CGI on the Lord of the Rings films and King Kong), and Cinesite Europe(they did the special effects of V for Vendetta and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Others were Framestore CFC who did the visuals on Doom and the Harry Potter franchise, CIS who was behind the effects of Poseidon and Aeon Flux, SOHO VFX who did visuals on The Chronicles of Narnia and Fantastic Four, and Hydralux, who also did some of the visual effects for Fantastic Four.
Great characters. One of the more subtle parts of the movie, The Last Stand illustrates the major differences between The Brotherhood and the X-Men. In the final battle, the X-Men stand outnumbered, but use teamwork instead of sheer numbers, showing that they are a tight knit group, and that they can beat The Brotherhood. Also, none of the X-Men use their "mutant" names, with the exception of Storm, but it is kind of hard to say Ororo, in fact, only Kelsey Grammar says it once. Hugh Jackman. He is Wolverine. All three of the films manage to capture the character incredibly well and he plays the part perfectly. Plot twists. Many things happen in this movie that you don't expect, so pay attention.
Good directing. Brett Ratner does a great job with this movie. He took what he had and made probably the best movie he could make. Only things I didn't like were his choices about certain special effects.
Cons: Bad characters. While the main characters were wonderfully portrayed, some of the smaller, but pivotal characters, were not built at all and we were simply teased with their great powers. Weak script. While the story itself is really good, but has too much going on and not enough dialog. Between finding the cure, the Brotherhood forming, the love triangle between Bobby Drake(Iceman), Rouge, and Kitty Pryde, and the Dark Phoenix, we should get two or more hours of awesome movie. Instead we got a rushed and seemingly jumbled one hundred and four minute goulash. Most of the character development occurs through action or reaction, making the characters seem victim to the story, like they aren't a part of it. Hugh Jackman. He steals the show, and while I love him as Wolverine, I want more diversity.
Sub par in camera special effects. This happens a few times in the movie. In the opening of the film, Peter Rasputin aka Colossus, hurls Wolverine through the air towards an enemy, a maneuver dubbed the "fastball special". Wolverine sailing through the hair looked very hokey and in comparison the the rest of the visual effects, it looked downright bad.
Poor outdoor set design. While all of the indoor sets are wonderfully put together, the outdoor sets that weren't on location filming, are a bit hokey, and seem small.
I thought this movie was a good addition to the previous two of the franchise. It's a comic book movie at its core, and it shows. Go for Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen stealing the show, and stay for the plot twists. Also stay after the credits for one more mysterious twist.