"X-Men: The Last Stand" is a good ending to the very popular franchise however with a little more time and effort this movie could have been the best out of all three.

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2006)

This time around, the X-Men have a big issue their hands because a scientist has recently discovered a cure for mutants that will turn them back into normal human beings. But the situation only gets worse as Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) rises from the dead and comes back as her alter ego the Dark Phoenix. It isn't long before Phoenix becomes a threat not only the X-Men but the world as well. A decent however problematic final installment of the popular franchise ensues
"X-Men: The Last Stand" is really a mixed bag. There were so many things I liked about the film however there was a lot I didn't like about it as well. With that being said I really loved the first hour and feel it was better than the previous films. It was very dramatic and very intense. I enjoyed every moment of the first hour or so but when one of the main characters die, the movie seems to fall apart. At this point, it becomes solely about action and special effects and that's where I lost some interest in the film.
The main problem I had with the movie is that nothing is ever really explained or shown. I can't really go into detail about this without giving the movie away but trust me there are a few things in the film that never get addressed including some casualties. The film also really builds up the Dark Phoenix character but again never really explains who she is and why she has this power.
Also this movie features a lot of new characters including Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Beast ( Kelsey Grammar), and Angel (Ben Foster) just to name a few but there is zero character development with these new characters. Who are they? Why are they here? We as the audience don't get any answers to these questions. Also where did Night Crawler disappear to? And why was Rogue almost non-existent during the entire film? I also felt that a lot of the new characters weren't very loyal to the comic book. Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) was an absolute joke as a character and his little stupid one-liners didn't help. In fact all the cheesy one-liners were awful. Also whose idea was it to cast Kesley Grammar as the Beast? That was a total miscast because he seemed very out of place in the film. Beast also seemed a lot smarter in the comic. Lastly, the ending was a bit too much as well, the whole idea that yet another sequel could come out of the franchise really made me mad. I really couldn't help but burst out laughing when it ended.
But with all negatives aside, the first hour of this film was terrific. I liked the drama that Brett Ratner introduced in the film and I liked how he allowed the film to actually have a story. The problem is that the film was very unbalanced and it seemed to rely on action and special effects more than anything else in the second half. Just a little character development would have made the film a lot better. Also some introductions of the new characters would have been great as well. I honestly don't know who most of the new characters were in the film. It seemed as though these characters didn't have names and weren't important.
In the end, "X-Men: The Last Stand" probably would have better if the original director, Bryan Singer, stayed on board. The fact that this film is suppose to be the final film of the X-Men saga it wasn't a good time for a new director to take over the series. It was a decent ending to the series however as a whole "the Last Stand" was my least favorite film of the bunch. It was very dramatic, intense and action packed, I will give it that. However, the problem seemed to me that Brett Ratner tried to do too much with the final film. He introduced too many new characters and the fact that everything seemed to move along so fast really hurt the film. I think a bit more story later on in the film and a little character development and explanation about things would have made this film the best film in the series but since a new director stepped aboard it was only good instead of being great. With that being said I did like this film however I was kind of disappointed with it in the end. It's a good ending to a popular franchise that with just a little more time and effort could have been great.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "X-Men: The Last Stand" is a 7/10.