X-Men: The Last Stand is a mess of juggernaut proportions.

Rating: 5/10 (28 December 2018)

"Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut...". Well, not exactly the disaster that everyone harks on about, but still a substantial step down from the excellent 'X2'. Franchise fatigue? Nonsense. Plenty of good 'X-Men' stories to be adapted. The removal of Singer, who is replaced by Ratner, only makes the latter's mediocrity shine through even more so. Thus, concluding the trilogy on a low note. Jean Grey is resurrected as Dark Phoenix and is unable to control her formidable powers. There's also a "cure" available for mutants to remove their powers, where Magneto wants to use Dark Phoenix to rid "homosapiens". A predictably bland father/son crisis between Angel and his dad, who happens to be the individual to manufacture the cure. Not one, but two crucial characters get vaporised. Rogue is still going through puberty and having boyfriend troubles. Juggernaut smashes walls...Mystique is no more...yeah. It's an unfocused mess. The Dark Phoenix arc is arguably the more interesting plot, involving all of the X-Men with themes of love and loss. Unfortunately Ratner chooses to put the whole "cure" plot at the forefront, as he attempts to put his own argument into the mutant/human war. Problem is, it's been done before. Twice. We know where each character stands. We know their ideologies and motives. We wanted Dark Phoenix, we got a Dark Pigeon instead. The performances were all good, consistent as always. McKellen's Magneto gets a generous amount of screentime, who is irrefutably the best character. The increased action was somewhat mindless and messy, but was entertaining to watch. Except the monotonous third act, where Ratner unleashes his inner Michael Bay as flaming cars rain down on Alcatraz. The visual effects were decent, particularly the Golden Gate Bridge scene, and the narrative's pacing was perfectly fine. It just doesn't know what story it wants to tell. The character development had been substituted for frantic action and plots rarely intertwine. Resulting in a forgettable superhero flick. 'X-Men: The First Mess'.