When you just can't get enough

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2006)

On May 15th Mexico City held the World Premiere of "X-Men: The Last Stand" at the Auditorio Nacional. A little over 8,000 people (the place capacity is for 10,000) saw the movie, both fans and press alike. Guests of honor were Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman, who walked the red carpet, talked to press, signed autographs and made a brief speech prior to the movie. Halle was impressed with the amount of people and said that this was the biggest premiere she ever attended. Hugh Jackman said a few words in Spanish, mainly thanking the fans, and asked the audience to sing the Mexican equivalent of "Happy Birthday" (called "Las MaÃ±anitas") for his father 70th birthday. He videotaped it.
THE MOVIE (SPOILERS AHEAD). There's no way we can think of this film without the previous ones, which are highly regarded. Instead of Bryan Singer, it's now Brett Ratner, considered a fair enough Director, a guy that has experience with his own sequels ("Rush Hour 2") and particularly with Hannibal's Lecter prequel "Red Dragon".
The movie is action packed from beginning to end. I mean, really action packed, with both great and not so great moments. The avid comic readers will delight with the Danger Room sequence, the presence of a sentinel (or at least it's head), lots of fights, and Ororo, Phoenix and Magneto flying. Providing the drama factor, are either the deaths of several of the main characters (such as Professor X) or their lost of powers due to the so called "cure" (Mystique).
The script is way too ambitious, and it finally fails to provide the always well received sense of reality for a genre flick. The back story just doesn't hold, the dialogues are poor and the editing and music just don't help. Among other things, the presidential figure is one of the weakest that Hollywood has ever showed, and the crowd scenes with protesters look way too fake.
One of the main problems could be the fact of too many characters involved. Most of them lacked the depth the previous films provided them. It kind of gives you the impression of a TV show, where you just want more and wait for the next episode to focus on any particular of them. Of course, the next episode never comes.
About the much expected "new" mutants on film, Beast is the only one that works because he has just enough screen time to get to know him.
All in all, I was disappointed with the movie. On the other hand, if you just want lots and lots of fights and special effects, you'll just love it.