Last Stand Comments - Spoiler Included

Rating: 4/10 (25 May 2006)

I saw the movie last night and feel compelled for the first time ever to write. I'll try not to give too much away, but there are some things that I need to address. I'll start by saying I was filled with much anticipation pre-movie and much disappointment post movie. I'm not here to bag it, I think parts of it were great (The house scene with Phoenix and Professor X, brutally confronting. The climax to the Wolverine/Jean tryst, had to end that way. Vinnie Jones/Juggernaut kudos must be given for a casting coup) but I have a few points I want to mention. I'd be interested to hear other thoughts. Were my expectations too high or am I near the mark? 1. The demise of Scott-While I found Scott a bit of a dick, I thought his role as a main character deserved more of a send off than a few misery filled lines and then gone. I have no problem with killing off main characters, just give them a deserved send-off. 2. Mystique-I loved the Mystique character. So deliciously cynical. Again, another example of doing away with a character so central to the core without a fitting dispatch. 3. Nightcrawler-What happened to him? So much time spent building him up and then gone. Remember, in the oval office at the end of X2, he was going to be one of the ones watching. Maybe he was watching. From the seats of the cinema thinking what the hell happened to me? 4. Colossus-Got a bit of airtime in X2, thought we might see a bit of development. Nup, just a bit player in the background. And for that matter, where did Kitty come from? No explanation, no development just there, accept it viewers! 5. Beast-I love Kelsey Grammar and thought he'd be perfectly cast, but I just couldn't warm to him. 6. Angel-One of my favourites from the comic, thought he'd be a great inclusion and we'd see more of him than we did. In fact, except for the scene where he busts from the Worthington Labs, he resembled nothing more than a giant, camp Albatross. A shame, because he could've been great. Actor perfect to play him too. 7. Magneto ripping up the bridge-Looked great but come on. If he was hell bent on getting at the leech, wouldn't he just load his motley bunch in a bus and lift that to the island? That would also do away with those pesky soldiers running across the bridge that he'd so helpfully placed for them. 8. Phoenix' demise-It was great that Logan did what he had to do, I loved it but answer this. If she was so powerful and could keep everything away, how was he able to crawl to her? 9. Magneto's repentance-What? He gets stuck with a needle and so then everything he fought for was suddenly wrong. Gimme a break. 10. I'm no scientist but it's a four hour flight by jumbo to San Fran from New York, right? Unless Angel snuck aboard the x jet, how the hell did he manage to fly that distance in time to arrive just after the x jet and catch his papa? Overall, to me it appears that they bit off more than they could chew by adding so many new characters. I dunno, I just didn't feel that we got the chance to form strong feelings about the characters like we did for the first two movies (Even Toad and Sabretooth elicited emotional responses). Maybe losing Singer took the movie in a different direction that I would have hoped. Please don't think I'm bagging the movie as I'm pro X-Men, just airing the thoughts that have perturbed me. I welcome any comments from others.