Somewhat satisfying wrap-up

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2006)

The one thing I liked about X-Men: The Last Stand is that the ending was, overall, satisfying. Most, if not all, comic book movies I have seen aggravate me because the end is almost an anti-climax, holding me in suspense for the next installment. I would be very happy if the series stopped here. We already have two spin-offs slated for next year, one called Magneto and the other called Wolverine.
I guess this is fitting, and explaining the back-stories of these two characters would probably be impossible to do in one sequel. However, a fourth X-Men movie would not draw me because this movie spends a lot of the time killing off or destroying the powers of its principle characters (two main ones are dead before half-an-hour has passed).
The movie's storyline centers on a new medicine that has been discovered which will supposedly cure mutants of their gifts. The source comes from a child mutant called Leech (Aaron Eckhart's son in Thank You for Smoking, Cameron Bright), whose power is to rid other mutants of theirs when around him, and whose DNA provides the makeup for the medicine.
This causes Magneto (Ian McKellen) to declare war on the homosapiens, especially after one character is unintentionally turned human. His main sidekick is Pyro (Aaron Stanford), who can manipulate fire. Other mutants worthy of mention are Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Phoenix (Famke Janssen), and Beast (Kelsey Grammar).
The movie's one vital flaw is that it throws aside all further character development for the stunning action sequences and character killing. The new character Angel (Ben Foster) is the reason this cure is first produced, and yet he only gets three scenes. Then there's the relationship between Rogue (Anna Paquin) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), the latter beginning to show interest in a new girl, Kitty (Ellen Page), though this triangle is hardly developed. Rogue mopes in the shadows while Iceman and Kitty share a special moment on ice.
The list of underdeveloped characters goes on and on and on. Brett Ratner has an eye for the action, as Phoenix provides some rather stunning visuals when she enters her more hectic moments, and when Magneto lifts up the Golden Gate Bridge, I was truly stunned. The visuals overall where impressive and left me satisfied.
Although X-Men: The Last Stand has a sense of finality, it doesn't achieve the satisfying wrap-up that The Return of the King achieved with its six endings. Still, I recommend it because it is great fun, and if you've been keeping track of the series you'll want to see how the war resolves. I advise to watch either of the earlier films first if you haven't in a while, because this movie provides little-to-no recap of the earlier events.