X-Men: The Last Stand better then you think...

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2006)

Well I am a bit of a later comer when seeing this movie, but I was thrilled with the action and impressed with the effects. The story line was actually well done... but I think maybe the story was a bit overdone which took away from the story.
First of all, there are a few little "nods" to the comics that people may not even pick up on. For example, Jean did die ( several times and quite recently in fact at Wolverine's hands ) and her first "death" was what triggered the Phoenix personality ( in the comics it is a cosmic thing, but I digress ). In fact she was found in a Phoenix "caccoon" at the bottom of the East River in New York in an issue of The Fantastic Four, so the way Scott found her in the movie was appropriate. Professor Xavier was assumed "dead" early in the comics run and in fact could walk as a young man, and Scott Summers was killed by the mutant Apocalypse and only returned just over a year ago. So to say that neither of these characters have ever been killed is incorrect. Here is the twist... they always, always, always come back. Jean Grey is one of the most resurrected characters in comics history!
Okay so we don't get filled in on the back story of Multiple Man or Juggernaut... so? In the first movie, the entire comics continuity of the X-Men is obliterated when we see Logan meet "Marie" on the road, and we find out that Jean, Scott and Ororo are some of Xaviers first students. Really? I thought Jean, Scott, Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy and Warren Worthington were. Okay, so things are not EXACTLY the same... but thats doesn't ruin the movie for me. So Juggernaut and Xavier may not be related in the movie... big deal.
This movie shows the natural progression of the anti-mutant sentiments growing in "Marvel- America". In the first film we see mutant on mutant aggression, in X2 we see human on mutant aggression and in this film we see the progression of this aggression into developing a "cure" for the x-factor gene (the comics name for the x-mutant gene).
Yes there could have been more character development but I really didn't care too much about the role of the Juggernaut or Callisto or Angel for that matter. I wanted to see the characters I know and enjoy and let me tell you, seeing 3 of them die was tragic... which has translated nicely from the comics. The X-Men have always been about tragedy and overcoming seemingly impossible odds and how much more tragic can you get then having 3 of the "big guns" taking the big dirt nap?
Seeing the Danger Room was nice and seeing Wolverine eviscerate that Sentinel was very cool (though I wanted to see more then just the head) and finally seeing Storm use her powers to their full potential was truly a treat for the eyes. The cast of mutant was that extensive that couldn't keep track... was that Toad in the church? It was a blast seeing Psylocke ( though she was a baddie ) and what appeared to be a version of the Blob.
Overall, very cool movie even if it wasn't perfect, people died and histories changed. I will plop down some coin to see it again and it gets added to the DVD collection when it comes out, no question.