An excellent superhero film.

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2006)

X-Men: The Last Stand is most probably the last X-Men movie, at least in this series. If it truly is it sure goes out with a bang! The plot of this film is that a cure has been discovered for mutants which would make them lose the power. When mutant rights secretary Beast (Kelsey Grammar) breaks the news to Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the other X-Men, they are not too pleased. However, like always, the y believe in cooperation with the humans.
Their problems get worse when ex teammate Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) is found alive at Alkali Lake by Storm (Halle Berry) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). She's reawoken as the Dark Phoenix and lets just say shes evil, very evil.
Anyway back to the cure, of course Magneto (Ian McKellen) still hates the humans and believes this to be the perfect opportunity for war. Still with henchmen Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford)he is also joined by many new faces to build his army. Most notably are Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and the resurrected Jean Grey.
Now that's all I'll tell you about the story to avoid spoilers, now on to how this movie fares.
The acting, as always in these films, is excellent, and the new characters are perfectly cast. Vinnie Jones is excellent and fits Juggernaut perfectly and Kelsey Grammar is Beast-he just is! Perfect match! Ben Foster fares well as Angel and is well cast but nothing special and then you've got plenty of new small villains like Callisto and Psylocke. Ellen Page is a nice addition as well as the 'walk through walls' Kitty Pride.
Obviously stars from the original 2 like Hugh Jackman are still there and are magnificent as ever. Jackman is fantastic as Wolverine and gives an amazing performance. Halle Berry is much more impressive this time round as is Famke Janssen. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are brilliant as Magneto and Xavier respectively.
The special effects in this are mind blowing! An excellent achievement and the bridge sequence just took my breath away. Stunning.
This film is an improvement in many ways, especially in story terms. It's also not as centered on Wolverine in particular as the previous 2, especially X2.
However it's a shame that the film feels a bit empty. The effects (while brilliant) overshadow a number of what otherwise are good performances, most notably Famke Janssens. Some of the new characters are not needed and there is no where near enough time to develop them all. The only new one you get to know enough is Beast.
Overall though this is an excellent superhero movie and well worth your time. Brett Ratner sir, this is your best work yet, STAY AWAY FROM CRAP IDEAS AND STICK TO FILMS LIKE THIS!