'X-Termination' of 'X-cellence?'

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 2006)

With the assignment of directorial duties to series newcomer Brett Ratner, (RUSH HOUR 1 & 2; Fox TV's PRISON BREAK), much of the heart, humor and wit brought to X-MEN by fanboy-at-heart Bryan Singer is absolutely M.I.A., and the larger themes of discrimination, assimilation and intolerance become almost afterthoughts in service to driving everything and everyone towards the franchise climax: "The Big Battle."
LAST STAND begins, we can only assume, a few years after the events of X-MEN UNITED transpired, climaxing with the noble death of Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Storm (Halle Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Cyclops (James Marsden) have taken a more active role in the day-to-day administration of Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Children. Well, actually that would be Storm and Wolverine. Cyclops is still too torn up over the death of his beloved Jean to do anybody much good, so gone is the testosterone-fueled banter that sparked the amusing-if-contentious relationship between himself and Wolverine.
Magneto (Ian McKellen) is out of sight but most definitely not out of the minds of Our Heroes or the Feds. It would take a major event of seismic proportions to bring Xavier's buddy-turned-nemesis out into the open, and one finally happens: subsidized by the Government, Worthington Labs manages to formulate a "cure" for the mutants to provide them with the choice to revert back to their human selves, if they wish.
Big news, indeed, and it can only be delivered to the School by a big messenger: hulking and hirsute blue-furred Former Secretary of Mutant Affairs Dr. Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast (played to the hilt by former FRASIER star Kelsey Gramm er.) The possibilities split the mutant world immediately into two camps: those who see it as a godsend and those who revile it as a veiled form of genetic fascism, bordering on actual genocide. Storm comes down in favor of the latter camp, (and as it has been pointed out a number of times, she IS biased, guilty of not only being one of the hotter mutants, but also of possessing the coolest powers bar none), where mutants like the forlorn Marie, aka Rogue (Anna Paquin), take the former stance. Rogue, after all, would like to have a boyfriend she could actually hug and kiss without worrying about killing him, said boyfriend in this case being Bobby Drake/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore).
Meanwhile, as Magneto uses the controversy as a catalyst to reunite his renegade mutant band and to amass an entire army of rogue mutants, some weird psychic vibes that profoundly affect Cyclops compel him to return to Alkali Lake, the scene of the previous movie's climax, where he discovers a revived Jean Grey. Not to give a lot away, but some major stuff goes down, leaving Jean to be discovered by Storm and Logan.
Xavier (Patrick Stewart) offers an explanation for Jean's return. To say that she's "not quite herself" is a gross understatement, as her new persona, 'Dark Phoenix,' makes herself known in some unexpected and frightening ways.
So the stage is finally set for a war where it's good mutants vs. bad, which may be irrelevant if the unpredictable powers of the "new" Jean Grey winds up destroying everything and everyone indiscriminately, be it Man or Mutant.
This is probably oversimplifying everything just a tad, but I've done it for two reasons: 1) so that this review can be as spoiler-free as possible, and 2) to mirror the more simplistic approach taken by director-for-hire Ratner.
As a result, LAST STAND looks great, has the pre-requisite dazzling special effects sequences, (the Golden Gate bridge sequence is the centerpiece of the whole movie), a magnificent score by John Powell, and all of the bells and whistles provided by whipcrack editing and sharp cinematography. But in serving his own vision of the film, Ratner also short-shrifts his cast for some unique opportunities to shine, and that's a shame.
Halle Berry's Storm, who looks better than she has before in the previous two films, really doesn't have that much more to do. In fact, Beast, a "new kid on the block", gets about as much screen time as she does, and both deserved more. Same with new hero Warren Worthington III, aka Angel (a newly buffed-out Ben Foster of SIX FEET UNDER and HOSTAGE), whose first appearance packs as much visual punch as either Beast or Jean Grey, (not to mention the metaphor of his mutation representing a kind of "coming out" adds even more of an edge to the themes of discrimination and assimilation), but then he's gone for much of the movie and doesn't reappear until things are almost over.
And then there's Jean/Dark Phoenix. Resurrected by who-knows-what, (the anguish of Cyclops? the threat of mutant annihilation?) the psychological baggage she brings with her dangerous and exponentially growing powers make her the most compelling character in this installment, yet the scenes that involve her use (or abuse) of her talents seem cribbed from the best work of Brian De Palma and David Cronenberg, (hawkeyed buffs will recognize lifts from CARRIE, THE FURY and SCANNERS immediately).
For those not into analyzing every frame of a summer blockbuster, who are just content to "go with the flow", this will all seem like fussy nitpicking. And maybe it is. But for my money, I still found myself missing Bryan Singer's signature touches deeply, and regret that he couldn't stick with the franchise that is basically his baby, though the mind reels at the prospect of what he has contributed to the rebirth of the SUPERMAN series.
All-in-all, not a bad day at the movies, this. But I'm hoping that whatever is on the boards next, they'll have Bryan back to do a little "clean-up" work.