Damion Crowley's Reviews from The Darkness: X-men 3

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2006)

X-men 3: The Last Stand is a fantastic spectacle, an utterly worthy sequel to the first two movies. It will awe you with imagery, amuse you with character interaction, and tickle your intellectual and philosophical bones without over-burdening them.
For the new arrivals, the X-men movies are a series of movies featuring a group of super-powered beings (called 'mutants') who have to deal with the prejudice of humans against them. Additionaly there are a group of super-villains who are intent on becoming the master race and eliminating the humans.
The principal thread of this movie is that a "cure" has been discovered for mutants. The primary antagonist, Magneto, is ready to crush those who would create the cure and establish political and social dominance over the humans. As a parallel to this story, Jean Grey who died in the previous movie is seemingly reincarnated as the Phoenix, a telepath/telekinetic with overwhelming power. The Phoenix becomes entangled in the struggle between the good mutants, the bad mutants and the humans.
This movie knows its special effects and how to execute them. There is barely a dubious moment in the entire movie. You get a true sense of the awe inspiring power that these characters have.
On the more humanistic level, you get to see how many react to being a mutant and to the news that they may be able to fix themselves. Of note are Anna Paquin and Ben Foster (who was sorely under utilized) on opposite ends of the spectrum. There is much more, but seeing it for yourself is the best way to experience this emotional impact.
The script and plot are, for the comic vet, old ground; but, by movie standards this is quite fresh. Plus the dynamic presentation of a story that has been presented statically for so long is quite the rush. Most of the actors, from the principles to the tertiary, did excellent work. So good, in fact, I would feel shallow pointing out my one real disappointing character in the movie. Notable debuts (at least in this franchise) are Ben Foster, Kelsey Grammerand Dania Ramirez.
Overall, an excellent movie, that I recommend rushing out and seeing as soon as possible