Let the Summer..begin!

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2006)

X-Men, the Last Stand has a lot going for it. So much so that many of the things that should have had more development and time, didn't really matter because X-Men was very entertaining and a worthy movie for the beginning of the Summer Movie Season.
There is a lot going on - but the one thing I came away with was that mutants - as well as humans - have a life cycle and it is pretty much explored here. All things being equal, we got to see both sides of the fence: the mutants quest for acceptance and the humans quest for being the superior top of the food chain.
But here's the thing: A few holes that were done "just in case there IS a 4th X-Men film" or because the character development wasn't complete or maybe a tad of each. The teens were great - except Magneto had more than the X-Men ...and that didn't make a lot of sense to me: especially in a school filled with mutant teens.
And then there is Jean Grey/Phoenix. I did find a story there, but not enough of a story for her being one of the strongest mutants in the world. The director didn't do enough with this potential gem. I feel the same with Angel. A lot of opportunity there, but I didn't get much of a background from that character and I would have loved to seen more, know more about him.
But...it didn't bother me too much from the popcorn entertainment value of the film. I loved it, it was a lot of fun. I do want to say the action outweighed the story - such as in X-Men 2, there was more of a story and the action and story blended nicely.
But gosh.....it was great finally seeing quite a few dozen of those mutants do their thing. And Magneto? Well, what a 'yang' to Charles Xavier's 'ying' he was shown to be. He was cool in the worst sorta way but what power! I loved watching Sir Ian on the screen as this character.
All in all a pretty decent beginning of the summer film season with a few holes, but a lot of good action scenes and a few things to think about when people of different natures and backgrounds try to co-exist together on this earth.