Good...but very different...the evolution of the X-men is at hand

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2006)

Perhaps the exit of Bryan Singer made a bigger impact than people realize on the enormously successful, and justifiably so, X-Men Series. Brett Ratner attempts to pick up the story so carefully woven together by Singer and he does a decent enough job but I think he also managed to completely dismantle Singer's creation and start a new evolution of X-Men. Besides this being turned into a Storm and Wolverine extravaganza, he successfully kills off three of the main characters from the first two films and the X-Men in general, introduce practically an entirely new team. None of this is bad or good, just different and interesting. The story does continue and the war that has been brewing between the humans and mutants and Magneto and the X-Men comes to a boiling point and breaks out on Alcatraz Island.
Hugh Jackson, who since the first film has become a big star, returns as Wolverine. His sharp edged wit, and bad attitude have been toned down to almost the point of domestication and his Savior relationship with Rogue (Anna Paquin) is now non-existent. The entire character was just different in this one as was all the old cast members. They felt like old news and there wasn't the magic that they once had. Still Jackman fits the role flawlessly and he is a great star. Halle Berry is now a front runner in the cast (refusing to return if she wasn't) as Storm. Her character has changed a lot too. She really isn't the Storm from the first two films and I think ultimately she did even less even if she had more screen time. Anna Paquin returns as well for a small almost insignificant role as Rogue. She is there mostly to continue the debate on whether or not Mutants would be better off as normal humans. Two exceptions to the rule about the old cast members being old news were Famke Janssen, and Ian McKellen. Janseen, who was killed off at the end of X2 returns as Phoenix, an alter ego who uses her power to hurt anyone in her way. Janssen gets to release her wooden performance as Jean Grey and really let loose and that's good!! It was fun to see her on the other side of things and finally get closure to her story line. McKellen...what can you say about him...his performance as Magneto is brilliant. Angry, evil, powerful, yet you feel sorry for him, you see caring and fear. For the record at 66 years old he now has TWO movies in the last two weeks with a grand total of approximately 400 million dollars world wide!! Impressive!! McKellen comes full circle with Magneto and really uses his powers a lot. He is at the head of one side of the war and he is a powerful adversary. No one could do this role better. Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden both return briefly in smaller roles which is unfortunate. Marsden I think has got a bum rap from day one in this series as Cyclops. He should have always had a bigger role and was good in his role. He was barely existent in this installment. Romijn's excellent, sexy villain Mystique has always been great and in the second one she had an even bigger role but she is quickly neutralized in this one. Patrick Stewart also returns as Charles Xavier and no one could do better than him either. Him and McKellen have a great chemistry and he is a fantastic leader. He always seems to become indisposed in some way though in every film. All these changes...mutations to the story if you will...are all to make way for the new breed of mutants. Kelsey Grammar takes the lead of the new group as The Beast. Diplomat, and as it turns out great fighter. Grammar is well cast and looks fantastic in his blue get up. When he finally starts to fight...well it's just damn cool. Shawn Ashmore gets a much bigger role as The Iceman. He's almost the biggest hero in the film at this point. Ashmore is one worth watching because I think he's got a big career ahead of him and his character is great. Aaron Stanford is Iceman's former friend and his opposite...Pyro. Their building conflict comes head to head finally in a one on one battle worth seeing. Vinnie Jones is a good addition as Juggernaut. I don't mean to take anything away from his performance but that character seems almost too forced onto the story, like they had to add him. Ben Foster, Ellen Page, Daniel Cudmore, all play new mutants with smaller roles in this sequel.
If nothing else X-Men: The Last Stand doesn't need any more cast additions. They could easily make new films on these new characters because they've successfully weaned out the old ones or killed them off. Like the rest of the series the story is so vitally important and Ratner definitely doesn't take that for granted. But like the second sequel the action is significantly lower than what the original offered. It almost felt slow at times despite how good the story is. Perhaps there was just too many characters?? Nonetheless the last half hour or more of the film when the final war (The Last Stand) takes place is just awesome, a battle worthy of a final showdown. It felt epic, it looked epic, it was blockbuster material!! The one great thing about the series is it has definitely not gotten worse...it doesn't overly improve but it builds on itself and stays consistent even through a change of director. I hope there is more to come in this series or with the spin offs because they are absolutely a unique and interesting take on the action/Superhero genre. If you love that genre, you must see the X-Men trilogy!! 8/10