"This Is A Perfect Example Of How To Destroy A Franchise"

Rating: 5/10 (26 June 2006)

A so called cure is found in the blood of a young mutant, which divides the world into two sections. Those who want it and those who don't. Magneto and his brotherhood seek to find this boy and capture him, while the X-men must stand together, through hard times and put a stop to Magneto and his evil ways.
Being a fan of the comics, I can say that the first X-men film did an okay job at bringing them to the big screen. The second film took the mutant powers to new levels, with more action and more mutants for us to feast our eyes on. It was a treat seeing so many childhood favourite characters come to life. The Last Stand is the third installment, the makers of the film decide to go heavy on the eye popping action and forget to bring everything else with it. Take a note, X-3 is the perfect example of how to destroy a franchise.
When Singer left the job to go direct Superman, I had my head searching for a director that could take over the job, Joss Whedon was my choice and after seeing Ratner's piece up on the big screen, I have come to think that many others would agree with my choice. The Last Stand has many problems with it, mainly the story line and how close to strays from the source material. Although, with the bad does come good, so the film is not a total travesty.
Some of the nit picks come from a continuation of the first two films, such as introducing Beast and Angel in the third film, when they are in fact original members (along with cyclops, iceman and Jean) of the X-men team. The Last Stand adds too many characters into the film from the comics, giving them only a little bit of screen time. Here's a lesson, when you want to please fans, do not introduce a character and use them for five minutes. Introducing Beast, Kitty Pride/Shadowcat, Leech (horribly done, I'll mention later), Angel, and Juggernaut, cause hell, they weren't juggling enough characters in X-2.
Back to Leech though, what's with the complete an utter disregard of the character? In the comics he is green and lives in the sewers, here he is played by the always creepy looking kid (See Ultraviolet and Godsend). If you need a cure type character, make a new one, do not soil another. Juggernaut is Xavier's stepbrother, yet nothing. Would it be confusing to the plot, possibly, but maybe a nod or something when they pass each other to Grey's house. Don't get me started on how they handled Callisto, they totally changed the character and her powers. Storm would wipe the floor with her, although, yet again Storm as a character is underused, just like the first two films. Even with Berry commanding a bigger role, she is still not used to her full potential. Could it possibly be because of Berry herself not being confident in her role?
Out of all the X-men story lines, the Dark Phoenix is probably the most recognizable. It is vast, emotional, and everything you could ever ask for in a comic book story line. Hmm, now why would you throw that into this movie when you already have another story line. The Dark Phoenix SAGA, did that word mean nothing to you? SAGA, should have a movie of it's own, one in which unites both Magneto and the X-men to take on a greater evil. Her story was completely rushed and used as a second handle to the main plot, of the cure. Granted, to make the story movie friendly, you'll need to change the fact they go into space, but please make it more friendly then what has been fed to us. Some major characters do hit the hay. Is it just me, or has one of the X-men character been getting the shaft over the last two X-men films? Read the comics guys, after Jean's death Cyclops leaves the X-men, not what happens in the film.
I was happy to see some nods for the hardcore fans out there, such as the "fastball special", the danger room and sentinels. The film, as I said before, is not all entirely bad. This review is from the fan boy in me. The Last Stand has a lot of action, which should please those who want to see the mutant powers in full effect. Unless you're a Colossus fan, he is underused yet again. The Juggernaut, after small fight with Logan, does nothing but run through walls. Iceman actually turned to ice, that was neat. Wolverine, doesn't seem like the brutal killer that he is in the comics, here we see him kicking guys in the nuts and saying comical stuff while doing it.
Ultimately, Ratner was the wrong man for the job. While the action was superb and the special effects off the wall, it all doesn't make up for the butchering of the story they've done. The ending has either finished the franchise all together or changed it drastically. If there are more films to come, will there be new villains? A Mr. Sinister perhaps, or how about Apocalypse. Probably not, we're probably going to get a BS story about how the cure is only short time, as what was hinted at by the end. Stupid story aside, and if you're not a die hard fan, Last Stand is...dare I say it....enjoyable.