Film Review: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) B+

Date Viewed 5/26/06
Venue: AMC Burbank 16

X-Men: The Last Stand is the latest (and most likely final) installment in the vaunted X-Men comic-book movie franchise that manages to be satisfying and disappointing all at the same time. I admit, I am a huge fan of the previous X-Men films, both directed by Bryan Singer, and I was hugely disappointed when Singer chose to direct Superman Returns over X3. Disappointment led to wariness as Brett Ratner of Rush Hour and Red Dragon fame was brought on late to replace Singer. I walked out of X3 happy, not thrilled, but happy Ratner hadn’t destroyed my favorite comic book franchise.

I won’t bore you too much with plot details, but X3 divides its time between the resurrection of Dr. Jean Gray as the Dark Phoenix, a dangerously apocalyptically-powerful mutant, and the controversy concerning a discovered ‘cure’ for mutation. As usual, Magneto fears the worst of humanity and plots to destroy this cure, claiming it would rob mutants of their very identity. And of course our X-Men, ever the hopeful, step in to protect humanity from Magneto. Jean Gray/Dark Phoenix is really just a MacGuffin in this film; she’s Magneto’s bargaining chip, his ultimate weapon.

There’s enough story between the Phoenix and the cure to fill two entire films, but here they’re smashed together along with a mutant cast of dozens, all crammed into a 104 minute run time. Unfortunately, it’s the Phoenix who mostly gets the shaft, with Jean Gray left standing around vacantly for much of the film. Complicating things are the time-consuming introductions of several new characters who serve no purpose other than to say ‘hey, look, a new mutant!’ With so little available time, any character development among our established X-Men read like Cliff Note summaries. We hit all the right notes, but without much in the way of nuance or the humanity that made the first two films such refreshing comic-book fare.

Mind you there are some drastic, shocking consequences for several characters. And you do have to credit the film for having the balls (or desperation) to go all the way with these things (well, maybe not allll the way, stick around after the credits to see what I mean), but in retrospect they feel motivated by a lack confidence on the filmaker’s part to hold our interest. Which is silly when you consider how much meaty material is jammed into the film.

All that aside, the pacing is brisk, and the action portions of the film (90% of which are in the final reel) are very entertaining and well done. That’s not to say they top anything done in X2 but they’re solid enough for me to write this off as a satisfying summer action flick. Sweet to the taste, but with no nutritional value. In the end, X-Men: The Last Stand is classic case of throwing a lot out to see what sticks. Fortunately, just enough does.