X-Men: The Last Stand
"X-Men: The Last Stand" appears to be a studio rush job, thanks to the sometimes unfinished-looking effects and sketchy, seemingly incomplete plotting.That would make it somewhat ironic that the film's controversial choice of director was Brett Ratner, whose rise to fame — or infamy — is the "Rush Hour" movies.
To be fair, this less-than-enthralling action-thriller's problems have more to do with the script than Ratner's workmanlike direction (he was a hired gun allegedly brought in to kill the profitable but increasingly pricey franchise).
Certainly this one doesn't stack up favorably with the first two movies, but the third cinematic X-adventure is far from the worst superhero film ever made ... even lately.
"The Last Stand" picks up the X-story months after the events of the second film. X-team leader Cyclops (James Marsden) is still moping about the death of his love, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). So he's left most of his duties to Storm (Halle Berry) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who are now at work training the next generation of mutants at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
The two are forced to take those youngsters into battle when Magneto (Ian McKellen) once more rallies his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. As it turns out, the bad guys are planning to shut down a drug manufacturer developing a "cure" for mutant powers.
Ratner and screenwriters Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg try to find time for the newest members of the ever-growing X-cast — among them the blue-furred Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and the winged Angel (Ben Foster).
They also give more screen time to Berry, which is a huge mistake, and curiously, they've neutered the series' most interesting character, Wolverine.
Jackman also seems disgusted by some of the groan-inducing puns he's forced to deliver (though his dialogue isn't as bad as what Grammer and Vinnie Jones, who plays one of Magneto's henchmen, are forced to utter).
"X-Men: The Last Stand" is rated PG-13 for strong scenes of comic-book action violence (shootings, various brawling, clay attacks and explosive mayhem), some drug content (including use of hypodermic needles), scattered profanity and crude slang, some brief sexual contact, brief gore and brief flashes of partial female nudity. Running time: 104 minutes.
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