X-Men: The Last Stand begins twenty years prior to the events of
the present day, when Professor Charles Xavier and his friend Eric Lensherr are
busy recruiting young mutants for Xavier’s school. Both men are visiting the
home of a very promising mutant, a young girl named Jean Grey, whose psychic
powers are off the charts. After another flashback scene that introduces the young Angel,
we move forward to the present day, in the aftermath of the tragic events at
Akilai Lake, where Jean Grey has died saving the lives of her comrades. Scott
Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops), Jean’s lover, is still shattered over her death to the
point where he shirks his responsibilities as the leader of the X-Men and rides
back up to Akilai Lake by himself.
Meanwhile, Hank McCoy, the Secretary For Mutant Affairs (a.k.a. Beast), receives
some startling news from the President: they’ve captured Mystique, Magneto’s
shape-shifting lieutenant, while trying to break into an FDA lab. But what’s
really startling is what Mystique was up to in that lab: seeking information in
government files regarding a "cure" for mutants. The "cure" will effectively
change mutants into "normal" people. This turn of events causes another flare up
of tensions between the mutant population and the rest of the world, as Magneto
once again fans the flames of war against the despised homo sapiens. And on top
of all of this, Jean Grey has somehow returned from the dead, but now as the
all-powerful Phoenix.
The behind the scenes shenanigans of X-Men: The Last Stand proved to be
far more interesting than the on-screen story. Bryan Singer, who did such a
marvelous job directing the first two X-Men films, abruptly left the series to
direct Superman Returns. Matthew Vaughn, who directed Layer Cake, was originally
chosen as Singer’s successor until he bowed out at the last minute. Replacing
him was Brett Ratner, the director of the Rush Hour movies, as well as the
atrocious Red Dragon (ironically, Ratner was once considered as a director of
the first X-Men film). Ratner is, if nothing else, a capable, workman-like
director, and in his hands the action scenes in X-Men: The Last Stand are very
well done.
One of my favorite moments is when Magneto attacks a convoy of
government vehicles by crushing the cars like pancakes, then flinging them off
the road. Another favorite scene is at the climax, when the hulking Juggernaunt
and the petite Kitty Pryde have an unlikely confrontation that's fun to watch.
Yet the film overall lacks the gravitas that Singer brought to his productions.
Where Ratner just gives you a fun popcorn movie, Singer actually strove to give
you food for thought, right along with the popcorn thrills. Also, Singer’s X-Men
films were carefully balanced affairs which gave all of the characters an equal
share of screen time, while Last Stand either shoves several beloved characters
off to the sidelines, or kills them off completely.
Only Storm and Wolverine emerge as the main stars of the film--unfortunately,
thanks to the one-note performances by Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman, neither
character is strong enough to carry the film, a fatal flaw that shows why Last
Stand’s focus should have remained on the X-Men as a team. And thanks to the
film’s all too brief running time, interesting new characters such as
Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Vinnie Jones’ Juggernaut, Ben Foster’s Angel, and Ellen
Page’s Kitty Pryde are all given short shrift. And speaking of short shift, the
whole Dark Phoenix storyline, which X-2 had so magnificently built up to, has
been sadly squandered here, as Phoenix is reduced to being just another
lackey in Magneto’s mutant army.
The single-disc DVD only has a commentary, and deleted scenes with optional commentaries. There’s
a more expensive version of the film on DVD, The Collector’s Edition, which
features a widescreen version of the movie in a special slipcase that includes
an X-Men comic book (sized down to fit the standard DVD box). The comic and the
extravagant case are the only extras you get with the Collector’s Edition, so
you may want to simply buy the more cheaper Widescreen Edition DVD instead (until
another special edition DVD, with more special features, is released).
Unlike Ratner’s Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand is not a completely terrible
movie; it’s very entertaining in its own right. Yet I can’t help but wonder what
it would have been like had Bryan Singer remained at the helm.
--SF
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