Major Plus: Superb acting from veteran actors, beautiful women (and men), strong franchise, compelling story
Major Minus: Weak dialogue, weakest movie of franchise, possible CDS (Character Death Syndrome)
Special Advice: Remain seated during the credits for brief scene immediately following.
Review: The X-Men franchise was a kind of rebirth for Hollywood's graphic novel genre, ailing with the fall of Christopher Reeves (no pun intended) and a confused Batman franchise marked by a revolving door of lead men, increasingly miswritten supervillians, and a departure from the dark vision presented in the first two movies. The entry of fan favorites such as Magneto, Dr. Xavier, Mystique, and especially Wolverine, comic book movies took on a new life, making room for the eventual masterpieces of Sin City, V for Vendetta, and the newly reborn Batman Begins. The second installment of the franchise, X2: X-Men United was a strong addition to its predeccesor, furthering the storyline and deepening the characters involved therein.
From this rich heritage sprang forth X-Men: Last Stand. The movie had a lot of talk going around the theater circles, as evidenced by webcomics such as Theaterhopper. The movie had a good start, showing a then allied Dr. Xavier and Magneto visiting the Grey residence in order to recruit young Jean for their school. That is the high point of the movie.
That is not to say the flick took a disastrous nose dive. It dipped ever so slightly and remained a quiet plateau from that point on, a sort of unobservable geographical point in the three movie storyline. While it had some nice action scenes and an interesting question regarding identity and what it was to be human (I wish I never heard that NPR review of X2: X-Men United comparing to the gay rights movement), it clearly relies too heavily on the strength of the characters, established with the decades of comic books and Saturday morning cartoon shows, and the popularity of the preceeding movies, failing to create a distinctive identity from itself. The entire plot mirrors too closely the second installment and the dialogue in the final battle scene seems to be a copy-paste maneuver from the first film.
Most disturbing, however, is a severe case CDS (Character Death Syndrome). In order to advance the plot, several characters are eliminated, and that is where I will leave it in order to avoid giving away too many spoilers. Eliminating a nonessential Colonel Striker at the climax of the movie is one thing. What transpires here moves significantly beyond that.
Overall, the film is watchable, and if you are a comic book affecianado or happened to see the first two movies of franchise, I would recommend you seeing it. At the very least, it is entertaining.
Bluesoulsearcher: 2006, June 1, 2201
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