bryan says...![]() I hid myself away from the X-Men films for many years, after being unimpressed by the bits of what I saw, and hearing such awful things about the third one.
Luckily, the release of First Class and Emily's obsession with the series sparked a new interest in the franchise, and I gave them a new look. I couldn't be happier. While The Last Stand is easily the weakest part in the original trilogy (don't even get me started on Origins...) I still found many reasons to enjoy it. There were many surprises and deaths that really hit home - it was clear they really meant this to be the end of the series. Quite likely the biggest reason that the movie lost some of its magic was the fact that Bryan Singer left the project, after directing the first two films. The film just stylistically did not fit with the others, and fell into a lot of the hoakier storylines of the comics and characters that the first two movies tried so hard to avoid. The most notably awful new character was Beast, portrayed by Kelsey Grammer. He looked like a cross between Barney and an Ape from Planet of the Apes...and watching the guy speak was impossible without being distracted by the sheer ridiculousness of him. The characters weren't the only thing that got extremely cheesy - suddenly our beloved characters were spitting out line after line of action movie 'b.s.'. Every movie wants their own "Say hello to my little friend..." and instead we get atrocious moments like, "I'm the juggernaut, BITCH!". The biggest mistake, in my opinion, was bringing back Jean Gray as the Phoenix. Her sacrificial death scene in X2 was a beautiful finale - and turning her into an over-the-top mondo-bad-woman totally destroyed that. It's all far too much, but it's still enjoyable. Hugh Jackman is great as always as Wolverine, and downsizing Cyclop's role is always a good thing. I give X-Men: The Last Stand 2.5 cotton candies. | Emily says...![]() There are some action films that (thankfully) go beyond tacky jokes and ridiculous story lines like those seen in INDEPENDENCE DAY and actually try exploring deeper, more real issues. The X-MEN series are three of these films. Each explores something that speaks to how humanity operates--whether it be society's tendency to oppress or society's hatred for "the other." And that's why I still appreciated X-MEN:THE LAST STAND despite its lacking the same spark that the first two in the series had (why did BRYAN SINGER have to leave??).
So clearly, STAND's seriousness was not the issue. The issue stemmed mainly from its weak story-line. While the first two films had fantastic villains in both MAGNETO (the chillingly good IAN MCKELLEN) and WILLIAM STRYKER (BRIAN COX), the third film lacked any real threat. From the moment the villain was identified, I could easily predict the film's ending--an aspect which makes a film that's supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat disappointing. Another error that STAND made was its character choices. Though I will not spoil anything by revealing which characters are missing, I will say that STAND hurts itself by eliminating some fan favorites. While this could be seen as a risky move that clearly works in some cases (like in the T.V. show LOST), STAND failed to replace the old characters with interesting new ones. Instead, audiences got stuck seeing KELSEY GRAMMER try his best to add a little more roar into the dull character BEAST. Dialogue also crashed and burned in this rendition. While each film definitely had its cheesy moments, it seemed like this couldn't go a few minutes without adding some "kick-ass action dialogue," which are basically those stupid lines that they add in hopes that people will cheer. The film wasn't a complete failure, though. Riding on the coattails of its former glory, it still managed to make me smile a few times (especially in the final shot of the film and in most scenes with HUGH JACKMAN...mmm). Just don't expect to walk out of this one dying to see it again. I give X-MEN: THE LAST STAND 3 cotton candies. |