Movie Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Rebecca Romjin, Kelsey Grammer, Vinnie Jones, Shawn Ashmore, Anna Paquin, James Marsden and too many others.

Directed by: Brett Ratner (Rush Hours)

Story Outline: the development of a "cure" that suppresses mutations on the genetic level, based on the powers of a unique mutant, divides an already embattled mutant community into two camps: those that follow Xavier and fight for peaceful coexistance, and those that follow Magneto and his fight for mutant supremacy. chaos erupts when the government weaponizes the serum. hostilities reach fever pitch when Magneto rallies his forces to neutralize the source of the "cure" by whatever means necessary.

Plot:
all the materials were there for an epic. perhaps there was just too much material. the plot had a quick pace that bordered on recklessly fast, concluding after 104 minutes. as stated above, battle lines are drawn over how to interpret mutation: is it a disease? or is it evolution? is it a blessing? or is it a curse? not every mutant has a sexy power like telekinesis or ice powers.

Character:
execution of all these themes and character issues was spotty at best, but the plot had to go on. i guess they were really afraid of developing 10+ characters with the depth alloted to Spider-Man 2 (that bored some people). everyone with spoken lines had a personal take on the "cure", except for the most tertiary of characters (colossus and shadowcat). the general consensus is that there were just too many characters for the audience to attach to any single character. this installment of the x-men trilogy (perhaps the final one??) plays out like LOTR:RotK did. PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT ACTION ALL OVER with cursory mention as to why said action must take place.

Visuals:
live action mutant powers were considered to be quite difficult to pull off without going compeltely green-screen. as it were, this movie does not rely as heavily on computer generated images as other blockbusters would have. even Colossus' metal form was a highly polished bodysuit. the Beast was all make up and fake hair. very awesome. the uninitiated did not even recognize that he was played by Kelsey Grammer. lots of helicopter pans of landscapes (alkali lake, downtown vancouver, etc).

Dialogue:
failure here. the dialogue succumbs to campy one-liners and platitudes. the Batman and Robin Syndrome. it was so cheesy.

Final Thoughts: so much potential, so much hype, so disappointing when all the good things are given up for flying fire cars instead. still, adequate, if the first two weren't so good.

* * * out of 5