X-Men: The Last Stand Review

The Plot: Put it frankly, the plot is weak. Or rather, the movie is missing a main plot in wake of myriad of sub-plots that take minimal percentage of screen time each. The two biggest of the plots are based on the Phoenix Saga of the comics (remember Jean Grey from the previous movie that drowned in the last moments of the film, that’s her) and Magneto leading an attack against a company that devised a way to purge mutant’s powers permanently. Both plots practically act as a backdrop for the unnecessarily large amount of mutant cameos, romances, father-son relationships, flooding the movie with excuses to use pretty effects and stripping it of any real plot development. Hell, the entire concept of the Phoenix Saga which spanned over numerous issues of the comics as well as being the integral part of the plot is squeezed in a minute long conversation between Magneto and Xavier. If you come watching this movie for a plot, not for you.

The Characters: As mentioned before, the amount of minor characters in this movie eclipse the main characters and their development. Mutants are thrown in, use their power once or twice, and thrown out through the duration of the entire movie. Main characters of the series are killed off in minutes with minimal time of development, as if the director assumes that everyone who watches the movie will understand every motif behind every action. On the plus side, the characters that are given sufficient screen time for decent one-liners deliver them well. On another negative side, it would appear that Ian McKellan forgot how to display emotion in this movie other then the three changes of tone from “epic calm”, “apathetically sorry”, and “angry”. On another plus side, the Juggernaut’s infamous line is in. Basically, don’t come expecting great focus on the X-Men team, but you can enjoy all the minor appearances by other mutants.

The Action: This is where the movie shines. Mutant powers are beautifully done (Although the Phoenix is disappointing and the “Pyro vs Iceman battle was so cliché it hurt) and the action is well moderated so the viewer doesn’t get bored. Magneto’s moments are beautifully done, some of the better done special effects over the past years. Basically, if you come for this, you shouldn’t be disappointed considering you don’t set your standards to high.

Submitted by Alexander D.