WaffleMovies.com


 

Back Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle

Click Here to Buy Art Prints!

X-Men: The Last Stand

Maybe The Da Vinci Code needed mutants, or Halle Berry in tight leather pants to make it better (and what movie doesn't need Halle Berry in tight leather pants?). Any way you put it, X-Men: The Last Stand is an exciting end to the trilogy, until the folks at Fox realize they could make a bazillion dollars with a sequel, in addition to the already planned Wolverine movie (which gives women another chance to see Hugh Jackman in tight leather pants. See, I like to point out ogling in an equal opportunity kind of way).

Patrick Stewart is back as Professor Charles Xavier - the founder of a special institute created to help outcaste mutants who face discrimination peacefully find a home and place in society (and, just in case you were wondering, he does not wear tight leather pants). However, peace is in danger as pharmaceutical company Worthington Labs has discovered a "cure" that can change mutants into regular human beings, taking away the exotic powers that make them different - in good ways and bad. While this might seem innocent, extremist mutant leader Magneto (Ian McKellen) is convinced this is the beginning of a war on and extermination of mutants, because they are physically superior to humans and a threat to world power. While some mutants look forward to a "normal" life, Magneto and his gang want to steal the source of the cure - a young boy, Leech (Cameron Bright), held at the lab's facility on Alcatraz Island. Xavier wants to stop Magneto, but his own team is torn apart when the most powerful of mutants, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who supposedly died in the last movie, reappears with severe mental problems, and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is not sure how to handle it all.

Will the cure be voluntary, or does the government have sinister plans? Will Xavier be able to stop Magneto? Can anyone stop Jean Grey?

X-Men: The Last Stand is the movie fans will love and non-fans will find intriguing, even if they have not seen the first two X-Men installments. Director Brett Ratner has found a potent mix of action, story and humor to satisfy all from the massive climactic battle that gives the audience a true appreciation for the X-Men's powers to the relationship subplots that help complicate the story enough to keep you interested to the framework of a massive intellectual question posed to the audience. However, the movie's biggest flaw is the inability to focus on that deep intellectual question (do mutants need to be "cured"?).

Ratner hints around the big question, clearly sets up the two extremes of Magneto's position vs. the government, but sometimes, along with screenwriters Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, loses the nuances of Xavier's position. Essentially, he's the peacemaker stuck in the middle and trying to find a compromise solution. We need some strong dialogue to make this position clear, and further show the reluctant battle between Magneto and Xavier as both try to do what they think is right. This is probably clear to hardcore X-Men fans, but newcomers might feel a bit lost.

Also, Penn and Kinburg need to delve deeper into the idea of self and who we are clearly set forth in the movie. Each mutant confronts the idea of whether or not they are "normal" and what life could be like if they got rid of this power that makes them different. It seems obvious, but I think Penn, Kinberg and Ratner could have delved a bit deeper into this quandary, especially with such great actors like McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Stewart, Anna Paquin, Berry and Jackman on board. It's a sign Ratner and crew are willing to sacrifice an intellectually driven movie for one driven by more cliché relationships and action, but the movie still is very good.

With all of the star power and such familiar characters, the new faces are the ones who steal the show. Grammer and Ellen Page are the new stars of The X-Men. Grammer is compelling and funny as the intellectual beast who shows his claws and fighting skills when needed (especially in the big climax, where he unleashes The Beast and kicks some booty) and would have benefited from better dialogue (and a bigger role), while Page makes her mark as Kitty Pryde a/k/a Shadowcat - the gal who can walk through walls and has a feisty attitude when she has to fight. She gets one of the movie's best and bravest scenes, but also outclasses some of her co-stars in more dramatic moments, like when she is reacting to a horrible loss or seems to be stealing Rogue's boyfriend. Page, who already shocked us in Hard Candy, again proves she is one to watch.

X-Men: The Last Stand is a very good movie, but I have to warn you about a little tag thrown onto the end of the credits. Let's just say I think it betrays what was one of the movie's most dramatic and powerful scenes, and upstages what I thought was the perfect ending we saw before the credits rolled.

3 Waffles (Out Of 4)

Copyright 2006 - WaffleMovies.com