X-Men 3: The Last Stand - a film review

Going into X3, I cannot say with a straight face that I went in with the highest expectations. I mean, this movie has gone through more directors than Sharon Stone, was directed by Brett Ratner--of Rush Hour fame--and was at one point reported to have mutant hookers. I'm sorry to say that my suspicions of this movie going to suck were accurate. As a huge fan of X-men, and being extremely pleased with the previous films in the series, I was going into it with high hopes, but low expectations. I'm sorry to say, my apprehension was well founded.

BE WARNED OF SPOILERS

I'm not denying that I may be a bit biased on the subject, but that doesn't mean that the movie was a total flop. On that note, let's start with what the movie did well. The opening Danger Room sequence was something I actually approved of. For X2, Bryan Singer had designed a much smaller set for a desired Danger Room sequence, and I wasn't really a fan of the idea. But Ratner does a good job with it. In fact, All of the special effects and action sequences were particularly good. Also, the writers did do an excellent job of using mutant powers--for the most part--and having numerous cameos--the sentinel head being my particular favorite.

However, that's about all the good I could find in this movie. Lets start with the writing. For some reason, the writers of this film--which weren't the same writers as in previous films--appeared to have never read a single X-men comic, and had no prior knowledge of the characters. First off, they completely ruined the Dark Phoenix storyline. Instead of Jean Grey being possessed by an alien entity, she is the victim of a "dual personality" caused by Professor X using mental blocks to control Jean's powers. This basically craps all over the original storyline, and the character, because it makes "Phoenix" into a bratty child that is mad at her father figure. Secondly, Rogue's character is completely messed with by being made to take the "cure"--which is stupid, considering that in the comics, she refused the drug, and actually destroyed it. The writer Thirdly, Magneto would never leave himself undefended in a war zone like that--this was well established in the very first film.

Which brings me to my next point: almost every stylistic design that Singer created in the first two films are completely ignored by Ratner's direction. I mean, I understand that different directors will make movies in different ways. But, other than the Magneto example above, Singer also established in the first film the fact that there would be no usage of the costumes from the original comics. Yet, when Beast--portrayed perfectly by Kelsey Grammer--puts on his suit, it is actually his costume from the cartoons and comics. It may sound nitpicky, and on some level it is. But the fact is that this movie as a whole is ignoring and missing elements that made the first two unique and spectacular in their own right.

Someone brought up the point to me earlier that adding story elements like Dark Phoenix being an Alien, or that Juggernaught was not really a mutant, but had a magical stone that gave him his power, would be too difficult to write in a film of that length. And in the case of juggernaught, I would agree. But the thing that made the first two movies so great was that they took risks. None of the films were 100% faithful to the original storylines, but where the first two films felt like a step forward in a fresh direction, this film felt like a step back. It lacked the same emotional impact that the first two had--frankly, I felt more sad when Jean died in the second film then when Prof. X died in this film--and in the end, left me unsatisfied.

Which is sad, since this is reportedly the last film in the series. There will be both a Magneto and a Wolverine prequel, so the X-men aren't quite done yet. But, if by some chance, they do make a fourth X-men film, I hope that they either A) redo this film, or B) since Magneto still apparently has his power at the end of the film, they use a simple "turns out the cure wasn't permanent" deal and completely ignore Ratner's debacle--since ignoring established story-line points is what Ratner does best.

Peace,
Ram