Spring Break
'X3' may very well be The Last Stand
David Goncalves
Issue date: 6/2/06 Section: Entertainment
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The pacing of the film is very different from the previous two; X-Men: The Last Stand moves with a lot more vigor and intensity than its predecessors. It opens up with an intense session in the Danger Room, where many fans get to reminisce with an old enemy that we haven't seen in motion since 1992's animated series. From there, the action doesn't really slow down, as a torn up Scott Summers (James Marsden) begins his search.
The action has no reason to let up with the arrival of some old fan favorite mutants. Some of the new arrivals include Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones), Angel (Ben Foster), Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and newcomer mutant Spike (Lance Gibson). The only issue behind the newcomers is that many hardcore fans will probably be distraught over background issues, such as the fact that Juggernaut doesn't actually have any ties to Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in the film's story. The whole Phoenix story arc was rewritten for the movie, too, which is sure to displease long-time X-Men fans. Instead of the original story of an alien taking over Jean Grey's body, the movie presents Phoenix as an alternate personality whose powers had been suppressed by Xavier.
There are so many mutants introduced in this new film that I think they may actually be a weakness, because Ratner seems to focus a lot on introducing new characters rather than developing already existing ones, with the exception of Jean Grey (Famke Jannsen). It kind of seemed like Ratner was working hard on writing mutant stories of his own and just couldn't keep himself too closely tied to characters he already had at his disposal.
Another weakness was the unbalanced mutant powers. For example, Phoenix suddenly became an all-powerful mutant that can vaporize anything at will, and Magneto sometimes had the ability to pick up a semi as though it were a sheet of paper and other times struggled to move a single car. Ratner also played Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) as a far more powerful mutant than he had been in the previous two films. In the previous films, Wolverine had a mutant regenerative gene that allowed him to heal much more quickly than a normal person from any wound, minor or major. For example, if he were shot in the head (which, thanks to the metallic skeletal frame, he can survive) the wound would close up in a matter of minutes. In this new film, Wolverine has been super-powered even for that; when he gained a deep wound, it seemed to close up in only a matter of seconds, and he continued fighting immediately.
To be honest, the film had its high points, but the low points were more apparent and left me rethinking whether I want to see the upcoming Wolverine solo film or any future X-Men films. Regardless of the questionable moves made by Ratner, and the particular distaste I have for the film, the action and special effects are good enough that people should see it and form their own opinions.
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