X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND

Written by Hombre Divertido

X-Men 3- The Last Stand Delivers…Too much of a good thing.

All the mutants are back and more, which makes for a very busy film.

In this installment of the X-men Franchise, a cure has been developed to rid the mutants of their powers. Using the Leech (Cameron Bright) who’s power is to remove that of other mutants, Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) Angel’s (Ben Foster) father, whose distress over his son’s mutant powers (Angel has bird like wings that allow him to fly) leads him to spearhead the project to offer and inflict the cure.

Ian McKellen once again gives a wonderful performance as Magneto who is out to rally the mutants and stop the cure. The X-men are out to stop Magneto, as we get little input as to their respective take on the cure.

The challenge of this film is the story. There is so much going on, some of which is unnecessary, that not only are we given a lot to follow, but also after the film, we are left wanting more. In some cases being left wanting more is a good thing, but not so in this case as it is character development and motivation that we are left wanting.

We are introduced to many new mutants. Too many. We get little or no back-story on these new characters, other than: This is what I can do; this is whose side I am on, now watch me do what I do.

One of the side stories is the return of Jean Grey (Famke Jensen) who we thought we had lost in the last film, and who should have stayed lost. There does not seem to be logic in her return other than to bog down this film, and kill off key characters. Now with the power to do pretty much whatever she wants, Jean seems to just stand around and watch the action.

We are also left without a well-defined government official character so prevalent in the first two films. Yes we have Angel’s dad (Murphy), but the establishment of that character, is nothing more than to show us that he is not happy that his son is a mutant. We had the government character in X-Men United in the portrayal of William Stryker by Brian Cox, but it was done with far superior detail.

On the plus side: We get some insight into the relationship of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (McKellen) as well as more of Storm and Mystique (Halle Berry and Rebecca Romijn).

So yes, this film has a lot of plusses, but we need a fourth installment simply to give us all that is missing from this film.

Bottom line: A fan of this series will enjoy this film, but a fan of films will see it as weak, and it is. It is the weakest of the three films. Less is more.

Recommendation: If you are a fan of The X-Men, then see this on the big screen. If you are not a fan, then wait for it to come out on DVD, and then rent the other two instead.

PS: If you do see it, make sure you stay till the end of the credits.