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// On :Thursday, July 3, 2014
Hi guys. Kanna here. Well…this is it. The X-Men film that nearly everyone I know seems to hate. This is X-Men: The Last Stand.
X-Men: The Last Stand was released on May 26, 2006 and grossed about $459 million worldwide. Wonder how much that is in whatever currency you use? Well, the math is all yours to do. It was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2006 and the highest grossing film in the X-Men film series. This movie had so much going for it, and yet, it still managed to suck for so many people. People liked the acting and the action scenes, which was good, but most criticism was directed at the screenplay and overall style. Hm.
The casting definitely wasn’t a problem. We have a new Shadowcat (Ellen Page), and some of the mutants who only made brief appearances in the last movie now have bigger and more developed roles. Not a ton of new cast additions, except for Callisto (Dania Ramirez), Psylocke (Meiling Melançon), Arclight (Omahyra Mota) Kid Omega (Ken Leung), Leech (Cameron Bright), Angel (Ben Foster), Multiple Man (Eric Dane), the Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and Beast (Kelsey Grammer).
Before our movie even starts, we already have a problem.
That’s right. Our movie hasn’t even started yet, and we already have a problem. What is it? The director. Yeah. Bryan Singer actually decided to leave X-Men so he could work on Superman Returns, since he didn’t even define the storyline for a third film. I guess he didn’t think the franchise would end up being so popular. Um…okay. Anyway, Matthew Vaughn (the same guy who would direct X-Men: First Class five years later) was initially hired as the new director, but he left due to personal and professional issues. So, who did they get to replace Matthew Vaughn?
Brett Ratner.
OK, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean Brett Ratner has directed some decent movies like the Rush Hour movies, Red Dragon, and more recently, Tower Heist. They weren’t good or bad movies, they were just decent. Well, Rush Hour was actually pretty good. I liked it a lot. But that’s just my opinion. Ratner isn’t Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick or insert-other-practically-legendary-director-here. He’s still a decent director, though. So where did he go wrong with X-Men: The Last Stand? Well, let’s take a look.
Our movie opens up with a flashback that goes back twenty years and has…well, a couple of problems. What are they? Well, in order of appearance…
Brett Ratner.
OK, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean Brett Ratner has directed some decent movies like the Rush Hour movies, Red Dragon, and more recently, Tower Heist. They weren’t good or bad movies, they were just decent. Well, Rush Hour was actually pretty good. I liked it a lot. But that’s just my opinion. Ratner isn’t Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick or insert-other-practically-legendary-director-here. He’s still a decent director, though. So where did he go wrong with X-Men: The Last Stand? Well, let’s take a look.
Our movie opens up with a flashback that goes back twenty years and has…well, a couple of problems. What are they? Well, in order of appearance…
- Prof. X and Magneto are friends for some reason, even though First Class clearly shows that the two parted ways in 1962 after the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Prof. X can walk (again, another continuity issue)
Ten years after that flashback (not yet in the present), we see Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) trying to get his son to come out of the bathroom in a very...forceful manner. Look, I'm not a parent, social worker, or anything like that. But yelling at someone and saying that they've been in the bathroom for over an hour is...well...we're not going to go there. What if his son was sick or something?
Anyway, after his son, Warren Worthington III (Cameron Bright), tells his dad he'll be out in a second, his dad gets fed up and opens the door. Invasion of privacy. Clearly, this dad gets parent of the year (sarcasm). He then sees that his son is a mutant with angel wings (see what I did there?) and becomes determined to find a cure for mutation to turn mutants into people without powers.
In the present day, when Worthington II finally created a cure, guess who his first test subject was? It wasn't a genetically mutated rat or guinea pig! It was...his son. Yeah. Clearly, Warren Worthington II gets father of the year (sarcasm). Luckily enough, Warren Worthington II (who is now codenamed Angel because of his wings) manages to escape because he didn't want to take it. That's the last we see of Angel for a while.
How was this cure created? Well...through the power of a mutant named Jimmy, who lives at Worthington Labs on...Alcatraz. Because if you want to cure mutations, use the power of another mutant! That's not hypocritical at all!
Also, who puts a lab on Alcatraz of all places? You might as well just put a neon sign up that says 'mutants being experimented on here.' It's like Batman and Robin (ugh, I can't believe I brought that up), where Mr. Freeze decided to keep his wife hidden in a NEON LIT ICE CREAM PARLOR. I just don't get it. It's so blatantly obvious. As for who puts a lab on Alcatraz? Brett Ratner, that's who.
At the discovery of the cure, mutant-kind divides itself. Some mutants, like Rogue, are interested in the cure. Others are horrified by the announcement, and Magneto decides to reform the Brotherhood of Mutants and adds more mutants who oppose the cure to it.
Now, what I'm about to continue with is only going to make sense if you've seen X2: X-Men United. If not, then go watch it.
We later learn that not only did the people making this movie decide to kill off Cyclops, they also decided to pull the ultimate tease and show us that Jean Grey is actually alive! It's like Lord of the Rings. No one actually stays dead. Okay, except for Boromir (Sean Bean), and that's only because Sean Bean's characters are killed off in nearly everything he's in. We later learn that Jean has a sort of split personality that called itself the Phoenix that the professor was keeping dormant with a series of psychic barriers that broke when Jean "sacrificed" herself in X2. It's later learned that the person in front of them is not really Jean Grey, but it is, in fact, the Phoenix.
And after that...everything just gets worse.
So...my opinion of this movie?
OUT OF 10: 6.5 OUT OF 10
Why: This movie wasn't all bad. It just wasn't all good, either. I can understand why people hate it so much. There are tons of continuity problems that were created when First Class came out, and that little bit at the end of the credits wasn't exactly a fun bit, either, because it pulled another tease. It's a guilty pleasure for myself, and while others might hate it, I actually kind of like it. Days of Future Past was meant to be the movie that kind of erased everything that happened in this one and just rewrote it. But we can't just ignore the stuff that happened in it.
One scene that I REALLY liked was this scene where Magneto moved the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz Island. After I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and that scene in it where they twist the bridge around, I was reminded of The Last Stand. It was definitely pretty cool.
Well, guys, we're finally nearing the end. All we have left is the best X-Men movie out there, Days of Future Past. And do I have a lot to say about that one. For now, I'm curious to hear your opinions of this movie. Feel free to leave a comment telling me if you liked it, hated it, or if you were just neutral about it and why. I'd love to hear (read?) your opinions!
In the meantime, look forward to a review of Days of Future Past! This one might actually end up being a video AND a post!
Signing off for now! ~k
