X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

"When an individual acquires great power, the use or misuse of that power is everything. Will it be used for the greater good? Or will it be used for personal or for destructive ends? Now this is a question we must all ask ourselves. Why? Because we are mutants."
- Prof. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)

At a glance: The third X-Men movie has many moments of high drama and action, but they come at the expense of violating the X-Men canon; and, once again, some viewers may find it difficult to feel empathy toward our heroes. But it’s still a lot of fun to watch

When a ‘cure’ is discovered that can make mutants normal, it becomes a rallying point for Magneto to amass an army. Among others, he enlists Jean, whose violent personality (known as Phoenix) has been unleashed, resulting in the deaths of some of our familiar gang of mutants. I have the feeling that this movie branched away from the established canon of the comic to make it a better film. It worked for me, because I am not familiar with X-Men canon, but I am familiar with canon in Star Trek and how some fans writhe in pain when it is not adhered to according to their standards. It must have been terrifyingly disgusting for those that are and that care about such things in the X-Men universe.

I’ve never been able to fully connect emotionally with X-Men. I’m not sure why that is. All the elements are there – drama, action, a name cast performing and directed well – although Brett Ratner is inferior to Brian Singer. But somehow, I can’t make myself care about the characters as much as I’d like. Nonetheless the powerful ending sequence did finally grab my emotions just a little.

By the way, here’s another Star Trek-related comment: when Xavier visits Jean early on in the movie, Patrick Stewart is made to look younger  – perhaps around 30 - using digital technology, and it works. So if anyone has any doubt of his ability to keep doing Star trek movies…he looks like he could keep going for 20 more years. Too bad this isn’t going to happen – I love listening to his delivery. As I’ve said many times before, he can even make bad scripts sound like Shakespeare. Rating: 2.5 of 4

"Whilst those involved didn't save the best for last, they have delivered a film worthy of the title and an entertaining little vehicle to boot."
- Garth Franklin (Dark Horizons)

"It has no passion, no connection to where we are now, and in a series whose stories have heretofore spoken dark truths about American intolerance, that matters."
- Rob Gonsalves (eFilmCritic.com)