Sunday, May 28, 2006

X3: The Last Stand

Rating: B

The Mutants are back and they're pissed off in the third and final(?) installment of the successful X-Men trilogy. There are many changes in this movie as compared to the other two, most notable is the lack of character development and the abundance of new blood to keep track of. It was mentioned in X2 that there are many mutants out there in the world, and in X3, we see a whole bunch of them. Joining the regular irregulars of Storm, Professor Xavier, Wolverine, Cyclops, Rogue, Magneto, Mystique, Pyro, and Iceman are Juggernaut (Gone in 60 Seconds' Vinnie Jones), Callisto, who has super speed and can sense mutants, Beast (Kelsey Grammer in all his blue fur glory), Angel (The Punisher's Ben Foster), and Multipleman. Some other mutants who were in the background get a promotion to the forefront are Kitty Pride and Colossus. Confused yet? That's not all. There are others that are mostly names only. One mutant conspiculously absent is Nightcrawler. Maybe there's a quotent of only 2 blue people in each movie. Jean Grey, who was very much dead at the end of X2, returns as the alter-ego personality Phoenix, a mutant of unlimited power as well as limited control over said powers.

The events of X3 happen 3 years after X2. The plot focuses on a drug company that has found a cure for the mutant "X" gene. The conflict starts there with which mutants would want to be cured to be like everyone else, and if the government will make the cure mandatory. Storm protests that mutants, "Are not a disease that can be cured, because nothing is wrong with us". Magneto sees the cure as a threat and declares war on the human race, and hilarity ensues.

The whiz bang special effects are great as expected for a 210 million dollar(!) budget. But the big showdown fights between certain mutants don't last as long as I would have liked. The big end battle is nicely done, but just doesn't have the same feel as the other two movies. Without giving too much away, I'll tell you to be prepared for many casualities on both sides. Magneto seems a lot more meaner this time around. Perhaps his funny looking helmet is on too tight. It supposedly leaves things open for a sequel, but personally, I will need a lot of convincing before I'll get excited about it. There is a Wolverine spinoff in the works, as well as a prequel involving Professor and Magneto as younger, friendlier folks.

Overall, I expected more from this film, but left only a little disappointed. I didn't like the portrayal of Juggernaut, nor did I like the intro of Beast. One more thing, stay for the end of the credits and you'll be rewarded with a short, but poingant scene that leaves more questions. If you're sharp, you'll connect this scene to one earlier in the movie. You really only get glimpes of Phoenix's power until the end battle, but even then, you're left wanting more. This movie just doesn't have the same feel of the other two, perhaps due to a different director. Still, it's worth seeing, it's the first major blockbuster this year (sorry MI:3).

1 Comments:

At 3:20 PM, Blogger loring said...

you know... i actually liked MI3 better. As a fan of the X-men series, I was really bored by the new movie. in the last fight, i was falling asleep literally. i think the movie just tried to cram too much at once, and they rushed the whole project, resulting in special effects, while good, should have been better (especially for the bridge scene. I felt that was pretty phony, and Angel's wings were animated poorly).

all in all, I thought MI3 was boring also, but I felt the bridge fight had a bit of a kick to it so by default, that makes it more enjoyable than X3 for me. It's a shame, because I hated the other MI movies.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home