Directed by: Brett Ratner
Written by: Simon Kinberg & Zak Penn
An all-out war looms when the discovery of a cure for mutations draws a line between the followers of Charles Xavier and those of Magneto.
I'm starting to regret the complicated way I'm titling these reviews...
Yesterday I ended my X2 review with the words "It still keeps you hooked, and you'll definitely want to see what's going to happen with the Phoenix storyline." Well, I'm not as familiar as the comics as I should be, but even I know that there are many things X-Men: The Last Stand got wrong.
I know the original Phoenix storyline was way more complicated in the comics, and that it was even explained to new readers in a very over-simplified way. I actually subscribed to X-Men when the comics were still published regularly here in Finland. The last thing they ever published was the Avengers vs. X-Men thing, with Hope Summers and another Phoenix Force storyline, and the original Jean Grey episode was explained very poorly. The only reason I somewhat know what really happened is because someone's letter got published in the magazine and they explained the whole thing, which was great for someone like me, who was fairly new and couldn't read every fucking comic book that had come out before that year.
Of course the movie shouldn't have to be exactly like the comics, but if I remember correctly there is no dual personality originally, and in the comics the Phoenix thing was like... The Dark Phoenix wasn't really Jean Grey, or something like that. I'd love to find a simple article or blog post or something explaining how it should've been done and what it was originally, but I can't and / or don't have the time to scour through the internet, so if someone has a link to something or can explain the thing in the comments, please do. Now I just know the storyline doesn't go well, but I'm not entirely sure why.
I'm mostly disappointed by what The Last Stand did to certain characters.
For me it seems like the writers fucked up certain characters. Firstly, Charles Xavier felt a lot different compared to the first two movies and for the newer movies. Something about him wanting to keep Phoenix "in a cage" just doesn't sit right with me, and his line "I don't have to explain myself, least of all to you" to Logan just didn't sound right. Where's the mentor, helpful and good person, here he is just... limiting people and being a dick to everyone. In all the other movies Xavier is amazing, a father figure, a character someone can really look up to, and now he's being weirdly mean.
Another thing I don't like is how Mystique gets treated. She gets depowered and therefore abandoned my Magneto. Okay, so from everything we've seen, Mystique's loyal to the end. So why would this one instance make her betray Magneto and reveal his plans etc. to human beings? Sure, she's one of them now, but she was always oppressed because of her mutation - her family even tried to kill her, like she says. So why would this one thing make her change her whole ideas? Sure, I don't know what she would've done, but this just doesn't feel right. It would've been more believable if we knew something else about her. I mean in the movies the only thing we know is that we see her on Magneto's side - when they're apart she's planning on saving him. Maybe that's the problem - maybe the writers didn't give her any other personality than being Magneto's... girl? Maybe they thought that hey, should she lose everything she'd turn against Magneto. I have no idea but it's just fucking weird choice to make with the character.
Another character who gets unfair treatment is Rogue. She's an amazing, badass character in the comics, but in the movies we just see her as a teenager, who then gets depowered. I see why, I understand that, and I'm going to talk about that later, but... Why, though? Why don't we get that awesome Rogue?
There are a lot of new mutants introduced... and killed off just as fast. We don't even get the names of all of them. Why are all these cool characters here if they don't really do anything? It's a shame.
One good thing about the writing of this movie is, that even though there are those cheesy lines I hate so much, they mix well. They don't stand out like those annoying little one-liners in Avengers movies, for example.
Also this movie looks amazing. Colours are magnificent, the effects are stunning, and everything with Jean Grey's powers is just... It looks spectacular and I really want these powers for myself, holy fuck, she's cool. The lighting bothers me partially, because it's so dark most of the time, and then the lighting is super strong and just burns characters out, it's so white and as a film student makes me nervous.
I can't talk about X-men without going on to the philosophical things. In X-Men: The Last Stand the cure for mutants gives us enough to ponder.
At first glance you'd agree with Storm, that there's nothing to cure. But think about how easy that is for Storm to say. Storm is a goddess, avatar of storm. She can hide her powers, and she can fully control it. Now think about Rogue. She's the one Storm tells "there's nothing wrong with us" or "nothing to cure". Rogue can't touch anyone without draining their powers and near killing them. Rogue represents those to whom the cure would be useful.
But of course since the cure is also used as a weapon, which is where it gets ruined. Sure, cure would be useful to some, but when it's used on anyone without their consent, it's not "a cure" anymore.
There are lot of great things about The Last Stand, but also many things wrong. And while I know what's wrong I like watching it. Why? Because how incredibly cool it is sometimes. Still, it's amazing visually, but the writing is awful most of the time. Continuity is fucked up and people die just because they can with little to no affect on anything else that's going on.
This review contains SPOILERS, so in case you haven't seen this 12-year-old movie, don't read ahead
Yesterday I ended my X2 review with the words "It still keeps you hooked, and you'll definitely want to see what's going to happen with the Phoenix storyline." Well, I'm not as familiar as the comics as I should be, but even I know that there are many things X-Men: The Last Stand got wrong.
I know the original Phoenix storyline was way more complicated in the comics, and that it was even explained to new readers in a very over-simplified way. I actually subscribed to X-Men when the comics were still published regularly here in Finland. The last thing they ever published was the Avengers vs. X-Men thing, with Hope Summers and another Phoenix Force storyline, and the original Jean Grey episode was explained very poorly. The only reason I somewhat know what really happened is because someone's letter got published in the magazine and they explained the whole thing, which was great for someone like me, who was fairly new and couldn't read every fucking comic book that had come out before that year.
Of course the movie shouldn't have to be exactly like the comics, but if I remember correctly there is no dual personality originally, and in the comics the Phoenix thing was like... The Dark Phoenix wasn't really Jean Grey, or something like that. I'd love to find a simple article or blog post or something explaining how it should've been done and what it was originally, but I can't and / or don't have the time to scour through the internet, so if someone has a link to something or can explain the thing in the comments, please do. Now I just know the storyline doesn't go well, but I'm not entirely sure why.
I'm mostly disappointed by what The Last Stand did to certain characters.
For me it seems like the writers fucked up certain characters. Firstly, Charles Xavier felt a lot different compared to the first two movies and for the newer movies. Something about him wanting to keep Phoenix "in a cage" just doesn't sit right with me, and his line "I don't have to explain myself, least of all to you" to Logan just didn't sound right. Where's the mentor, helpful and good person, here he is just... limiting people and being a dick to everyone. In all the other movies Xavier is amazing, a father figure, a character someone can really look up to, and now he's being weirdly mean.
Another thing I don't like is how Mystique gets treated. She gets depowered and therefore abandoned my Magneto. Okay, so from everything we've seen, Mystique's loyal to the end. So why would this one instance make her betray Magneto and reveal his plans etc. to human beings? Sure, she's one of them now, but she was always oppressed because of her mutation - her family even tried to kill her, like she says. So why would this one thing make her change her whole ideas? Sure, I don't know what she would've done, but this just doesn't feel right. It would've been more believable if we knew something else about her. I mean in the movies the only thing we know is that we see her on Magneto's side - when they're apart she's planning on saving him. Maybe that's the problem - maybe the writers didn't give her any other personality than being Magneto's... girl? Maybe they thought that hey, should she lose everything she'd turn against Magneto. I have no idea but it's just fucking weird choice to make with the character.
Another character who gets unfair treatment is Rogue. She's an amazing, badass character in the comics, but in the movies we just see her as a teenager, who then gets depowered. I see why, I understand that, and I'm going to talk about that later, but... Why, though? Why don't we get that awesome Rogue?
There are a lot of new mutants introduced... and killed off just as fast. We don't even get the names of all of them. Why are all these cool characters here if they don't really do anything? It's a shame.
One good thing about the writing of this movie is, that even though there are those cheesy lines I hate so much, they mix well. They don't stand out like those annoying little one-liners in Avengers movies, for example.
Also this movie looks amazing. Colours are magnificent, the effects are stunning, and everything with Jean Grey's powers is just... It looks spectacular and I really want these powers for myself, holy fuck, she's cool. The lighting bothers me partially, because it's so dark most of the time, and then the lighting is super strong and just burns characters out, it's so white and as a film student makes me nervous.
I can't talk about X-men without going on to the philosophical things. In X-Men: The Last Stand the cure for mutants gives us enough to ponder.
At first glance you'd agree with Storm, that there's nothing to cure. But think about how easy that is for Storm to say. Storm is a goddess, avatar of storm. She can hide her powers, and she can fully control it. Now think about Rogue. She's the one Storm tells "there's nothing wrong with us" or "nothing to cure". Rogue can't touch anyone without draining their powers and near killing them. Rogue represents those to whom the cure would be useful.
But of course since the cure is also used as a weapon, which is where it gets ruined. Sure, cure would be useful to some, but when it's used on anyone without their consent, it's not "a cure" anymore.
There are lot of great things about The Last Stand, but also many things wrong. And while I know what's wrong I like watching it. Why? Because how incredibly cool it is sometimes. Still, it's amazing visually, but the writing is awful most of the time. Continuity is fucked up and people die just because they can with little to no affect on anything else that's going on.
☆☆☆☆☆
5 / 10
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