by Elliot Fogarty

Created on: July 30, 2008

When Bryan Singer ditched plans to make it a hat-trick of X-Men directorial credits in order to oversee the 21st Century revival of Superman, there was some trepidation upon the announcement that Rush Hour's Brett Ratner would take over the reigns to one of the most successful movie franchises of the 21st Century. Singer's interpretation of the Marvel heroes was critically well received, and following a taut and dramatic X-Men 2, hopes were high for a third movie in which a battle to the finish between the X-Men and their rivals The Brotherhood of Mutants was inevitable.

Indeed, perhaps hopes were a little too high. For although X-Men: The Last Stand ticks all the requirements expected of it, the culmination of events leaves the viewer feeling a little empty, as if all the good work from the previous two films has somehow been undone.

The aforementioned plot involves Sir Ian McKellen's delightfully-evil-as-ever Magneto presiding over his army of mutants dueling against the X-Men following a pharmaceutical company announcing they can cure' those mutants who want to become normal human beings. New characters are introduced, from Vinnie Jones' largely irrelevant Juggernaut to Kelsey Grammer's Beast (a role, along with Dr. Fraiser Crane, Grammer seemed destined to play.) Regrettably however, Alan Cumming doesn't reprise his role as the mysterious Nightcrawler, whilst James Marsden's Cyclops is utterly wasted in an all too brief appearance.

It's fair to say that the general consensus of X-Men devotees has been one of being underwhelmed by Ratner's interpretation of their heroes. Easily the most action orientated of the trilogy, the film sacrifices previous character development for an array of explosions, battles and combat. These sequences are indeed impressive, the final stand off at Worthington Laboratory being fast-paced, frantic and at times genuinely exciting.

Furthermore, such sequences do not necessarily mean that all personal plot points have been cast adrift. Famke Janssen as Jean Grey is comfortably the best actress on display, upstaging Oscar winner Halle Berry in the process. Hugh Jackman too, brings as much to the character of Wolverine as he has always done. He rises to the challenge on engaging a debate with Patrick Stewart's Charles Xaiver about the condition of how to deal with Grey's newly formed unstable alter-ego the Phoenix, and his finale with Janssen restores the film's emotional heartbeat.

With all this in mind, X-Men: The Last Stand is certainly not a poor film. To bracket it with comic-book flops such as Elektra or (Heaven forbid) Batman & Robin would be doing it a gross injustice. However, what really wrangles is that everything was in place for The Last Stand to be at the least on a par with Return of the Jedi in terms of climatic status to a trilogy. It does share some similarities with Jedi however, but rather the more negative ones, most notably its failure to live up to a more thoughtful, more superior second installment. Although Ratner's film leaves little opportunity to move the franchise forward, we are fortunate that there is a way back, chronologically at least, as the Origins of Wolverine and Magneto are in the pipeline to continue our X-Men fix. For the meantime however, this remains the closing chapter in the X-Men film legacy. It's satisfactory, it's entertaining but ultimately, it feels a tad anti-climatic.

Rating: 3\5

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