X-Men - The Last Stand is high drama, a wonderful and immense story.
First of all: to all those that enjoyed the first two movies: this one is just as good, at least, at least that.
One second in this one is more intense than hundreds of the many crap films released today put together. It’s palatable, visible in the very air, just like Phoenix’s godly Power.
It is a different film compared to the first two, with a different emphasis. Brett Ratner and a practically entire new behind the camera team have, inevitably a different focus, approach than Bryan Singer and his team. It’s more brutal, less comics-like, consequently even further removed from the comics’ story than before.
But it’s all still there, the familiar faces, characters, from the opening sequence and onward, coming to life, a fact still amazing to me, five years after the first movie.
The younger Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Eric Lensherr (Ian McKellen) working together finding the young Jean Grey, the Phoenix-to-be, realizing immediately that they are in way over their heads.
Jean is a Class Five mutant, as far «above» (power wise) the other mutants as they are «above» the other humans, and now, when her power is emerging fully, there is no place for her in the world.
A «cure» is found for mutants, one changing their genetic make-up, one removing a crucial part of themselves, and rage is rising from the deepest of dark corners.
The stakes are clearly higher in this one, right from the start. We are shown that early, with the first fatality, with the first death, and it only gets worse (or better) from then on. Many have stated that this should have been an R-rated film, and I, since I want films to be made solely for an «adult» audience, certainly agree with that.
It centers on Phoenix. Almost all plots and characters touch her in some way, and this is a very good thing. The X-Men comics would have been lesser without her, in so many ways, and so would the films. Famke Janssen does a great, beyond great job playing her in quite the minimalist way. Less is more.
Storm gets more screen time this time, but she’s not really taking center stage in any way. The three main characters are Phoenix, Magneto and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and that is also how it should be.
If I wanted to do some nitpicking, there are a few things I could point out that I would have changed, but I won’t. The only fact I will mention is that the movie is at least half an hour too short, but that is true for every great film. We love what we see and we want more.
Yet another 10 of 10 X-Men movie.
