Word spread like wildfire that the movie was good, and speculation immediately began to thread its way through the Internet as to what direction the sequel would go. Would it be another ensemble effort, or would breakout star Hugh Jackman go it alone as Wolverine? In 2003, we learned the answer with the release of “X2: X-Men United.” All of the main characters were back, there was the addition of a few new ones, and the sequel ended up being even bigger and better than the first. (Which we all know is a rare occurrence when it comes to sequels.)

The first film did a great job of setting up the characters for those who had never picked up a comic book in their lives. The casting was near perfect, the only weak link being that of James Marsden looking a little too young to play Cyclops. His youthful appearance might not have been so bad, but he had to be believable as the romantic interest of Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey and they just didn’t look right together.

On the other side of the coin, the casting of Patrick Stewart was absolutely inspired. His look and demeanor were a perfect match to the comic book version of Professor Xavier (the leader of the X-Men), so much so that I cannot imagine any other actor in the role. And who else could bring as much quiet dignity to the character of Magneto than Ian McKellan? And of course, I mentioned Hugh Jackman earlier who, due to his strong performance, now owns the role of Wolverine.

Adding to the excitement of “X2: X-Men United” was the expansion of characters that were shown briefly in the first film. Bobby Drake / Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and John Allerdyce / Pyro (Aaron Stanford) both play integral parts in the sequel. And besides just being great characters, having them in this film gives fans hope that the couple of mutant cameos this time around will mean meatier roles in “X3.”

The best addition to the franchise in “X2: X-Men United” was my personal favorite mutant, Nightcrawler. I figured the difficulty of bringing a character like this to life would have kept the filmmakers from ever including him. Not that it couldn’t be done, just that it couldn’t be done right. Of course, I was wrong. Nightcrawler was not only done right, but far better than I could have ever expected. As odd as it may seem, the most important aspect of the character that was needed to make him work for fans was a sound. You see, Nightcrawler can teleport, and in the comics the sound of teleportation was written as ‘BAMF.’ The sound you hear in the film is a perfect representation of that sound.

Beyond that, you needed the right actor to play the part. When I first heard that Alan Cummings was up for the role, I was very skeptical. Cummings is a really good actor, but I couldn’t imagine him as a hero. I was worried it would be like seeing Paul Reubens as The Spleen in “Mystery Men.” Again, I was wrong. Cummings was not only perfect, but he also brought a subtle humanity to the role. Considering the fact that Nightcrawler is a blue-skinned, pointy-eared mutant with sharp teeth and a tail, this is quite an accomplishment. I was really disappointed that he did not return for the third movie.

So when we were ready to unleash what is supposed to be the final chapter in the trilogy, "X-Men: The Last Stand," fans everywhere were extremely worried that everything that had been so good up until now would go horribly awry. Why were these fears so strong? It was the news that the director and leading force behind the first two films, Bryan Singer, was going to be busy working on the new Superman film. When the news hit that director Brett Ratner was taking over the helm, there was collective sigh of…. "What the…?" The problem with this news was that Ratner had only directed a handful of films, the most popular being the "Rush Hour" films with Jackie Chan. These were a far cry from the special effects laden movie that the third X-Men film was sure to be.

Then there were rumblings, first of joy that this movie was going to finally introduce the character of Hank McCoy a.k.a 'Beast.' Casting for this character was sure to be tough; after all, 'Beast' is a six foot, blue, furry guy with a genius intelligence and the manners of an Oxford professor. Who in the world could possibly fill these big furry feet? Here was where the rumblings began to lean to the other side. The producers chose Kelsey Grammer. That's right…. Dr. Frasier Crane was going to be hidden under a ton of makeup and possibly be expected to do 'wire work' enhanced fight scenes. This would be a far cry from "Cheers…." Hmmmmm.

Well, I went to see the third film of the franchise a back before it opened at the Northpark AMC 15 (a new theatre that I highly recommend checking out) and found out for myself whether or not "X-Men: The Last Stand" would hold up to the previous two films.

Unfortunately, my answer has to be one of ambiguity. Yes… and no… But instead of waiting to the end to give you the bottom line, I'll start off by telling you that I enjoyed "X-Men: The Last Stand" immensely because it was ultimately entertaining. If you’re a fan of the genre at all I recommend taking the time to see it on the big screen, you just might do so during the matinee time when you don’t have to pay full price.

The plot, as such, is quite an interesting one. It seems that as mutants have become ever more the object of derision, a large corporation has developed a serum which is supposed to reverse the mutant gene, rendering those who take it powerless. They, in effect, revert to human. The idea at first is to promote it as a voluntary action on the part of mutants, but as most mutants in the film are no smarter than the average human, there ends up being two factions. Those who are for the taking of it and those who are against. Those who are against it feel (and rightfully so) that the government will eventually make it mandatory and end up rounding up mutants much in the way we rounded up the Japanese-Americans during the second World War. Of course, Magneto (Ian McKellan) is at the forefront of the opposition and builds an army of mutants to wage his final war against the humans.

What I found especially interesting about this particular plotline, at least in Magneto's case, is that he somehow doesn’t seem to realize that he is becoming everything that he abhors. He grew up in a Nazi concentration camp, a fact that we are reminded of when he shows an underling his 'tattoo.' Yet his plan to wipe out humankind and utter disdain for human life mirrors the very madman who imprisoned his people when he was a child. There is a small moment where the realization might have set in, but it was difficult to know for sure.

Now, mixed into this plotline is the return of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), whom we thought was killed in the previous film. Unfortunately, she is no longer the Jean grey we all knew and loved. We find out that Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) had suppressed her powers as a child because she was more powerful than any mutant he had ever come across. This suppression caused the formation of a second personality, that of the Phoenix. And where Grey is in control, calm and benevolent, Phoenix is the polar opposite. She is a creature who acts upon her desires, no matter the form they take. And she will do anything to fulfill them. The question posed in "X-Men: The Last Stand" is, which side will she be on?

As for my ambiguous answer to comparing "X-Men: The Last Stand" to the first two films, I really didn’t have a choice because there is no comparison. The first two X-Men movies were directed by Bryan Singer, and his approach was to give you a richly drawn tapestry of characters and character motivations. He made sure, with as little exposition as possible, that you know exactly who these characters were and why they were doing what they were doing. Even those coming into the world of the X-Men for the first time quickly learned and understood who everyone was. Also, in doing the first two films this way, Singer also made them to be less of action films than character studies. Don’t get me wrong, they had plenty of action, but the action did not overtake the importance of the characterizations.

Brett Ratner on the other hand, pretty much assumed (and not necessarily incorrectly), that audiences already knew who these characters were so he went right into the action. And in order to try and win over the comic book fans immediately started out the film with a highly intense battle scene between the main X-Men and a very recognizable foe. He then took the scene a step further by exposing the location of the battle with another strong nod to the comic books. This entire scene elicited huge applause and screams from the audience.

The look, feel and flow of "X-Men: The Last Stand" is also very different from its predecessors. The film seems grainier (which was a difference I noted between the first two "Harry Potter" films and the last), but the editing feels a lot more solid… with one highly notable and frustrating scene. In it, Magneto is leading the charge of mutants against the location housing 'the cure.' It is broad daylight and as such, everything is brightly lit. Seemingly from one frame to the next, it has inexplicably become nighttime. I know… I know… I've seen this countless times on other films, but mostly lower budget films. I wouldn't expect to see such a jarring edit in a multi-million dollar special effects extravaganza. My only guess as to why they made the sudden change was to make it easier to hide any flaws in the special effects during the battle sequence. But you know… it was so noticeable that it pulled me completely out of the film and almost ruined the rest of the movie for me. It was that bad.

Then there was the matter of the introduction of one of the newer (in the film series anyway) characters, Angel (Ben Foster). Well, I should say, the introduction of the older version. The early scenes with him as a child are actually quite well done and very emotional, however later in the movie when he is re-introduced and first unfurls his wings to fly. The scene as a whole looked really bad, and the music that was playing was laughably bad. So much so that several audience members laughed quite loudly. I was kind of let down, because I was really excited to see this character realized on screen.

Of course I have to mention Storm, as played by Halle Berry. You know, I really ride the fence about Halle Berry's talent as an actress. She's pulled off almost as many good performances as she has bad. And where she gave a fairly good performance in the first two movies, here she seems to be sleepwalking through role. She was very dull and listless, nearly bringing down every scene she was in.

But those are really the biggest of my nitpicks. Where I was pleasantly surprised was in the aforementioned casting of Kelsey Grammer as 'Beast.' In the film, his character was appointed as a liaison between the government and the mutant population. So the mix of big blue furriness and a business suit was an odd one. But in terms of makeup and performance, Grammer did an admirable job. Not perfect, but darn good. Later in the film, he even gets a chance to do a little fighting, but it was hard to tell if it was really Grammer or a stunt man.

I was also very impressed with the way the film presented Phoenix. There was never any doubt that she was one of the most powerful mutants ever, and every time she would cut loose with the worst of her powers, you could almost feel the force coming off the screen. And wile I would like to attribute that to Janssen's performance, it was really more a matter of the terrific work of the special effects team. When faced with anyone she considered an enemy, her eyes would go nearly black and her skin would become very ashy looking. Admittedly she cut quite a frightening figure when in full Phoenix mode.

Anyhow, besides finally giving us a look at Beast, "X-Men: The Last Stand" also delivered bigger roles for Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) and Kitty Pride (Ellen Page). But one of the best additions this time around came in the villain department. Bless his shiny bullet shaped helmet; we were able to bear witness to the monolith known as Juggernaut. As played by Vinnie Jones, he is a giant of a man (made to look a little bigger with some of the special effects tricks learned in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy). Watching him burst through walls was a hoot, and he nearly stole the entire movie with one very well-placed line… one I won’t give away here.

The DVD I received for review was a screener copy, so I'm not going to get too much into the film's look. The image here was pretty badly pixilated, but I doubt that it will be that bad on the final product. There are quite a few commentaries on the single disc release; as a matter of fact the Collector's Edition only includes a 100 collectible booklet with a new story by Stan Lee. The regular edition has two separate commentaries, the first by director Brett Ratner and writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, followed by one by producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Ralph Winter. Admittedly, neither commentary is that insightful. For the most part, everyone just talks about little things in general without really getting to the meat of the production or commenting on the film's problems. You'll also find several deleted scenes, but only a few of them offer anything remotely interesting.

Fans of the comic book series will either love or hate the film, much in the way they loved or hated the first two. Some will complain that it doesn’t stick to the stories as they've appeared in the comics, but again, neither did the first two. All in all, "X-Men: The Last Stand" is far from the best of the trilogy, but no matter what anyone says, it was certainly good enough to claim its place alongside its predecessors.

Directed by: Brett Ratner
Starring: Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romjin, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Ben Foster, James Marsden
Extras: Commentary by director Brett Ratner and writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, Commentary by producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Ralph Winter, Deletes scenes with optional commentary, 3 alternate endings with optional commentary, Trailers
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, 6.1 Dolby EX Surround
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 10/3/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (For Intense Sequences of Action Violence, Some Sexual Content and Language)
Website

We'll give X-Men: The Last Stand a C+.