X-MEN: THE LAST STAND Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
20th Century Fox
Grade: C
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Written by: Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke
Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammar, Rebecca Romijn,
James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie
Jones, Ben Foster, Patrick Stewart
Screened at: AMC Empire, NYC, 5/27/06
Opens: May 26, 2006 You’ve got to admire Hollywood. No, not for its steady stream of wonderful movies, because that’s not Hollywood. But no other country in the world can come close to the big studios when for special effects. “X-Men: The Last Stand,” is loaded with eye-popping spectacle, which does not necessarily mean that everyone awed by fx in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy will be happy with Brett Ratner’s final episode (allegedly) in the series. While recognizing that everything on the screen is a moving version of the comics, or graphic novels, and while understanding that considerable beliefs must be suspended, this is a movie that lacks soul. For whom are we supposed to care? Presumably we’re to like the good mutants, who have joined with the U.S. president and his cabinet in making war on comic book terrorists known as the bad mutants. But the lines are not so clearly drawn, nor do we know whether the good mutants are supposed to be sellouts, Uncle Toms if you will, or simply people who had acquired a sense of ethics. You’d think that a pic that cost its producers $214.8 million would have not only the usual editing stunts but an intriguing story, but apparently all that money–which could have gone into sending more aid to Darfur–could have accomplished more, much more. “X-Men,” which surprisingly was offered a key spot at the Cannes Festival(!), may want to capture the market for satirical stories by showing the evils of conformity. If that’s the case, however, why would the tolerant mutant, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)–who teaches a class of fellow X-men in ethical standards--be opposed to those who are want to destroy a new drug which promises to make the mutants conform to human size? And why would the firebrand, Magneto (Ian McKellen), who brings his troops together to destroy the new drug and its laboratory in Alcatraz Prison, be considered the evil one? By the way, the one scene that is an fx standout in this pic has Magneto, with a sweep or two of his arms, move the Golden Gate Bridge right onto Alcatraz Island. No swimming certificates needed for the bad mutants. Of course those moviegoers who are intimately familiar with the comics might have answers, but consider how director Ratner and scripters Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn have not molded a tale that would be more friendly to those who are not diehard fanatics of the Marvel series. The story really has no center, though Hugh Jackman in the role of Logan, also called Wolverine, is given the role of central figure, a man who is not too happy that Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) comes seemingly back to life with all the telepathic powers that could make her a formidable one-woman army. It’s pretty awesome, though, how she projects a change from good person to bad one just by a change in the glint in her eyes. As for acting, Ian McKellen does his best to perform, ironically, like a human being, attempting to save this hugely extravagant effort just as he did in “The Da Vinci Code.” McKellen, a Shakespearean actor as well, could have gotten in the final words: “Full or sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Rated PG-13. 104 minutes © 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
