THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
In 2006, the hype was surreal for a third X-Men movie. So when seeing The Last Stand in theaters, it was indeed entertaining but it failed to exceed expectations.
PLOT
The threequel shows Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) has created a drug to suppress the mutant gene, offering it as a cure to mutants who would want it. The source comes from a mutant child named Jimmy (Cameron Bright) who can suppress others' abilities within 50 feet from him. He offers it to his son Warren III (Ben Foster) who has gigantic wings, but he chooses not go forward with it. Magneto and Pyro re-establish the Brotherhood, recruiting mutants that are against the cure. They rescues Mystique (Rebecca Romjin) from captivity and recruit more mutants. Within that time, she is abandoned after being exposed to the cure. At Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Scott Summers aka Cyclops is still grieving the death of Jean Grey. When visiting Alkali Lake where she allegedly died, she returns. She then kills him as she kisses him for the last time. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) senses danger and sends both Wolverine and Storm to investigate. They find Jean unconscious, but still alive. When bringing her back, Charles explains that when she saved them from the ruptured water, she released a darker personality with godlike potential known as the 'Phoenix'. Knowing she'd be dangerous, he had to repress her with his telepathy. Logan is distraught that he is keeping this from her but when she wakes up, he figures out what she did to Scott and she leaves, refusing to be controlled again. Charles finds her at her childhood home and goes with Storm & Wolverine to rescue her. But Magneto is there to see her as well after discovering she's alive. Both former friends vie for her loyalty until Phoenix emerges. Outside the house, Wolverine & Storm fight two of Magneto's disciples, the invulnerable Juggernaut & Callisto, who has superspeed and can sense other mutants. In the house, Jean destroys everything around her and kills the professor by evaporating him. Despite seeing his friend die, Magneto still takes her with him. Days after the death of the professor, Warren III, decides to reside at the mansion. Hank McCoy aka Beast also resigns at Mutant Affairs Secretary after discovering that the cure is being weaponized. Rogue (Anna Paquin) chooses to take the cure in order to finally gain a normal relationship with Bobby Drake aka Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), who flirts with Kitty Pryde, who walks through walls. Wolverine searches for Magneto in the woods in order to get Jean back and fails. However, he discovers that he and the Brotherhood are heading to Alcatraz Island to destroy the cure and kill the source that is Jimmy. The Brotherhood are able to get there as Magneto rips a piece of the Golden Gate Bridge as transportation. They then attack the facility, annihilating almost every military reinforcement. The remaining X-Men: Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Iceman, Kitty and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) who can turn his skin to metal, fight off the Brotherhood before Magneto makes the next move. Kitty saves Jimmy from Juggernaut and Warren III appears to save his father from being killed by other Brotherhood members. Iceman is able to defeat Pyro and Storm defeats Callisto. Wolverine is then able to distract Magneto long enough for Beast inject him with the cure. When more troops arrive and attempt to attack Jean, Phoenix emerges again which destroys Alcatraz and anything/anyone else within her range. Because of his healing, Wolverine is able to get to her and make the sacrifice of killing her, saving everyone else. Some time later, Beast becomes United Nations ambassador. Rogue does come back to the mansion powerless but the film ends Magneto being able to move a metal chess piece with a gesture, implying that the cure is temporary.
THOUGHTS
When watching this film as a child in 2006, I do recall enjoying it then as I do now. The only difference is that I have been able to discover its many flaws after multiple viewings, so bear with me as I go back and forth with the pros and cons. CONS: Director Brett Ratner tries his best to bring something special with what Bryan Singer set in stone in the two prior films but his involvement is not as creative as he tried to make so, despite the combo of good action sequences. This film suffers the most of continuity errors. The best example is casting Bill Duke as Bolivar Trask. There is nothing wrong with his brief appearance as the character, but the problem is re-casting him with Peter Dinklage in 2014's Days of Future Past. It was a retcon that became unnecessary. Jean's age in the 80s doesn't affect the story anymore mainly because of the new timeline Wolverine created in Days of Future Past, making the character somewhat age appropriate for 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse. The true problem with the opening is that the de-aging on Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have not aged well. Going back to Jean, I do personally believe that Famke Janssen is able to hold it down with the creepy dual perspective of her character. While that is interesting, it isn't true to the source material because in the comics, the power of the Phoenix actually came from space. If written right, it would've handled better here compared to the later disaster of the franchise, 2019's Dark Phoenix. I had nothing against Dania Ramirez as Callisto but it felt pointless squaring her up with Storm, because that turnout between them was way too predictable for me. Wolverine will always be a popular character but it was odd that he leads the X-Men when Charles suggested Storm to do so in the future, making that scene almost unnecessary. Iceman's arc is ruined when he flirts with Kitty because it unintentionally pressures Rogue for something that wouldn't last. I even feel confused on why Nightcrawler is absent because he could've been a helping hand. Colossus is misused again because he's basically there in a similar amount of time we saw him in X2. And when the hell did Alcatraz turn into a private lab by Worthington? I’d like to hear exposition on how that went down. If everyone knew Magneto was gonna rescue Mystique, then they should’ve transported her in a containment unit that wasn’t involved with metal. It is pretty intense when Juggernaut & Callisto fight Storm & Wolverine during the conflict between Charles and Jean but weren’t they supposed to keep them outside? Magneto specifically told Juggernaut to ensure they stayed out and he failed to do that. It did appear that he forgot about that after what happened to Charles but still, one that doesn’t listen shouldn’t be part of the group. What made things weirder in the said scene is how everyone in the neighborhood was outside in the background when all the mutant characters showed up but we don’t get one reaction shot after what transpires. I mean come on, that’s like the most definitive continuity error this movie has. Lastly, Warren Worthington III aka Angel is the most wasted character of all because he doesn't drive the plot, his dad does. He does save his from death, but it is a damn shame he ain't kicking ass with the X-Men in later films. PROS: Because this was originally a trilogy, the film was bold to kill off three characters, at least before being resurrected in later films. I respect it going dark when implying that Warren III cut off his wings when he was a child. Normally, superhero movies have a hard time going down that route, especially in a PG(13) rating, so I generally respect that scene. I know I wasn’t crazy about Wolverine leading the X-Men but we were still on board with Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the character because this time, he’s trying to save the woman he loves, a common goal that makes a protagonist easy to root for. I also got to give a shoutout to James Marsden because with his given time as Cyclops, he succeeds in expressing grief through body movement and facial expression. It was tough to see Xavier die but the after credits showing his return was cleverly foreshadowed as he earlier explained the possibility of transferring a conscience into another body, which is exactly what he did. Stewart still had us respect Xavier because even though he was wrong to keep the Phoenix a secret from Jean, he had nothing but good intentions in wanting to protect her and that shouldn't be a sin. For Vinnie Jones, he's not huge like Juggernaut is infamously depicted in the comics, but the payoff is providing the ideal arrogance the character's known for, like Aaron Stanford does for Pyro. I was glad that someone up and coming like Ellen/Elliot Page was at the time to play Kitty Pryde and return for the role in Days of Future Past. Mainly because I was bothered how neither of the previous two actresses returned for the role. I thought the actor was good in his/her given time presenting her as optimistic and sweet, probably why Bobby got close to her. While that is what triggered Rogue to take the cure, I respect her for doing it because she wanted to be normal ever since her powers came about, she hated her powers. Even though it didn’t last, the least we can do is try to be happy for her. The best use of the film's visuals go to Angel's wings and Iceman in ice form which should be brought up more because as a fan of the first class lineup, that was a dream come true. I still think Storm was a standout because Halle Berry showed her to be more firm as a teammate, expressing the same compassion and wisdom Charles passed on to her which defends why she'd be a good leader. Sir Ian McKellen makes Magneto pure evil in this sequel compared to the predecessors because he's far past hesitance and it was so not cool that he still chose to take Jean with him after Charles died, because he knows damn well that his friend would've not let him take her. And of all the great shots in this movie, it's always going to be what he does to the Golden Gate Bridge. It's something that is terrifying yet incredible to witness. Lastly, Kelsey Grammar owns it playing the Beast not just because of the great makeup but in a way, he almost sounds about ideally the way Beast would sound, similar to George Buza's voice from the 90s animated series. To wrap up, X-Men: The Last Stand became the first letdown of the superhero franchise but if you can try to ignore the many flaws, then hopefully you will enjoy this sequel as a casual moviegoer.
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