X-Men: The Last Stand
Synopsis
In the third installment of the X-Men movies, Magneto is
up to no good (as always) with building up his Brotherhood of Mutants against a
new vaccine that "cures" mutants. Additionally, the X-Men have a handful in the
newly-resurrected Phoenix (aka Jean Grey). Put those two together and you have a
mutant mess.
What I Thought
My brain is empty this week. Yes it is. I just recently
finished my kitchen at home and I'm still thinking about toekicks, molding, and
hardware. Oh, and cleaning under the cabinets. And sanding. And paint touch ups.
I guess what I'm saying is that why is it that mutant powers aren't all that
useful at home? I mean, why do we only get to choose between a can-opener
(Wolverine) and an icemaker (Iceman)? Why can't Marvel come up with The
Installer whose mutant powers are to install anything in the world? Or maybe
Permiter, able to create permits as needed? FlourPower for all your baked goods?
But I digress. Not that I started with any point, so maybe I just gress.
All your favorite mutants are back. Unless your favorite mutant is Nightcrawler,
in which case scratch that.
Yes, I liked the movie because I'm a nerdy geek. But if shoved against a corner,
I would say this movie was the weakest of the three. Here are my reasons:
Bad Reason 1: Juggernaut's stupid hat. One of the new mutants introduced in the
movies, he just looks silly in his costume.
Bad Reason 2: Rewriting Phoenix's story too much. In the books, the Phoenix is
the universal embodiment of emotion and is a fundamental force with the power to
destroy everything. In the movie, not so much. I'm not exactly asking for the
big showdown on Earth's Moon with Dark Phoenix with the X-Men against the
intergalactic Shi'ar Empire. But I did want to see Phoenix a *little* closer to
her roots. And I don't mean her hair.
Bad Reason 3: Phoenix's red hair looked soooooo fake.
Bad Reason 4: No Phoenix effect. What's up with that? You introduce one of the
most important characters from the books and don't even once see the flaming
bird?
But there are also plenty of goodies:
Good Reason 1: Storm's character is much more developed. And I love her hair.
Good Reason 2: Storm's hair.
Good Reason 3: Shadowcat (i.e., Kitty, the girl who can walk through walls) and
Colossus (the metal guy who we briefly saw in the 2nd movie). Two of my favorite
characters finally have roles.
Good Reason 4: This should have been Good Reason 1: Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick
Stewart. I just love them.
Good Reason 5: The other mutants: The Beast!! Angel (with a tiny role). We meet
Callisto and the Morlocks, Multiple Man (who rocked!) and others I don't
remember. In the credits you also see Psylocke, Siryn, and a few others but it
was hard seeing them in the movie.
The storyline itself is a little lame, but not too lame. Again I enjoyed it, but
non-fans or non-readers may not.
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