X-Men: The Last Stand

I finally saw this movie and I thought it was ok. It certainly felt like the most commercial of the three made so far, and you could definitely see the different touch applied by Brett Ratner, the new director, but it wasn't a disappointment as many have felt.

I thought Dr. Xavier and Magneto were exceptional as usual, Storm finally had more to do than just look up -and look stupid in the process-, Jean Grey was still cool, and Wolverine was smoldering hot as usual.

I liked the new mutants, virtually all of them, although I felt like Ben Foster's Angel was a total waste, while Kelsey Grammer's Dr. McCoy was good and didn't disappoint (who would have thought that Frasier could be a cool mutant?)

Similarly wasted were appearances (they were nothing more) by Anna Paquin's Rogue, James Marsden's Cyclops and Rebecca Romijn's Mystique.

These last character's under-utilization brings up the sorest point about this chapter of the X-Men saga: too many characters were underdeveloped, barely introduced, forced upon us, or left with nothing to do but hang out.

Other things were forced, like the Phoenix's arrival on the scene. Now, I never read the X-Men comics, so maybe there too the Phoenix just appears out of the blue at some point, but in the movie it looked weird.

I liked the shockers (and there were quite a few) although a friend's comment afterwards made me realize how the ending of the movie (and also the after-the-credits-added-scene) were nothing but ways to leave the door open for a possible fourth installment, thereby watering down the powerful effect of the earlier scenes. That's the kind of thing that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

Anyway, overall I liked the movie and will surely check out both the Wolverine's and the younger-Magneto's spin-offs that have apparently either already been greenlighted or about to be.

And like I said, although the X-Men had been devised as a trilogy, I'm sure the success of the latest, and supposedly last, chapter all but ensured another one will follow.

Grade: 7.5