X-Men: The Last Stand
Year: 2006
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Halle Berry, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Elliot Page, Anna Paquin & Patrick Stewart
Runtime: 104 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 02/12/21
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Halle Berry, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Ian McKellen, Elliot Page, Anna Paquin & Patrick Stewart
Runtime: 104 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 02/12/21
I look back on X-Men: The Last Stand with some very fond memories. It came out when I was ten and was at the peak of my superhero phase where superhero stuff, particularly X-Men, was pretty much all I consumed. I loved The Last Stand, but I distinctly remember a lot of hate emanating from the community about it, and once I was a few years older and became active in online forums I saw the true extent of just how much The Last Stand was despised by not just X-Men fans, but by pretty much anyone who likes films.
Over time my opinion also shifted to align with online discourse that The Last Stand is awful and should be avoided at all costs, but then I watched Dark Phoenix and it got me wondering whether my opinion on The Last Stand was actually true, or whether I had been conditioned into hating a film that was actually ok.
Set a number of months after X2, The Last Stand sees Scott/Cyclops (James Marsden) struggling to move on from the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to the point where he is shirking off teaching duties to hide away in his room. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is very concerned about Scott, but also understands that he is not the leader he once thought him to be and instead turns to Storm (Halle Berry) to step up and take his place.
Meanwhile the mutant community is shaken by the news of a ‘cure’ for the mutant X gene that promises to give those who embrace it a normal life. For some like Rogue (Anna Paquin) this news is excellent as she may finally be able to experience human contact without fearing for that person’s life, whereas others like Magneto (Ian McKellen) see it as an attack on mutant-kind and the first strike in humanity’s war against mutants, one that Magneto plans on winning at any cost.
As this turmoil brews the X-Men find that Jean survived the dam collapse at Alkali Lake and has returned unable to control her powers in the form of a persona that calls itself The Phoenix. Her inability to control her devastatingly powerful telekinetic and telepathic abilities spells destruction for anyone who stands in her way or tries to help her, and the only person who can truly stop her destructive power is Logan (Hugh Jackman).
Over time my opinion also shifted to align with online discourse that The Last Stand is awful and should be avoided at all costs, but then I watched Dark Phoenix and it got me wondering whether my opinion on The Last Stand was actually true, or whether I had been conditioned into hating a film that was actually ok.
Set a number of months after X2, The Last Stand sees Scott/Cyclops (James Marsden) struggling to move on from the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to the point where he is shirking off teaching duties to hide away in his room. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is very concerned about Scott, but also understands that he is not the leader he once thought him to be and instead turns to Storm (Halle Berry) to step up and take his place.
Meanwhile the mutant community is shaken by the news of a ‘cure’ for the mutant X gene that promises to give those who embrace it a normal life. For some like Rogue (Anna Paquin) this news is excellent as she may finally be able to experience human contact without fearing for that person’s life, whereas others like Magneto (Ian McKellen) see it as an attack on mutant-kind and the first strike in humanity’s war against mutants, one that Magneto plans on winning at any cost.
As this turmoil brews the X-Men find that Jean survived the dam collapse at Alkali Lake and has returned unable to control her powers in the form of a persona that calls itself The Phoenix. Her inability to control her devastatingly powerful telekinetic and telepathic abilities spells destruction for anyone who stands in her way or tries to help her, and the only person who can truly stop her destructive power is Logan (Hugh Jackman).
I’m going to open by saying that The Last Stand is actually alright and definitely receives a lot of undeserved negative criticism, something I have been guilty of throwing at it. In comparison to the first two X-Men films it is undoubtably a step back. Where the previous two films were pioneers of the superhero genre, The Last Stand does feel extremely by the numbers and lacks the determination to do anything particularly exciting with its subject matter. It also has far too much on its plate and juggles too many moving parts for any of them to feel satisfactory come the films conclusion. Many of the characters also don’t feel as complex as they were previously, but much of this largely comes down to The Last Stand having so many major players in it that the balance of screen time simply doesn’t work; with some side characters given way too much screen time for their role in the film such as Vinny Jones’ Juggernaut; and others feel like they have been robbed of a great storyline that goes mostly unexplored like Cyclops.
I’m going to break the various parts of the film down to discuss what I do and don’t like about them, because there’s simply too much going on to address it as a whole. First up, let’s talk Cyclops.
James Marsden was a great Scott Summers for X-Men 1&2, he’s the leader type that’s both caring and cocky in equal measure. His playful rivalry with Wolverine gives the first two films a lot of great comedy moments, whilst also allowing the Logan/Jean/Scott love triangle to expand naturally without dedicating too much time just to that aspect of the overarching story. However, in The Last Stand, Scott and Logan share one scene together at the start of the film where Scott scolds Logan over moving on from Jean too quickly and being incapable of understanding just how much he lost when Jean died. Scott then travels to Alkali Lake to be alone and vent his anger, he discovers Jean, and then she kills him off screen.
Scott Summers got done dirty in The Last Stand because his anger towards Jean’s death and Logan could have been great fuel to the complex fire of emotions that run rife throughout the film. But instead, he’s relegated to a few minutes of screen time and axed in the first act in a way that is totally unfulfilling to audiences. The climactic final scene with Jean and Logan would have been so much more impactful had Scott been a part of it, and perhaps even sacrificed himself to die with Jean than simply just let Logan do it because he’s invincible. It was off to such a great start, and the one scene that Logan and Scott do share is among the best in the whole film, but it was totally wasted in the way it was handled.
I’m going to break the various parts of the film down to discuss what I do and don’t like about them, because there’s simply too much going on to address it as a whole. First up, let’s talk Cyclops.
James Marsden was a great Scott Summers for X-Men 1&2, he’s the leader type that’s both caring and cocky in equal measure. His playful rivalry with Wolverine gives the first two films a lot of great comedy moments, whilst also allowing the Logan/Jean/Scott love triangle to expand naturally without dedicating too much time just to that aspect of the overarching story. However, in The Last Stand, Scott and Logan share one scene together at the start of the film where Scott scolds Logan over moving on from Jean too quickly and being incapable of understanding just how much he lost when Jean died. Scott then travels to Alkali Lake to be alone and vent his anger, he discovers Jean, and then she kills him off screen.
Scott Summers got done dirty in The Last Stand because his anger towards Jean’s death and Logan could have been great fuel to the complex fire of emotions that run rife throughout the film. But instead, he’s relegated to a few minutes of screen time and axed in the first act in a way that is totally unfulfilling to audiences. The climactic final scene with Jean and Logan would have been so much more impactful had Scott been a part of it, and perhaps even sacrificed himself to die with Jean than simply just let Logan do it because he’s invincible. It was off to such a great start, and the one scene that Logan and Scott do share is among the best in the whole film, but it was totally wasted in the way it was handled.
Next, I’ll tackle Rogue, Bobby (Shawn Ashmore), and Kitty’s (Elliot Page) storyline. So, Bobby was a mostly forgettable side character in the original X-Men film that had a huge presence in X2 because he was dating Rogue. Come The Last Stand the relationship is kind of fizzling out because Bobby is frustrated with not being able to be intimate with Rogue. Kitty, a character that was present in both previous X-Men films though only fleetingly and played by different actresses each time, is thrust into the story because with Logan/Jean/Scott now officially defunct with Scott’s death they needed a love triangle somewhere right? The only interesting part of this entire story is Rogue’s internal battle with deciding whether to get the cure or not. Rogue is one of the most interesting characters in the entire X-Men film saga and perhaps the most emotionally complex character too. This finale to her story fits perfectly with how her character has grown over the previous two films and it’s handled generally really well. But to have her story tacked on to Bobby & Kitty falling for each other is a huge disservice to her character. It’s even worse when Bobby is made out to be a character we’re supposed to root for as he is recruited into the core X-Men squad, but his actions throughout the film scream nothing but douchebag. Despite Kitty being an interesting character in the X-Men comics and animated show, her omission from the film series would have been perfectly fine and they could have just dealt with the emotional instability of Rogue and Bobby’s relationship. Rogue wanting to no longer be a mutant, and Bobby being so proud of being a mutant that he is offended by the thought of a cure. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT! Page does a great job with Kitty, but he’s not needed in that role and serves no purpose to the overall plot.
Despite the cure being the framing device for the whole film to even exist, the story at the core of The Last Stand is about Jean Grey and the much beloved Dark Phoenix storyline. There’s no way to put this gently but it’s completely butchered here. Jean is hardly a character through this film, the one interesting scene she is even in is early in the film when her and Logan are in the medical bay at the X-Mansion. Here she tells Logan how she has no control over what she’s doing, she’s scared of what she’s capable of, and she begs him to kill her. It’s great and it borders on horror in the way the camera is framed, the lighting that’s used, and the excellent CG and makeup that’s employed. This scene is fantastic, but then she goes and joins Magneto’s mutant brotherhood and kills a bunch of humans for shits and giggles, as a result she has all relatability stripped from her character because she just becomes a genocidal monster in the blink of an eye. There’s no internal battle on display and the only emotional impact it leaves is when she kills Scott offscreen and then kills the Professor in a moment that’s just hilarious because of how bad the CG effects look.
Despite the cure being the framing device for the whole film to even exist, the story at the core of The Last Stand is about Jean Grey and the much beloved Dark Phoenix storyline. There’s no way to put this gently but it’s completely butchered here. Jean is hardly a character through this film, the one interesting scene she is even in is early in the film when her and Logan are in the medical bay at the X-Mansion. Here she tells Logan how she has no control over what she’s doing, she’s scared of what she’s capable of, and she begs him to kill her. It’s great and it borders on horror in the way the camera is framed, the lighting that’s used, and the excellent CG and makeup that’s employed. This scene is fantastic, but then she goes and joins Magneto’s mutant brotherhood and kills a bunch of humans for shits and giggles, as a result she has all relatability stripped from her character because she just becomes a genocidal monster in the blink of an eye. There’s no internal battle on display and the only emotional impact it leaves is when she kills Scott offscreen and then kills the Professor in a moment that’s just hilarious because of how bad the CG effects look.
I haven’t really touched on the Professor or Magneto much and it’s because these two characters that were the pillars of the last two films play little more than bit parts in this final act. The Professor gets bumped off by Jean around the halfway point and all he does for his time in the film is shout about how his ethically questionable methods for controlling Jean’s power throughout her time in his care were the right thing to do without actually justifying it. Then Magneto spends the second half of the film prodding the proverbial hornets’ nest that is Jean until she eventually snaps and kills hundreds of people (mutants and humans) indiscriminately because of his words, and then he suddenly realises he’s done the wrong thing and runs away having lost his powers to being forcibly given the cure. The way these characters are handled actually angers me because they’re both among the smartest and most powerful mutants in the world, but the Professor can’t eloquently explain why he prevented Jean from being a bomb just waiting to explode for so many years, and Magneto doesn’t understand that he’s doing everything in his power to set that bomb off until he’s gone and done it.
But what do I like? Well Hugh Jackman’s great as always. It does irk me that Storm is made the leader of the X-Men but Logan’s the one calling the shots in the final battle. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I mean it’s 2006 so we can’t go giving a woman (particularly one that’s not white) too much power now can we!
I do find the film has good energy too, it moves well. It’s probably because it’s got so much to cover in such a short time span, but regardless it rarely feels like something important isn’t happening which means that assuming you’re not just getting angry at the wasted characters or awkward plot developments then you’ll probably have a good time.
The action sequences are generally very fun too, with the final battle on Alcatraz being among the best and most memorable sequences in the entire series.
X-Men: The Last Stand is not a great film but there is enjoyment to be had with it. I know I’ve been overwhelmingly negative in this review, but it’s difficult not to be when you compare it to the previous two entries. It has a lot of good ideas but almost all of the good it does is ruined by bad characters, or bizarre and underwhelming plot points.
It’s not as bad as the internet would have you believe, but it is most certainly a step down from the high bar set by the first two films. Plus, it’s bloody incredible when you compare it to what came next.
But what do I like? Well Hugh Jackman’s great as always. It does irk me that Storm is made the leader of the X-Men but Logan’s the one calling the shots in the final battle. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I mean it’s 2006 so we can’t go giving a woman (particularly one that’s not white) too much power now can we!
I do find the film has good energy too, it moves well. It’s probably because it’s got so much to cover in such a short time span, but regardless it rarely feels like something important isn’t happening which means that assuming you’re not just getting angry at the wasted characters or awkward plot developments then you’ll probably have a good time.
The action sequences are generally very fun too, with the final battle on Alcatraz being among the best and most memorable sequences in the entire series.
X-Men: The Last Stand is not a great film but there is enjoyment to be had with it. I know I’ve been overwhelmingly negative in this review, but it’s difficult not to be when you compare it to the previous two entries. It has a lot of good ideas but almost all of the good it does is ruined by bad characters, or bizarre and underwhelming plot points.
It’s not as bad as the internet would have you believe, but it is most certainly a step down from the high bar set by the first two films. Plus, it’s bloody incredible when you compare it to what came next.