User Reviews

EDITED: Why do people keep reporting me for spoilers?! There isn't a single spoiler in this review. That Jean Grey is back? The trailer showed that! Idiots.

The war between mutants and humans rages on – as well as between mutants and other mutants – and the spark that lights the fuse in this X-Men installment is the government-funded "Mutant-cure" project that is taking place on Alcatraz. Magneto and his fanatic followers are appalled by this idea ("They want to cure us? I say we ARE the cure – for homo sapiens.") and go into military mode to fight the humans. Because we all know the best defense is a good offense. This conflict pins Xavier and his academy somewhere in between, raising questions such as how far should we go for social conformity? Is mutation a disease, or is it part of who we are?

I think that X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) has got it all right when it comes to ethics and message because it is not in-your-face or preachy at any point. It is an objective study how this cure changes people and mutants alike (not just the ones it is injected to). Magneto cannot stand the prospect of losing his mutant identity to a human cure while Rogue wants it and Jean needs it. Director Brett Ratner neutrally navigates the themes of social conformity and ethical values with effortless skill in the film which I find impressive since it is a heavy topic and he only recently jumped onboard the X-Men fare. So "well done" here is an understatement. He does a great job.

The problem is that at some point greedy hack producers deemed this well-sketched template of mutants vs. humans going to war over ethics "insufficient" for a long action-feature. More was needed, they thought, and slapped on extra-template love-stories, reborn-stories and offputting attempts at establishing moods that reeks of cheesy character development Kodak-moment. The latter manifests itself at several points in the film, mainly in scenes with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) coming to terms with his love for Jean. He does this by brooding and exchanging meaningful glances.

Jean's woeful reborn storyline is X-Men's fatal flaw. Sloppy writing. When reaching the point when Jean's miraculous survival from the impact of the water needs to be explained by some brainy scientist (in this case Xavier), he simply offers the explanation: "Her powers wrapped her in a cocoon of telekinetic energy." OK, so no we now. Idiotic. Poor Famke Janssen gets to inhabit a truly badly-written character as The Last Stand plays on, and she plays it badly too. She has come back super-powerful and super-sexy (logically??). Most of the film she is not really doing anything, but stands aside looking imposing while the other characters remark how superhuman she is and how powerful she has become: "She's so strong." - Xavier (yes, he actually says that -- it's a joke). When she finally does get to shine, she does not really shine at all but her scene becomes completely over-the-top and desensitizes you to the action.

Luckily, X-Men: The Last Stand is not Jean Grey's show. Curiously enough it is not Wolverine's show either. Instead the central characters take a backseat to the wide montage of new, eccentric, colourful mutant character from both Magneto and Xavier's camp – such as Juggernaught ("...bitch"), Arclight (hands down the coolest mutant power) and Callisto. Whenever there is a showdown between the two camps it is absolute gold. Even early in the film in Jean's house when they meet and fight briefly for the first time, you know you're in for a cinematic ride of vivid special visual- and audio effects as the characters blow ice, shoot metal, stir up storms and walk through walls. They mess up the house so much that it looks as though its walls are made out of paper that they just tear down and walk through. It's brilliantly handled with creative new scenarios.

However the single most poignant scene is only a few minutes into the film – in a flashback of sorts that zooms in on a little mutant boy who has locked himself in the bathroom, cutting off his wings. He cries and there is blood and white feathers everywhere and it is just a staggering image. This little boy is Angel. This scene convinced me I was in for one hell of a ride – and I was because there is a lot of the cinematic "big, bigger, epic" formula but ultimately it is a terribly uneven film with poor dialogue (lines you can guess before the character says it), mediocre acting and plain silly extra-template story lines.

6 out of 10

This contains spoilers, but nevermind since the movie is bad and you shouldn't go see it.

There were two good things about X-Men III. First, we arrived a bit late so I actually missed all the advertisements. Second, at one point in the movie they show a family trapped in a car in front of Magneto and his army of mutants, and the woman actually locks the car thinking it's going to make a difference. That would have made me smile if I hadn't been busy listing the best ways to kill the movie director at that point.

I don't even know where to start, so I'll begin with how Brett Ratner deals with the characters. Cyclops is killed. Professor Xavier is killed. Jean Grey is killed. Mystique is now a human. Rogue is now a human. Magneto is now a human (although a little doubt remains, see "the worst ending sequence in the history of mankind" paragraph). Now you may be wondering "who the hell remains except for Wolverine and Storm" (you may also be wondering why Ratner is still living)? Well, Director Stupid introduced a new group of totally uninteresting mutants, with absolutely no personality. Juggernaut and Multiple Man agree to join Magneto not knowing who he is or wtf he is planning to do. Kitty Pride looks like she's twelve, Angel is apparently only in the movie for advertisement purposes (he has almost as much screen time as in the trailer), Callisto is the needed 'ghetto' black character (seriously, listen to how she speaks... or don't, actually don't), there was even some emo/Gothic girl, I'm still trying to figure why Magneto didn't slap her for getting that haircut. Beast first appears as a scholar then fights with the other X-Men at the end, not much to say about him. Wait, there's not much to say about any of those characters except "die in a fire".

That brings us to the actual plot and storyline. When a sad Cyclops tells Wolverine "Not everyone heals as fast as you do", I knew this movie was going to suck. I can easily imagine the writers patting each other in the back for three hours after finding that line. Way to go, too bad everyone in the audience almost puked when he said that. Anyway, Cyclops dies like a punk less than twenty minutes into the movie, and guess what we don't even see his death. Apparently they felt they were going the right way since the script just keeps getting worse. I guess they tried to bring in as many things from the comics as possible and mix them, but instead of actually developing each element they rushed the movie (it's one hour forty minutes long), which ruined everything. Rogue taking the cure is not exploited enough, Jean turning into the Phoenix is a big joke, she just stands there doing nothing after Magneto recruits her. She eventually decides to annihilate the universe at the end, which is a pathetic excuse for a thirty-seconds FX sequence. When she asks Wolverine "Are you willing to die for them?", he answers "I'm willing to die for you". Any writer that comes up with such a line should be shot dead. No trial, just shot. Don't even get me started on Xavier's death or the fact that there are no flames around the Phoenix (Jane), they couldn't even get the stupid flames right. What the hell does she do anyway? Make confettis? Can her power look any less impressive? "Oh no, she's making confettis, nevermind that Magneto just made the Golden Gate Bridge levitate and let's RUN FOR OUR LIVES!!". The only good thing about her is that she killed the emo/Gothic guy.

Pyro is a stupid arrogant kid, who keeps acting tough because he can throw flames. Wow, you were born with your power and you can actually use it, that's like bragging about knowing how to walk. Get a job elsewhere than in a circus and I might be impressed. He can't even use his power properly, I mean he ignites cars thrown by Magneto. Maybe next time you could actually think of, I don't know, throwing fire AT YOUR ENEMIES and not at stupid flying cars? Everything is so rushed that you stop caring anyway.

The worst ending sequence in the history of mankind:

The ending sequence features Magneto sitting at a chess table in a park. Now Magneto only started a mutant vs human war, ruined the Golden Gate Bridge, launched an attack on the Alcatraz Island that resulted in the complete destruction of the place and the death of dozens of soldiers, you'd think he'd maybe get a little prison time. But no, apparently everyone is happy in stupid land, they all kissed and hugged and he's forgiven. But that's not the worst thing, we also actually see Magneto move a chess piece without touching it, meaning that his power is not completely gone, meaning that EVERYTHING IS MAYBE NOT OVER! Arggghhhh, stop it already! It was announced that this would be the last X-Men movie (and believe me, it's for the greater good), end it like a man and don't imply something else might happen. Magneto is free and his power is not completely gone. WTF has changed since the beginning of the movie except that the X-Men have lost so many members that they have to fight with twelve-year-olds and Magneto doesn't have stupid Pyro following him anymore? The credits come up directly after we see the piece moving, with a sound supposed to make you go "wow!". Well I did go "wow!", and by "wow!" I mean "let's hunt Ratner down and send him to the one place where he belongs", which is the nearest black hole. X-Men 3 is terrible, don't go see it.

I saw this movie yesterday, and although I thought it was a good movie, I am sad to say that it is without doubt the worse of the trilogy.

The problem with X-Men: The Last Stand is not that it's bad, because it's not. The problem is that both X-Men and X2 were so good, it had a lot to live up to; and, considering it had a new director and new scriptwriters, it would be extremely hard for it to be better than its predeceases.

I found that the problems with the movie could be resumed like this: -It features too many all new mutants, and, although this is a good thing, it becomes a weakness.

If you have 20 characters on an hour and a half movie (yes, it's that short), obviously there won't be enough time to develop all of them the way you would want, and here comes the weakness.

Although new (I say new referring to the movies, not to the comic books) characters like Callisto and Beast receive the time they deserve, some other new characters are barely seen throughout the movie. For example: Angel, Juggernaut, Multiple Man and Arclight.

Angel is an extremely secondary character, and I honestly thought he'll be one of the main ones, him being on the poster and stuff. Juggernaut is also secondary, but this is forgivable, since bad guys on the prequels were also secondary and almost non-speaking mutants. (Deathstrike, Sabretooth...) Multiple man and Arclight are cool villains, but like I said, they barely appear on the movie.

-Another weakness on the movie, (this being the most important) is the scriptwriter's decision to edit out characters that were famous on the previous movies.

This really made me mad, because I really liked characters like Mystique and Cyclops, and they barely appeared in the movie. The reason for this may have been that they wanted to give more screen time to Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman, that are now famous Hollywood stars.

Another reason for Cyclops not appearing that much may be that the actor, James Mardsen, was also working on Superman Returns, and his schedule was maybe a little tight.

• Another important weakness for the movie is the music. In my opinion, music is a huge part of making what's unbelievable, believable (by saying unbelievable we're talking about a man picking up the Golden Gate Bridge, or stuff like that). The musician for the movie should definitely feel sorry for his work.

Although I've spent a lot of time writing about what didn't work in the movie, there are some things that worked really great. The main characters such as Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, Pyro, Iceman, Phoenix, Beast and Shadowcat are fantastic. The scene of Magneto picking up the Golden Gate Bridge is simply spectacular. The climatic sequence is well achieved, as are most of the action sequences.

Although you can't compare this with the prequels, this is a good superhero movie, and you shouldn't miss it. I rank it 7 out of 10 stars.

I LOVED the movie... I'm from Scotland and it was released here 25th may 2006. I just couldn't BELIEVE the effects that happened, but to be honest the story could have been much better. I don't like how the phoenix story is explained as it is clearly made that jean becomes the phoenix at the end of xmen 1... (for you ppl that don't know, it's supposed to be when magneto's statue of liberty/mutant creator/thing is supposed to turn everyone into mutants that the phoenix force is to come into contact with jean, therefor, that is how we see her gasping/shocked after it is destroyed), not that it has simply been a part of her for the whole time since Xavier and magneto met her as is explained in xmen 3! The story line in the movie jumps from character to character without much inter loop. It can jump from one scene to the other but you can still figure out where the story is going. One thing that really got me was the fact that in one scene, kitty pryde is an innocent student taking part in a classroom discussion with Xavier, and the next after his parting, she is suddenly a main character in a room with iceman, storm, wolverine and beast. Where is the gradual trust/bond that is made up through the previous 2 movies that makes the characters an 'x-man'? It's obviously missed with this movie and throws kitty straight into the limelight which was slightly disturbing (just like the fact that she takes it upon herself to save the mutant at the source of the 'cure').

I would love to go into detail about the movie as so many things remain unanswered but I can't spoil it for the other fans who are yet to see it. All I have to say is be prepared to laugh, cry and deal with the demise/rise of certain characters in this movie. They certainly came as a shock to me, even after reading rumours circling the web about their story in the movie, I certainly wasn't prepared for the demise of a few characters and the hurt that was shown by the others. All in all, a FANTASTIC movie that has to be seen by not only x-men fans, but by all to complete this 'supposed trilogy'.

The ending of the film (the effects and the powerful end to one of the characters knocked me for six completely!), and by all means, the clip that was shown to me after the end credits also took me by surprise. Like I said 'supposed trilogy' could make it into a 4-some. I've heard certain rumours about different end credits shown to different ppl and the one I was shown featured Moria McTaggart and her patient.... If it's true, I would like to see the 'jean grey/phoenix' ending to the movie, just so it can relate to the comics and build up a story for the 4th xmen movie... but then again.. I think the probability of that is slim to none.

From seeing the 'Moria McTaggart' ending and hearing about the 'Jean Grey ending', I would have LOVED if both were shown and they were intersected to create the 4th x-men movie, but that all depends on how well this movie does at the box office and how well the fans receive it.

I hope and dream for someone to announce X-Men 4 so the story can continue, but with certain characters gone, it may not be entirely possible. It's up to us, the fan's, to make X-Men 3 a success and for others to make X-Men 4 a possibility..

... Here's hoping we can continue the story and resurrect/reclaim the characters' demise in X-Men 3 to be a powerful resurrection to success for a hopeful X-Men 4.

Why oh why do Prof X, Cyclops, and Jean Grey die and yet the egotistical Halle Berry's Storm remains???

I was pleased to see that Storm at least had her abilities portrayed much more effectively but I was the opposite of pleased to see her spit out cliché and uninspired motivational speeches that stank of pure cheese. This movie attempted to pack twice the amount of characters and story of the first two movies into the shortest of the three. Perhaps if the movie were another thirty minutes than this film could have been one of the greatest comic turned film of all time. The story and the characters and incredibly compelling but are jammed into a movie that's nothing more than a showcase of visual effects. Multiple Man, Colossuss, Juggernaut, Angel, Callisto, Beast--- Do we even care????? What are their motives, personalities, and backgrounds? In short, who are these characters? Where is Nightcrawler???? Generally the first two movies found impressively original and creative ways that each mutant used his/her power. This movie seems to look for the most overblown and visually spectacular uses for their powers while ignoring whether or not it actually makes any sense. Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Hugh Jackman all manage to remain impressive in this film despite some completely predictable cheesy lines. In short, a brilliant concept is neutered by Ratner's big bang film-making and I shall have to sit and pray for a continuation into a fourth film by Singer. The X-Men cannot end like this.

• MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD -

Last night I went to watch the German premiere of what I hoped would be the triumphant finale in the X-Men trilogy. I had purposefully ignored all early reviews and news about the film, I didn't even know that Bryan Singer had left the project - believe me, after ten minutes of the movie, I knew he had.

I won't bother to go into the story here, as in fact, there are almost five or six story lines from the comics collapsed into this movie, none of them working at all. It almost seems as if three different movies had been made and then just cut together. Jean Grey as Phoenix is so badly developed that it amounts to an insult to any fan of the comic book. During the final battle she just stands around in the background for -literally- twenty minutes until she decides to annihilate San Francisco, obviously for the sole purpose of creating a "cool" FX sequence. To see just how much the production team obviously disrespects the intelligence of the audience, watch how day turns to night from one shot to another after Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz. My jaw dropped at witnessing such a massive continuity error.

Brett Ratner obviously has no love or respect whatsoever for the comics or even the previous films, as is displayed by the following creative disasters that riddle this movie:

• Nightcrawler, who was a visually entrancing and emotionally interesting character in the last installment has mysteriously disappeared from the X-Men...

• Rattner introduces new Mutants left right and center without developing their character or even their motivation one bit - something Singer paid great attention to. The best example is the prison breakout, where Magneto frees Multiple Man and the Juggernaut, both of whom agree to join his cause without even knowing who he is or what his cause is.

• The costume design of the Juggernaut is indescribably ridiculous and makes every scene featuring him unintentionally funny. Think Hercules meets the Flintstones.

• Gone is the subtle, inventive dialog from parts 1 and 2. It is replaced by clichéd phrases that are delivered by a visibly unmotivated cast, Hugh Jackman being the best example, a mere shadow of himself. For every funny one-liner in this movie, there are at least ten that will make you wince.

• Cyclops is killed off like a character from a bad soap opera in the first ten minutes of the movie. It is inexcusable to remove such a vital character in such a disrespectful manner and I feel sorry for James Marsden for having to go out on a whimper like he did.

The list goes on and on.

This movie is the sudden demise of what Brian Singer turned into one of the great franchises and I can only imagine how he must feel at seeing what the producers are willing to do for a quick buck.

Anybody who liked the first two movies, likes the comic book, or has any respect for decent film-making - I ask you to save your ten bucks and not hand it to the makers of what is a failure of character and creativity in every respect.

Thanks for reading.

I must say having read a lot of reviews i was very nervous about X-Men The Last Stand, but having experienced it on May 26th 2006 i must say X-Men The Last Stand definitely delivers.

First of all for those who don;t know the story, basically it picks up i assume form the film about 2 or 3 months after X2, everyone is still shaken up from the death of their former team mate Jean Grey, especially Cyclops. Also there is a cure for mutation which has been generated from the Leech (a mutant who has the power to rid another mutants power in his presence) , so the X-Men must decided whether they retain their uniqueness or become like everyone else.

Meanwhile back at the X-Mansion, Wolverine and Storm have discovered the body of Jean Grey at Alkali Lake and also Cyclops Glasses! They bring her back to the mansion only to discover that she is being controlled by her alter-ego persona, the PHOENIX! Jean Grey loses control over the Phoenix and escapes after a raunchy session with Wolverine. Now the world are split into three, the humans who will do anything to cure mutation, Magneto and his brother Hood of mutants who will kill at will those who get in the way of them and the X-Men who are stuck in the middle.

The acting in this third and supposedly last instalment is phenomenal, Sir Ian Mc Kellan reprises the role as Magneto and does a terrific job as always, Hugh Jackman gets better with each film, Halle Berry has definitely improved and Patrick Stewart gives acting beyond X2. For the newcomers, we have Kelsey Grammar as Beast who was just absolutely funny, Ben Foster aka Angel who brought some emotion to the film, Ellen Page as Shadow Cat was simply adorable and funny, she definitely kicked ass! Along with Dania Rimerez as Callisto, but if i had to give an award for the best acting, i would without a doubt give it to Fmake Janssen who portrayed Jean Grey/ Dark Phoenix magnificently. from the charming and comforting Jean Grey we all knew from X1 AND 2, to the fierce jet black eyes of Dark Phoenix.

In regards to the action, it was simply fantastic, it was so tense, especially the scene in the Grey House, was simply emotional, shocking and xciting, without giving too much away, let's just say Dark Phoenix gives Magneto and Professor X a piece of her mind. The effect of the Dark Phoenix were sensational too, she may not have the flames like the comics but they definitely did justice, Basically whenever she used her powers, everything just disintegrated into ash. Also the Golden Gates Bridge seen is fantastic, all hands to Magneto, oh one thing that i would like to add is Storms battle sequences were satisfying, she flies finally! Along with Magneto and yes Dark Phoenix! I think most of all, the emotion was heightened in this epic instalment, there were some very emotional moments and some pure laughter coming from the Beast.

Another thing was the length of the film, 1hr 45mins, it doesn't sound long but it feels ages, definitely OK with time.

Another factor was the deaths of characters, well for Cyclops, he was killed about 30mins into the film because Jean Grey killed him by sucking his soul or something, but i thought this really worked caused all the audience just gasped in shock, another character was Mystique, she didn't die but she got shot by the cure to save Magneto, this again was very shocking but really worked as you felt so sorry for her, and most of all Professor X, this was the highest point of my emotions, basically he was killed by his favourite student, Jean Grey! I won't go into detail cause it is really that fantastic but it was so sad cause Wolverine and Storm are battling their way through to try and save him but were too late and the last shocker was Magneto being stabbed by the cure, this was again really shocking as Magento is like the one, but don't worry Dark Phoenix gets her revenge. Literally.

Speaking of Dark Phoenix, i've heard that people thought she was too powerful, for god's sakes she the only class 5 mutant and she's the most powerful too, even more powerful than Magneto and Professor X, in the comic she nearly destroyed the universe but in the film she only destroyed the island of Alcatraz, so don;t start bullshitting about Drak Phoenix being too powerful, she's only mutant.

Sequels? Well Fox are definitely making Wolverine and Magneto prequels, and X3 left it so there could be sequels so i wouldn't be surprised in a few years time i'll be watching X4, but i think enough has been done with these characters now, as much as i am infatuated by them i think the Last Stand definitely is the Last Stand. Maybe they could introduce new characters like Psyloche, Forge, Gambit, Polaris, Kid Omega, Multiple Man, Arc Light and the Sentinels!! Even though the majority that i said did make a cameo appearance, they could definitely elaborate and develop these characters.

Like i said, X-Men The Last Stand definitely delivers, despite losing a bit of 'Singer' touch, Ratner has definitely pulled it off. I think if there were to be an X4, they should definitely collaborate Singer and Ratner, that would be the ultimate X-Men Movie!

The final arc in the X-Men franchise has finally landed. Let me start this review by saying that X2 was and is a hard act to follow. In my humble opinion, it might be the best comic book movie ever made. Even Bryan Singer would have had a hell of a time topping that bad boy. So does X-Men 3 live up to the hype? The short answer is, of course, no. There are some extremely fundamental problems with this film's script which should have been addressed long before one bit of celluloid started to roll.

The story opens with flashbacks of a young Jean being recruited to the school by a young Xavier and Magneto. This scene lulled me into a feeling that maybe this would be an awesome movie. The next scene, a young Warren Worthington trying in vain to slice off his wings, also works well. However, when his character amounts to little more than a glorified cameo, this scene becomes completely pointless. We're led to believe that this is a character we should care for, and then he gets tossed out almost immediately. After the set up we are thrust into the meat of the story. The X-Men are still reeling from Jean Grey's sacrifice in X2 and are training a new group of muties to fill out the leather uniforms. We get to see precious little of them working as a team, however. I thought the point of a team story was to show how they interact? Apparently, along with Halle Berry's upgraded role came the stipulation that she can only share the screen with one mutant at a time. Since most people are familiar with the plot line here's a super-short rundown. Magneto and X-Men clash and a small war breaks out. There's a mutant cure and a few members die. Boredom ensues. I've never felt so utterly detached from a movie. It could have to do with the overdone musical score, terrible dialog, or countless errors and goofs. It's a movie that utterly ruins a perfectly viable franchise. I felt pained after watching this.

WHAT WORKED- Multiple Man! This guy had like two minutes of total screen time, but he ruled both of them. He's a cocky, sarcastic mutant who is literally his own best friend. I learned more about him in two lines than I did from Storm in three movies. - Iceman/Pyro. I've always loved the way these two interact, from the first hint of rivalry in X-Men to the museum scene in X2. My only complaint was that there is no real resolution. Iceman head-butts Pyro, end of story. The entire fight was in the trailer. If there had just been a few more seconds of dialog, or perhaps a Pyro death scene, this would have been perfect. - Beast (sometimes.) Kelsey Grammar did a fine job. I dug his look and overall approach to Beast. The scene in which he meets Leech is very well done. -Fastball Special. Any comic geek will tell you that this is a classic comic book moment which is a joy to see in action.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK-Halle Berry. We get it, you're a star. Get over yourself and share the stage with someone else. Miss Berry may be an Oscar winner, but she also did Catwoman. In my opinion, two movies with storm was enough, kick her ass out and bring back... -Cyclops. Hey, here's an idea! Let's take the X-Men team leader and emotional anchor of the phoenix storyline and kill him off in ten minutes so storm can do more. Yeah, that worked real well. If his death had served a purpose I wouldn't have minded. But it seemed to me that they were killing him off just to punish James Marsden for doing Superman Returns. -Juggernaut, Bitch! Wow, talk about misused. juggernaut is a cool character and I love Vinnie Jones, but that is quite a miscast part. And he spends most of the movie looking mad and making stupid one-liners. And his big finish? Hitting his head on a wall! -Beast (Mostly.) The hook for Beast in the movie is that he's conflicted. When he first sees what Leech is capable of there is a beautiful moment where we can see his conflict. Then, like nothing has happened, he makes his choice and stands with the X-Men. That was wrapped up way too easily.

ERRORS/PLOT HOLES -In X2 the phoenix entity was fiery and red when Jean accessed it. In this one she just turns dead looking...how's that work? - The X-Men fly from New York to San Fransisco very quickly. This is, I guess, plausible because they have a super-sonic blackbird jet. However, Angel shows up in the thick of the fight as well. We can assume he wasn't on the jet because they didn't show him. Are we to believe that with his little feather wings he can fly the same speed as the blackbird? - Magneto is shown playing chess all by his lonesome in the park at the conclusion of the movie. This plot hole was so huge I didn't even pick up on it at first. Shouldn't he be, like, IN JAIL!? They spend half the movie looking for him, then when the entire U.S. army is only feet away from him, and he loses his power, he is somehow able to slip away? **Here's the grand-daddy plot hole of them all** -Jean has such a powerful mutation that she cannot control it. She claims the only way to stop her is to die, as she is constantly begging Logan for death. However, her power is a result of mutation and in the movie they have rendered a cure for that. You see where I'm going with this? Why don't you geniuses just cure her? That is the epitome of crappy writing. How a plot hole that big even made it into a second draft of the script is mind boggling.

My god! I wept as I left the cinema, not because I was overwhelmed by a cinematic masterpiece,...no. I wept because I wasted 6 quid on a ticket to see this travesty.

It seems of late, that all to often these forums are being choked up with the same old flannel "well, it could have been better..." DAMN RIGHT! being of an age that was perfect for growing up reading the X-Men comics and stoically following the cartoon series, I was gob-smacked to see such a complete air of finality in this film. Sure, i'm not condemning the whole film because there were a few nuggets of pure gold (ie Kelsey as beast was superb.) But Jean Gray popping out of the water a year after her 'death'? Further more, why kill off cyclops. We all know that Pheonix is an unstable character but even when Pheonix is in control, Jean still manages to retain her consciousness. She proceeds to turn Xavier into confetti...yeah, great just wipe out one of the pivotal characters why don't you! The whole film unfortunately, seemed to convey the message that...."Thats it folks, the X-Men are dead and buried after this one!" Talk about finality!

As for character development, there was very little of that. I mean, great, have juggernaut but hello!!!!!! what about the tiny fact that Cain Marko is Xaviers half brother!!!!! there's a good plot opener in itself. There's a myriad of characters out there that could have been roped into this story plot but ultimately, I can accept that the film has to be of an acceptable length but please......start putting some effort into these screenplays! Here's an idea. 1. have Jean return with the newly surfaced Phoenix but why not have Scott discover that shes actually alive and recovering in a hospital somewhere after shes been found in the lake... 2.have Xavier discover the family link with juggernaut and utilise that fact to put some additional serious tension in the story... 3.have Rouge retain her powers and tell iceman where to get off! Rogue's supposed to grow into one mean hard-ass bitch! 4.Great, you remembered beast this time,but where the hell is Gambit???????

A few hindsight ideas that may (or may not) have worked well. All in all, I can honestly say that I thought this made a truly disappointing anticlimax to what could have been Marvel's answer to The lord of the rings.

I'm sorry, I hate to be "that guy", but I cannot understand the hate for this movie. Still don't want to be that guy, but, quite frankly, this is my favorite Xmen movie in general. I've watched it with absolutely no knowledge of Xmen and liked it, then watched it after watching every single animated incarnation of Xmen (not kidding) and actually liked it even more. So this is less a review for the movie, and more a tirade about how I don't understand the hate. Sound cool to everyone? If not, just keep scrolling, and don't mind me. Just another review in a sea of text.

First of all, people complain about this plot ruining pre-established ones, and "wah, why didn't Bryan Singer direct this? It would have been so much better". At least this one USED an actual Xmen plot line, unlike the other movies (err..excluding DoFP, but, that one hardly follows the original plot that I've seen). X1 and 2 had some completely random and out of nowhere BS, and X2 is only watchable because Nightcrawler is in it. Otherwise it's boring and random. But X3 uses both the Phoenix plot line and an interesting cure plot line.

Are people mad because Cyclops dies? Because, if you ask me, and I've said it many times, I think that was a mercy killing. Singer had made Cyclops into an unlikable, flat, whiny, character, that had absolutely nothing likable about him. Personally, I prefer to see him dead than treated like that. He's supposed to be a leader, not a whiny, overly-jealous, well...

As for Prof X's death..meh. If you'd stay till the end you'd know that he doesn't die.(By the way, Moira is in this scene, and she's ACTUALLY Scottish LIKE SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE. Sorry, those are issues for another review *glances at First Class*) Okay, peoples' issues with the various mutants cured...

1) First of all, it's strongly hinted that the cure IS NOT PERMANENT. So that takes care of that.

2) Yes, I do think it's in-character for Magneto to abandon Mystique once she is turned human. In case you didn't know the premise of the character, he sorta hates humans.

3) It is also in-character for Rogue to want the cure. Heck, 80's Rogue almost got one from Apocalypse in the animated series, and if I remember right Rogue is pretty torn about it during Wolverine and the Xmen.

Okay, is it the lack of Angel? This is the one I see having the most ground but at least he's there, and at least he hasn't had his entire character/backstory butchered like Rogue and slightly Nightcrawler and Cyclops and...was that supposed to be a X-23 Lady Deathstrike hybrid in X2? Okay, so he's not an Xman, there are a lot of them left out, some more important than he is.

Also, this movie has the best Beast. Everything about Beast in this movie from his introduction on is spot on.

Look, I could go on and on, but I've already had this conversation with so many people, and I'm tired of having to defend my minority opinion all of the time. Just, go rewatch X2, REALLY re-watch it, and then tell me that X3 has a horrible plot and treats characters badly and has bad dialogue and what have you. I'm done. I've had my little rant, I'm done.

I saw this film on Thursday and all i can say is wow what a film. This film had everything, action, emotion, drama, comedy it was unbelievably good. Brett Ratner did a very good job and i was a bit sceptical because Bryan Singer dropped out and then nobody else wanted to do it but this movie was awesome. All the characters were great although i was really gutted with the lack of screen time given to cyclops and the fact that he died along with other major characters. That is my only negative point regarding the film. If you are a fan of X-Men you have to see it and if you are not a fan you still have to see it. I thoroughly recommend it. Brilliant film

I beg to differ that "X-men: The Last Stand" is "The worst of the X-men movies." This film picked up, similar to the Back to the Future, Underworld, and the Star Wars series films, right where the last one left off.

Jean Grey is dead(?), Magneto pushing for the supremacy of mutants over all "normals," or Homo sapiens sapiens. Scott Summers is lost without his fiancée', and Wolverine isn't much better off. Professor X is still teaching though grieving over Jean, and student Rogue is jealous of Iceman/Bobby Drake's new-found friend, Kat/Kitty. And a possible "cure" for mutancy could prove more deadly in its application, than its cause.

The details and spoilers are too much to list--you need to see the first two films to get in the point of view of this film. But once you have the background, sky is the limit in the telling, fast pacing and sheer fun of the story.

Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Famke Janssen all stand out (though Phoenix's appearance and stay are all too brief). This is an ensemble cast film and all get their little moment. The best performance next to Storm (read more below) was Ian McKellan's Magneto. He simply is of award-winning caliber in this role, though like Gandalf, he will likely be awarded only fan immortality, in appreciation for his superior performance here. Sad to say that Mystique, Juggernaut, Pyro, even Spike and the absent Nightcrawler were either under-used or gone. My one beef with the story is that the President of the US didn't have domestic terrorism contingencies in place, including calling in other groups or superheroes in the Marvel universe (i.e., the Army's Damage Control Corps, Canada'a mutant group Alpha Flight, the Avengers; or by themselves, Iron Man, Thor, etc.).

I am pleased though that the plot included a very big role for Halle Berry's character, Storm. This is crucial in the back story of the X-men, as Storm did indeed become the head mistress of the Xavier School, and leader of the X-men in the late 1980s, in the comics. Berry gave a balanced, even understated performance, leaving any doubts from "Catwoman" and other genre films aside. Her dignity and anchoring for Wolverine/Logan and Xavier's students was shown with respect, and didn't dumb things down for the action's sake. Halle Berry WAS Storm. Period.

I look forward to the prospective prequel film "Wolverine," and the rumored continuation of this fine series, which tops even Spider-Man for the best of the Marvel Films to date.

Thanks for your attention and hope to hear from you on this fine film. Till later--stellar_sojourn.

Halle Berry has stated that this is her last superhero themed movie.

All I have to say is THANK GOD. Storm was only cool in this movie when she was making with the lightning bolts. Such an awesome character would have been much better portrayed by someone the likes of Angela Bassett. But oh well. I wonder if she realizes that she was not the only Oscar winner in the cast? I'm sure James Marsden was thrilled that Cyclops was offed in order to placate Ms. Berry's need to be front and center.

But anyway, to the movie itself. As a comic book fanatic, I will keep quiet about issues with the difference between book and film. I just think this movie tried to do too much with too little time. The script left oh so much to be desired, and a lot of dialog could be seen coming from miles away (my eyes about rolled out of my head when Kitty Pryde commented on missing the first snow back home when she was talking to Bobby). Jean Grey looked more like the world's hottest zombie than what the Phoenix should have resembled. Why Colossus was not utilized anymore than tossing Wolverine about is beyond me. Angel was an ineffective plot device. And Wolverine should never, ever be a whupped and whiny baby. Ever.

Worth the money if you can watch a movie without thinking about it.

I just left a sneak preview for this movie and I could not be more disappointed. The only people that will enjoy this film are the ones that know absolutely nothing about the X-Men. Shame on Avi Arad and Lauren Shuler Donner for allowing this terrible representation to be completed and released. After watching the first two X-Men films, I was positive this would be amazing, mind-blowing, and above and beyond any fan's expectations. Instead it did not even try to meet those expectations. Please do not continue to read if you do not want to read about details of the film.

There is one redeeming quality for this movie: Storm is actually powerful. Took them long enough to use her character properly.

I don't know whose idea it was to try and cram everything they possibly could into one film, but it really should have been reconsidered. The Danger Room finally appears, but only for a few minutes and there is no mention of its name, or purpose. In this scene a Sentinel is destroyed, but again no mention of why they are fighting a giant robot, or what it is called.

Next, the entire Phoenix story should have been ignored for this film. Jean Grey returns only to be a fireless Phoenix that resembles a psychotic demon rather than an all-powerful goddess. Not only is her return repulsive, but she kills Cyclops almost immediately in the film. Although I understand this cannot follow the comic book exactly, something that should not change is that Jean Grey's love for Cyclops is what gives her the strength to overcome the Phoenix and ultimately take her own life. In the film, Wolverine kills Jean Grey/Phoenix, even though in the comics his character's love for Jean Grey prevented this action. Not to mention earlier in the film Phoenix tossed Wolverine around like a rag doll, but could not take him down at the end of the movie. At least they could have pitted Storm against the Phoenix in the finale, but instead we are left with another stabbing.

This movie attempts so much, but accomplishes so little. It introduces Angel, whose part is almost nonexistent. Why did I see him in a million promo shots of him wearing a X-Men uniform, but not once does he wear it in the film? They should have just killed Rogue. She is the only X-Men member that seeks out the "cure". It's bad enough her character's powers resembled nothing of her comic book counterpart, but did they really have to take away what little power she had? Does this film ever say Shadowcat, Colossus, Psylocke, Angel, Beast, Danger Room, Sentinel, or Multiple Man? If it does it is very quick and quite lacking in explanation. It's oddly insulting because you have to be a fan to know who the characters are, but the story and world has been altered so much it creates frustration knowing this will be the best representation of these characters in the film world.

The only way this film would work is if another one was coming out next week to portray Phoenix correctly, reconsider who lives and dies, reverse the cure, and actually identify key characters and elements by their names. This could have been one of the best movies ever made. The stories of the X-Men are identifiable, spectacular, and emotionally charged. This falls flat as just a summer special effects film with some creepy parts.

Once again the Marvel comic group who were born with genetic mutations that give them superpowers . Thus, wheel-chair-bound intelligent telepathic Charles Xavier , Professor X (Patrick Stewart) , runs a young mutants school to help others learn to utilize their extraordinary mutant powers . He has appointed successor to Storm (Halle Berry) , but Scott Summer (James Mardsen) , AKA Cyclops , is grieved for death Jane Grey (Famke Janssen) . The sheer mass of water that collapsed on top of Jean should have obliterated her . But she's alive and the role most important results to be for Jane Grey . The only explanation of Jean's survival in that her powers wrapped her in a cocoon of telekinetic energy . Jane is only class five mutant-like Xavier , her potential limitless, her mutation is seated in the unconscious part of her mind and therein lay the danger . When she was a girl , Xavier created a series of psychic barriers to isolate her powers from her conscious mind and Jean developed a dual personality : the conscious Jean , whose powers were always in her control and the dormant side . A personality that , in the sessions with Xavier , came to call itself Phoenix . A purely instinctual creature , all desire and joy and rage . Far more critical is whether the woman in front of us is the usual Jane or the Phoenix furiously struggling to be free . Xavier attempts to restore the psychic blocks and cage the beast again . He has a terrible choice to make , he chooses the lesser of two evil . In the meantime , a so-called mutants cure will be available to the public , reaction has run the gamut with mutants on both sides of the line,some are desperate for this cure while others are offended by the very idea of it . After discovering a new cure dispensed by a mutant (Cameron Bright) , they can to choose among retain their extraordinaries abilities or becoming ordinary men . Again the good guys mutants , Storm (Halle Berry) , Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) , Beast (Kelsey Grammar) accompanied with newcomers or secondaries in former entries as Angel (Ben Foster) , Rogue (Anna Panquin) , Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) ,Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) , Jubilee (Wong), Colossus , among them, against the bad guys mutants , of course the first , Magneto (Ian Mckellen) lead Mutant Brotherhood formed by Juggerneaut (Vinnie Jones) , Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Pyro (Aaron Stanford) , Callisto (Dania Ramirez) , among others and they feel mankind is expendable . Meanwhile , the teen romance between Rogue and Iceman is broken with the subsequent jealousy by Rogue , when Iceman develops a friendship with Kitty Pryde , then she flees of the school of Professor Xavier.

The story is more complex and thoughtful to follow than previous entries for newbies and takes itself seriously and displays interesting characters involving new mutants . The screenplay provides a well-executed and exciting final solution and ties the threads were leaving in the first and second part . Special effects by John Bruno are fantastic but they don't overshadow the story . The film contains an impressive , breathtaking ending battle plenty of 3D computer generator effects . It appears uncredited the usual cameo by comic-books authors : Stan Lee , as a water-hose man and Chris Claremont ,as a lawnmower man. It contains lively and spectacular musical score by John Powell and colorful cinematography by Dante Spnotti .The motion picture was professionally directed by Brett Ratner . The setup calls for a four part and I hope to be continued . It's a must see for Marvel fans and X Men enthusiasts .

**This contains very minor spoilers** I was really very excited for this movie, but having seen footage of the Danger Room sequence at the beginning I didn't have very high hopes. If you've seen this scene, you can pretty much apply that to the whole movie. It contains cheesy dialog, sub-par performances (despite good actors), a horrible plot, but worst of all: it completely fails to represent the characters as they are in the comics or other movies. Magneto is a horrible strategist in the film- he doesn't care when other mutants are lost. Wolverine is completely out of character, the Pheonix Force makes Jean look undead rather than- you know- like a pheonix (I didn't see any flames), Juggernaut is a joke, Callisto is reduced to a poor man's Quicksilver (the super speed looks like it's from Smallville). In the final battle, most of the mutants there (Magneto!) could easily win the fight in an instant but instead use their powers in the most inefficient way possible: Magneto and Pyro "team up" to launch flaming cars at the enemy. Magneto could easily tear up a car and shoot everyone with a chunk of it, while pyro could BURN THEM. All the time spent on this movie went into thinking up the coolest special effects possible, and that failed too. It's not that I couldn't get past the bad plot, it was that the effects were tied to the plot in a sickening way. Throughout the whole move I was thinking, "Singer, where art thou". The best part of the movie- and I REALLY hate to say it- was the new Superman Returns trailer at the beginning. He gets shot in the eye slo-mo and it bounces right off!