X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

I had low expectations. Bryan Singer directed the first 2 and they, for the most part, were incredible. He didn't do anything to elaborate, instead he took his time developing characters and giving us strong stories that would lead us to believe that one day we would witness a last stand between Xavier's side and Magneto's. I felt this movie succeded a last stand finale except this chapter for X-men has come way too early.

For me this would have been a great X4 or X5 but not X3. I would have loved more time to meet and develop new characters. Plus it was genious to cast Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan. Everytime their on screen together I get goosebumps and it's not just because Im a nerd, it's because their two great underated actors. When their together the writers pull out the big guns and give us strong dialogue fans only dream of when two opponets face off. That is something I will miss.

My friend Danny brought up last night the point that there's no way the studio would stop making a series that keeps bringing in the money, but with the Wolverine movie and Magneto movie on the way when will there be time to make another?

I have some ideas as to why the studio would want to end the X series on number 3. One point is the fact that it probably isn't easy to get these actors back. Since Singer is a huge Star Trek fan it was easy for him to get Patrick Stewart. Singer had worked with Ian Mckellan on Apt Pupil so there was already chemistry there before the X series began. Singer was the one that discovered Hugh Jackman and made him a star so the 3 main characters are thanks to him. X 3 was easy to make because they had all originally signed on for three films. The studio may have just played it safe by saying this is the last one. Alot of franchises start going downhill and never re-cover when they replace actors with other actors. Maybe it's better to end the series than disapoint.

Alot of critics out there are saying that Bryan Singers vision has been played with and ruined. I disagree. If anyone has ever seen the cartoon or just skimmed through an X comic they would notice that their all action packed. The X-men are either flying around or jumping from object to object destroying giant Sentinals or or whatever bad thing is on the agenda that day. This movie delivers that. I believe that Bryan Singer's intentions were to take us there, just not this early in the game. The majority of the movie kept my adrenaline going. Fight after fight, scene after scene I was sucked in. Sometimes I felt as if I was on a ride that I hoped wouldn't end.

The movie has it's weaknesses which I wont go to deep into. I will mention the character Angel had little to nothing to do. What I thought would could have been Rogue's finest hour was nothing. Than their were alot of mutant villains that seemed to have no powers. There were a few other things but I'll talk about that when more people have had a chance to see it. My issues are more argumentive than anything.

As usual my favorite scenes were all with Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan. They have some really great scenes together in this one. Honestly the majority of the actors in this whole movie/series sell their product well. I don't think there was one scene I didn't think an actor wasn't giving their all. When a line was spoken I agreed with it, even if sometimes it did sound silly. An example would be that mutants are classifed by numbers. Magneto would be a class 3 while Jean Grey/Pheonix was a class 5. Even though classifications were never handed out in the other films it was easy to go along with it.

The movie kept my emotions on edge. There's even a scene in the middle of the movie that could have (but didn't) make me cry. All I'll say is when it happened I was shocked and wanted to somehow change what had happened but couldn't. Anyone who knows me will know the scene when they see it. There's another scene where Magneto takes on a convoy by himself. That was pretty stunning to watch.

"The Last Stand" mentioned in the title had a simple yet moving line said by Wolverine. Basically when the X-Men take their stand to stop Magneto and his mutants their completly out numbered and they know it. The X-Men jump down between Magneto's team and their destination and that's when Wolverine yells "hold the line". As simple as that line is it was also exciting. Knowing this may be that last X-Men rules can be bent however the filmakers want to and as a result you know that if the X-Men are forming a line to stop Magneto than anything that could will happen within the next few minutes.

I didn't feel that this was the quintissential summer action film. Most summer films are just mindless action with OK acting and an "eh" story. For me this film had everything I wanted in an X-Men movie. Great acting, Great action and a story that I over all liked. I just wish it came later.

On a side note don't leave the theater until the credits are over.