X-Men: The Last Stand

Relased by: Fox
Released on: 4/21/2009
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry
Year: 2006

The Movie:

With the third entry in Marvel's most famous mutant franchise, Bryan Singer, the director of the first two films in the series was gone and Brett Ratner, the man behind the Rush Hour movies and Red Dragon was in. With Singer's departure things were changed around a fair bit and rather then a story focusing solely on the Phoenix with the White Queen as the primary villain, Ratner went for a different, group-oriented take with decidedly mixed results.

The story picks up where X2: X-Men United left off. Jean Grey (the lovely Famke Jennsen) is thought to be dead at the bottom of the lake though a flashback scene wherein Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) recruit her tells us early on where the focus of the film will be. Scott Summers (James Marsden), better known as her former boyfriend Cyclops, hears her in his head and so he heads off to the lake alone only to find Jean there waiting for her. They kiss, and that's the end of Scott - Jean has taken on a different form, and is slowly but surely losing control of her considerable telepathic powers.

Meanwhile, Warren Worthington III, the son of a wealthy industrialist, has been found to be a mutant. His father figures out a cure and the government decides to allow mutants to take the cure and turn themselves into normal every day humans. Magneto isn't down with this idea at all, he sees it as a way of eliminating the mutant race all together and likens it to Hitler's treatment of the Jews during the Second World War. As such, he gathers together a brotherhood of powerful mutants who subscribe to his philosophy and as one thing leads to another, they're going to try and beat the government at their own game and get rid of this supposed cure once and for all.

The two main plots tie together nicely and along the way we're introduced to a few new characters who should appeal to fans of the comic book (Kelsey Grammer as The Beast being the prime newbie this time around though Vinnie Jones as The Juggernaut has to be mentioned). The action comes at us fast and without relent but it happens at the sacrifice of the storyline, unfortunately. While the first two movies set things up really nicely this third one feels rushed and a little hectic. That's not to say that the movie doesn't have its moments and its high points because it does, but it isn't as interesting or as carefully put together as the two movies that came before it.

That being said, the cast is still strong here, even if it's hard not to laugh at Vinnie Jones as The Juggernaut and his horrible 'I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!' line. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are both perfect as Professor Charles Xavier and Magento respectively and Famke Jennsen and Hugh Jackman are both quite good as Jean Grey and Wolverine - their chemistry in a couple of key scenes plays well. The main reason to see the movie, however, is for the action scenes. The set pieces that Ratner and and his team have conjured up for the film are excellent and these carry the film. The story is there and it's not horrible even if it could have been better, but these scenes - such as when Magento frees Mystique or when the X-Men face off against Magento and a few of his comrades in the film's finale - are really well done. This makes the film more a series of successful vignettes rather than one, big cohesive whole but it's entertaining enough as a popcorn film.

Video/Audio/Extras:

The 2.40.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is sharp and clean from start to finish. There are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts and only some mild edge enhancement. There is some shimmering present, mostly noticeable along diagonal lines and in the usual spots like car grills, but other than that things look really good on this DVD. Color reproduction is strong and the flesh tones look nice and natural. Fine detail is good in both the foreground and the background of the picture and there's really very little to complain about here in terms of the picture quality.

You've got your choice of watching the film in either and English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX mix, a DTS 6.1 ES track or a French or Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 dubbed track. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish, and an English closed captioning option is available for the feature. If you've got the hardware to handle it, choose the DTS mix as it is truly excellent (the 5.1 track makes a great second choice as it's almost as good). Rears are used perfectly during the action and fight scenes while the score and the effects are mixed in with the dialogue very nicely. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion and the aggressive nature of the sound mix for this film makes this one a whole lot of fun.

Director Brett Ratner and writer Zak Penn show up for the first of two audio commentary tracks included on this release where they're joined by another writer, Simon Kinberg. Unfortunately this track proves to be a bit of a disappointment as they don't cover much of the production and instead spend most of their time commenting on what's happening on the screen. It's all well and good that they get along and provide some humor here and there but those looking for dirt on how Ratner came on board to direct and the pressure that he was under from studio big-wigs can keep looking as they don't cover any of that here and instead keep things very, very light.

A second, slightly more interesting commentary track brings the three producers of the film - Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter - together in front of the microphone but again, they don't really give us much to latch on to here in terms of production history or the issues that surrounded the project. This is a very scene specific track and they do cover some of the effects and locations and CGI in a fair bit of detail but as to the actual history of the film and some of the casting issues, we're left wanting.

Up next is a selection of deleted scenes that runs for roughly ten minutes in length, three of which are alternate endings and all of which contain optional commmentary from director Brett Ratner. Most of these are simply alternate takes of clips that made it into the final version of the movie but it's interesting to see these regardless, even if a lot of the changes are minute.

Rounding out the extra features are two theatrical trailers for the film, trailers for a few other Fox properties, a sneak peek at the upcoming The Simpsons animated film and a promo spot for A Night At The Museum. Fancy animated menus allow you to access the movie and the features by way of an X-Men motif or a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants motif and chapter stops are included for the feature.

The Final Word:

Those looking for the strong character development and engrossing storylines that made the first two films in the franchise so strong will be disappointed, but as a popcorn movie with plenty of over the top action and big dumb explosions, X-Men: The Last Stand fits the bill. It's not nearly as good as what came before it but it's still an entertaining mutant mash up and Fox has done a very nice job on the DVD presentation for the film.