If you have yet to see X-Men III: The Last Stand and are planning to see it DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS POST...I'm a fairly huge X-Men fan, having collected about 300ish X-Men related comic books when I was a kid and having watched X-Men and X2 films close to eighty-seven times.
Overall, I enjoyed the film - and there were some really cool parts. The Golden Gate Bridge/Alcatraz Island battle scene was really cool - as was the Xavier/Jean Grey showdown. Colossus was cool, and Iceman taking on Pyro was a great follow up from Pyro's defection to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants in X2. Mystique losing her mutant powers was a cool scene. ;-)
Hugh Jackman was still great as Wolverine, and Halle Berry as Storm was actually able to show off her powers more in this film.
As well, I thought Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast was a good casting.
One the things I enjoy the most about the X-Men storylines are the political, ethical, and moral issues. X3's premise that a "cure" could be found for mutants causes a moral dilemma for many of the mutants in the film. As societal outcasts, they would now have the chance to become a normal human - but they would also be abandoning their natural selves to satisfy an intolerant society. What to do? Abandon who you are or prevail in the face of adversity?
Though I did enjoy X-Men III, there are some aspects of the film that bothered me - like the part when nearly all the main characters died. Cyclops dying wasn't even a big deal as it's implied and not even shown. Jean Grey dying played a bit into the Pheonix story, though it largely differed from the comic book storyline, but Professor Xavier's death was a little unexpected.
As well, Magneto losing his powers and then regaining them at the end in the lame "after-credit" sequence left a lot to be desired.
Overall, I blame Brett Ratner, who clearly did a sub-par job in directing compared to X-Men I and X2 which were directed by Bryan Singer. Ratner's directorship was clearly salvaged by the fact that it was an X-Men film, and the X-Men rock.
But, criticisms aside, it was a fun film and I would recommend it be seen far and wide.
You might want to read what U.S. Feminists are saying about it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you waited around for the 10 minute long credits to end, you'd get one extra 20 second scene... Xavier is still alive.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, I forgot - that was the secret scene. It was kind of lame and that's why I forgot it...
ReplyDeleteI saw it today and I must say that there were some cool parts, but some things really bothered me. I did not understand why Jean Grey happily followed Magneto or why she never seemed to say anything as the Phoenix? Also, why was she not engulfed in fire at all as the second movie showed?
ReplyDeleteI agree on the Magneto thing, and the amount of major characters dying was ridiculous. I could go on, but it has cool moments, but overall, not near the quality of X2.
Now that I've finally seen it...
ReplyDeleteI didn't like it. The directing was shoddy, the 'bid deaths' were lame, and the Rogue/Marie liberties annoy me now more than ever. Also, I had a great chat with a friend about the Alcatraz battle, and we decided that the Beast helping Wolverine with Magneto's defeat was a let-down. Hank is usually the moral compass on such things, and not big on stooping to the level of the bad guys.