director
Brett Ratner
screenwriters
Simon Kinberg
Zak Penn
based on
characters created by
Stan Lee
Jack Kirby
Len Wein
Chris Claremont
John Byrne
producers
Avi Arad
Lauren Shuler Donner
Ralph Winter
cinematographers
Philippe Rousselot
Dante Spinotti
music
John Powell
editors
Mark Goldblatt
Mark Helfrich
Julia Wong
cast
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Halle Berry (Storm)
Ian McKellen (Magneto)
Famke Janssen (Jean Grey)
Anna Paquin (Rogue)
Kelsey Grammer (Beast)
Rebecca Romijn (Mystique)
James Marsden (Cyclops)
Shawn Ashmore (Iceman)
Aaron Stanford (Pyro)
Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut)
Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier)
Ben Foster (Angel)
Dania Ramirez (Callisto)
Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde)
Michael Murphy (Warren Worthington II)
Shohreh Aghdashloo (Dr. Kavita Rao)
Josef Sommer (The President)
Bill Duke (Trask)
Daniel Cudmore (Colossus)
Cameron Bright (Leech)
Anthony Heald (FBI Interrogator)
Olivia Williams (Dr. Moira MacTaggart)
mpaa rating: PG-13
running
time: 104m
u.s.
release: 5/26/06
video
availability: TBA
official
website
other brett
ratner films
reviewed on this website:
- red dragon
- rush hour
see also:
- x-men
- x2
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Six years ago, I had hopes
that the X-Men series would become the most relevant and
emotionally centered of the comic-book-movie franchises. Guided
by the thoughtful Bryan Singer, the first two X-films, despite
some inevitable summer-flick stumbles, were first-rate of their
kind. Singer has since departed the world of mutants to kick-start
another comic-book concern -- Superman Returns -- leaving
the reins in the hands of the transparent Brett Ratner, who can
copy the style of his betters but has nothing in particular on
his mind or in his heart. X-Men: The Last Stand,
duly hyped as the final panel in the saga, resolves little and
satisfies neither fans nor newcomers. Mainly it's because the
movie has a fatal case of overpopulation: There are simply too
many mutants, with too many distinct powers, to allow any one
fantastic hero or villain to shine.
Suicidally, X3 attempts
to take on two premises that could each fill its own lengthy
movie. Premise #1: The government has concocted a "cure"
for mutants; some are eager to submit - better living through
chemistry - while others, such as the militant mutant Magneto
(Ian McKellen), see it as an insult bordering on genocidal. Premise
#2: Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), the X-person who died heroically
in X2, has returned from her watery grave as a wildly
powerful telepath with near-limitless destructive abilities.
This second premise, in the comic books, was the basis for a
multi-story arc that took many issues to spin properly. On top
of all this, scripters Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn treat the film
like a mutant two-for-one sale, introducing at least a dozen,
all of whom fight in vain for screen time.
The idea of the government
trying out a (voluntary) "cure" for genetic deviance
is an occasion for more debate and cogitation than the movie
has room or space to offer. What was once a slyly subversive
gay subtext -- mutantphobia equalled homophobia -- now becomes
a rather plastic conflict that, in any event, never goes much
of anywhere. It leads to a spectacularly nonsensical moment when
Magneto uses his metal-controlling powers to uproot and move
the Golden Gate Bridge over to Alcatraz Island so an army of
mutants can march there (can't he just pack a few planes full
of mutants and levitate the planes over there?). X3 never
settles for logic where special effects will suffice.
There are charming moments
of subtlety, as when the younger Magneto and his former friend
Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) visit the young Jean Grey
at her home and she idly levitates all the cars parked on the
street outside; this is glimpsed out of the window in the background,
and it's about the only time the spectacle takes that literal
back seat to the characters. Even the fan favorite and putative
star mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is reduced to pining for
Jean and being the gruff big brother to the conflicted Rogue
(Anna Paquin). Ratner has corralled an excellent cast (Anthony
Heald, Bill Duke, Olivia Williams, Michael Murphy, Shohreh Aghdashloo),
all of whom do little or nothing. Newly introduced mutants Angel
(Ben Foster), Beast (a blue-painted Kelsey Grammer), Juggernaut
(Vinnie Jones), and many others get mere scraps. The shape-shifting
Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), perhaps the most interesting of the
"evil" mutants, is callously brushed aside after a
fun scene wherein she gets to show off some of her powers.
Yes, there's something here
to disappoint everyone, except perhaps those who don't expect
something of the same quality as the previous X-films or, God
forbid, the original comics. Casual viewers may let the whole
insensate mess wash over them, though even on the level of dumb
concussive summer entertainment it's far too busy and hectic
to sustain much excitement. Major characters die weightlessly
(or do they?), and others lose their powers (or do they?), giving
the impression that there will probably be more X-movies. At
this point, though, the only reason to make more would be to
claim a summer slot that isn't dominated by Batman, Spider-Man,
or Superman. This series once had a point, and a point of view.
Now it just has stockholders.
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