X-Men: The Last Stand Film Review

For whatever reason the makers of the X-Men films seem to really like adapting one of the most well known comic book saga's of all time "Dark Phoenix" saga into one film. As both Dark Phoenix and the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today really seemed to do exactly that both to the same result from both critics and fans alike and heck this film even really tries to adapted the "Gifted" storyline into the film as well and so the join me as I review the film that nerfs two characters and two storylines at the exact same time with the film in question being called simply just "X-Men: The Last Stand" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when Jean Grey returns from the dead the other X-Men discover that something that was hidden deep within her has taken over and when she teams up with Magneto to help wipe out human kind it's up to the X-Men to try and put a stop to her before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as this films plot does deserve credit for at the vert least trying to combine two comic book storylines into one movie and yet that's also the problem as this films plot does feel really unfocused as it does have to juggle to different plots and it shouldn't have to do that as the Dark Phoenix plot is more then strong enough to support an entire film in the first place it just needs to be right with the Gifted comic book storyline feeling useless in the grand scheme of things as nobody was coming to this film to see that storyline play out with the plot of this film being one that felt like it was trying to do to much which was something that did make the film oddly confusing as out side of the main plot alot of the side characters also have plots to follow as well which takes alot of the focus away from where it should have been that being the main plot with the main plot being one that is butchered in this film as the makers of this film one of which was also the director and writer of Dark Phoenix should have known that inorder to do this saga right there needed to be more films spent just on setting up the plot alone with the plot of this film also not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine , Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Phoenix. Also starring in this film is Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue , Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy / Beast , James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops , Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme / Mystique , Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman , Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce / Pyro , Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko / Juggernaut ,  Elliot Page as Kitty Pryde , Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier and Sir Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As all of this films actors are passable in this film but that's also the problem as we know for a fact that alot of this films actors are more then capable of turning in some really good performances and yet for one or another in this film they just not able to do so don't get me wrong there still good in this film it's just that they are better in not only other films in general but also in the previous two X-Men films as well with it feeling like that this films director Bret Ratner had no idea how to get a good performance out of these really good actors with the best actor in the film being Hugh Jackman which even by the low standards of this film isn't that high of a bar to reach as while both Ian and Patrick are great in this film you can tell that there done playing these characters and only doing the film to complete the trilogy and that's it where as with Hugh you get the idea that he truly does love this character will do anything to do right by the character but even he can do so much from an acting point of view with this films acting not really being helped by the fact that this is films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Doing the CGI for this film is Wētā FX , Hydraulx , Framestore CFC , Moving Picture Company , Cinesite , CIS Hollywood , Soho VFX , Lola Visual Effects , New Deal Studios , Kleiser-Walczak Digital Effects , G Creative Solutions , Liquid Ink and Rhythm & Hues Studios. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty i in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as this film does have quite alot of really good effects companies working on it the fact that this films films effects are as good as they are shouldn't be all that shocking even Wolverine's claws look really good even for the time in which they were being made but for every good effect that this film has like Scott's powers for example there are some really bad one's like the death of Charles Xavier while the scene itself is perfectly passable for what it is the effect on him dying just doesn't have the same impact as a scene like that really demanded as all the makers of this film did was have a flash appear in front of him and that's it when this death should have been milked for all it's worth with the scene where Magneto lifts an entire bridge and transports it from island to the other being an example of just how impressive that this films effects could be as a scene like that even today would have been really difficult to render and get done on time so it would have been twice as hard to do back in 2006 and yet it's an effect that still looks really good almost twenty years later.  

For somebody who is build as being this all powerful mutant Jean Grey spends alot of this film either working with Magneto or just straight up standing around staring at people menacingly. Which is great to get across that she's turned into a villain but it's also something that doesn't do the Phoenix side to her personality any kind of justice as this is a personality that can kill you if you so much as look at her the wrong way just by thinking about you and yet here she does nothing for the vast majority of the film with the film making it look like that Magneto is going to be the villain of the film once again when that shouldn't be the case as Phoenix could very easily kill him if she wanted to and yet for some odd reason she teams up with him for alot of this film not because it's right for either of there characters but rather it's because the plot of the film demands that she do it and even then it's only demanding it because of the fact that the film is mainly adapting the "Gifted" storyline alot of the time with it only occasionally dipping into the "Dark Phoenix" saga which makes you wonder why the makers of this film even bothered to bring Jean back if there not going to focus on the story arc where she's the main villain as on paper Phoenix could have been a really cool villain and is a really cool idea but just because the idea is cool doesn't mean the execution isn't lacking as the execution of this character could have been so much better just by having her be the main villain of the film this is something that Dark Phoenix actually gets right as that film made there version of Jean Grey more of that films main villain even tho they did still Vuk acting as a main villain as well for alot of that films running time it was just Jean where as here she was more of a side villain.

Magneto in this film does have a really good plan as he wants to stop the humans from bringing out a cure that will supposedly end the mutant X gene for good. Something which he and several other mutants both good and bad are against ad rightfully so as mutants are not something that need to be treated like an illness there people after all and should be treated as such and while Storm and other members of the X-Men still vow to help the humans out whilst not taking the cure and being respectful about it Magneto and his allies start of war over it with the end goal being to capture and possibly even kill this one oy who is the key to making the cure work in the first place which is actually a pretty good plan as not only does spark the conversation of is Magneto right for wanting basic rights and to be treated as an equal or are the X-Men right for trying to stop him because of the fact that he's going about getting those rights in a way that does more harm to their cause then it does good as this is something that does have pros and cons on both sides of the argument and even seeing someone like Rogue actually willingly take the cure does help to hit that home all the more with the only thing that does let this plan down being the fact that it's not really the kind of plan that could support an entire movie in it's own right as this is something that does get stopped quite easily by the X-Men and the humans and while it is something that does show us just how smooth of a talker that Magneto can be when he wants to be it is also something that doesn't work when he's paired with Jean who in this film just wants to kill any and all humans which much like Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin does make there plans contradict each ither in a pretty major way.

As was mentioned at the start of this review this film nerd two key characters from previous films those being Scoot Summers and Mystique. As both characters get taken out pretty early in the film with Mystique being rendered powerless when she's hit with the cure with Magneto just straight up leaving her on the truck where they get Juggernaut from for quite literally no reason whatsoever and Scott being killed off of screen by Jean with Scotts death being the more plot relevant of the two as it's the thing that lets the other X-Men know that Jean Grey is alive and while yes it could be argued that Charles getting killed off also nerfs his character he is in the film alot more then both Scott and Mystique are with them just getting thrown aside because of the fact that this film was rushed into production and because of that there actors had other acting commitments when it would have worked just as well if there characters weren't in the film at all as you very easily could have said that since the death of Jean in the previous film that Scott has gone into hiding and hasn't been seen since and you could say that Mystique is busy in a different country both are simple things to have done in the film and both would have worked just as well and heck you could have had a random character be the one that gets killed of by Jean as that's how unimportant ti was to have Scott be the one to die and if the makers of this film really needed it to be him then thy should have shown his death as he was a major character in the previous two films therefor we the audience would have a strong connection to his character and with Raven you should have had Magneto take her back anyway but hide her as that would really be more true to his character and it would have her being depowered seem all the more impactful in the grand scheme of things.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour hour and forty four minuets and five seconds. Which for these X-Men films is such a short running time for them to have as alot of them typically run over two hours and yet this one is barely the length of a Disney animated film this is despite the fact that this film does have more then enough plot there to really cover that amount of running time but with this being said tho the film doesn't use it's running time wisely as the plot of the film isn't that well developed as the film can't decide just what comic book storyline that it wants to adapt and give more focus on and because of that none of the films plot get the development that they really did need this is despite the fact that the "Dark Phoenix" saga should have been really easy to make into a film if the story was told over three films and not crammed into one film as that means that the story can't be that well developed as the film has to rush along to the next plot point at a breakneck speed with the film not even bothering to give any of it's characters any sort of character developed as Jean turning evil comes out of nowhere as does Magneto leaving behind Mystique as both are things that should have been built up more to give it more of an impact and yet because of the fact that the makers of this film are alot more focused in telling to lame versions of comic book stories then it is telling one good story which means that we end up with a film that has no plot development and no character development but In really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho. 

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this films action being the best part of the film but none of the action can have the impact that it should have had because of the fact that the films plot just wasn't that good in the first place which does mean that none of this films action can have the impact that it should have had as the makers of this film just aren't bothered in having things that should make a big impact on the film with the films best action scene being the films third act as that were we get to see all of the mutants use there respective powers which is something that will always be cool to see with that action scene being a good example of just how much fun that this film could have been and yet the rest of the film is just dull dumb mess of a film when this should have been the easiest of the X-Men films to make the most fun with all of the films action scenes either being fun or having fun moments in them with the only thing that lets the films third act down is how badly that Juggernaut is done and even then that's more due to the films bad writing then it is the films action as the character doesn't get a whole lot to do action wise outside of running into people when this is a character that you could have done more with like instead of having him go against Kitty Pryde in the third act why not have him take on Colossus as there both strong men and the strongest person on there respective teams so it would have made sense to have them fighting each other and yet even the rest of the film is pretty bad the films action scenes are were the films shines best in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall out of the two live action films that adapted the "Dark Phoenix" saga it really is hard to say not only who did it best as none of them  really did but also who did it worse as there both bad with this film really lacking a good plot and good character development but really is alot of fun when it comes to it's action scenes in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.