X-Men 3: The Last Stand – Film Review
Overview
X-Men 3: The Last Stand follows up the highly successful X2: X-Men United. The challenges for this third film in the X-Men series would include not only duplicating the success of its predecessors, but also doing so with a change of directors at the helm. Bryan Singer had brought a strong emphasis on character, and an economical pacing to his films. Would the third movie be able to replicate all of that, despite a different vision behind the camera? Indeed, X-Men 3 does manage to maintain most of the strengths of the series and, in some, ways, improves upon the narrative – at least as far as comic book cliché is concerned.
Analysis & Criticism
The film opens with a flashback to the discovery of Jean Grey by Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen). What’s notable about the scene is the not only the “younger” look of the two actors, but also their close friendship. Additionally, a couple of ideas are established here. First, there is the absolute power that Jean Grey has, and there is the issue of Xavier wanting to “help” her. Both will lead to some very tragic circumstances before the film ends.
The thematic elements of the film are briefly established during a present day scenes in which Wolverine disrupts a lesson by acting on his own, rather than working in unison with the team. This notion of teamwork is a running theme – as is the moral question of responsibility of power. Xavier paraphrases the “with great power comes great responsibility” line from Spider-Man. And he does so in the context of a lecture about how power can corrupt – and how absolute power can corrupt absolutely.
These notions find their expressions in a couple of ways. First there is the “cure” which has been developed that will reverse the mutation process, essentially turning all mutants into regular humans. This gives humanity a great power over mutants. How will they choose to use it? At first it seems benign: they will simply offer it to mutants who can choose whether or not to use it. But later, the government arms its troops with the vaccine – a clearly irresponsible act.
The mutants likewise have power – and the Jean Grey’s “rebirth” as Dark Phoenix, they have nearly absolute power. And through her, we learn that Professor Xavier hasn’t been immune to using his power in questionable ways – creating mental barriers that kept Jean Grey’s powers in check. As a result of his actions, Xavier will pay the ultimate price: he will be killed by Dark Phoenix, even as he tries to “help” her once more. And the question the scenario raises is this: how was the Professor’s actions any different than injecting Jean with a kind of drug to “cure” her?
This is the strength of the movie: posing very interesting, compelling, and dire questions. Another example is the dilemma facing Rogue. She clearly longs to be able to touch and embrace those she cares for, but she cannot. The “cure” gives her an avenue to realize her dreams. And so she does so.
About the only criticisms of the film arise in the latter stages. For starters, Jean Grey, while a very prominent character, gives a very bland performance. It may be part script, part acting, but either way, for a character who is featured in the film to be little more than a mannequin with a bad scowl is a detriment. Also, the final battle between the X-Men and Magneto’s “brotherhood” is, simply, cliché – right down to Wolverine’s cringeworthy speech.
Overall Grade: B+
On the whole, X-Men3: The Last Stand is on par with X2: X-Men United. The Last Stand benefits from a shorter run time which keeps its narrative more focused and quite briskly paced. And it likewise features strong thematic explorations than either of the previous X-Men films. But it also lacks the ability to set itself apart from other comic book films – at least in the way that Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight have done.
Topics: Comics, Film Review
Filed under: X-Men
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