The X-Men movies are now complete, or are they?
“X-Men 3, The Last Stand” features the same cast, as it follows along the story of the comic book with little twists and turns. The movie tells of the hardships of mutants and the biases and stereotypes against them.
The government’s fear of mutants makes them develop a cure that causes uproar in the mutant community. Professor X’s students and Magneto’s crew have mixed feelings about the so-called cure. Some of the principal mutants even get injected and lose their powers.
The movie kills off three surprising characters. The deaths are no surprise to “X-Men” comic readers but startles the audience. Their violent deaths can cause confusion to how the story can survive and a brief clip after the credits adds to that.
“X-Men 3,” portrays the conflict Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) has with being reborn as the Phoenix, an evil alter-ego, including controlling her new evil powers. Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine. Throughout the trilogy Wolverine grows from an individual to a leader. This becomes clear in the third installment which makes his character the most endearing of all the mutants.
In “X-Men 3,” Storm (Halle Berry) becomes a more pivotal character than in the two previous movies. Storm becomes a leader and a close companion to Wolverine, and the audience gets a better glimpse into the strength of her powers.
Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) were originally best friends who wanted to help people with mutant powers. As time passed, their missions changed and resulted in the two becoming enemies. Throughout the last two movies it was evident the characters clashed. However, an unexpected occurrence in the latest film shows the strength of their friendship.
Newcomer Kelsey Grammar plays the Beast. The Beast is the mutant’s ambassador in the government. The choice to make Grammar The Beast seems to fit perfectly. His hard exterior and soft, intelligent interior was well portrayed by Grammar.
Side stories included Rogue’s (Anna Paquin) struggle to get closer to her boyfriend Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and her inability to because of her powers. Tensions rise between the couple when Rogue begins to think Iceman likes Kitty Pride (Ellen Page). This realization causes her to react harshly.
The villains Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) return as well. Mystique’s story takes a shocking twist that can make moviegoers change their opinion of her. On the other hand, Pyro’s antics will keep viewers hating him.
This “X-Men,” is gorier than the first two. In addition, there is less dialogue and more fights. Destruction of property, fires, blood and killing happens with higher frequency causing this movie to be scarier than the first two. This is due to the change of director from Bryan Singer to Brett Ratner. Ratner’s approach made “X-Men 3” the weakest of the trilogy. The other two dug deep into the psyches of the characters allowing the audience to identify with them. However, this one focuses more on the special effects.
There might have been too many special effects, but they were well done. The mutant’s realistic powers allow movie-goers to believe in mutant forces. The intense scenes of destruction were also convincing.
“X-Men 3, The Last Stand,” is supposed to be the final installment of the X-Men movies. However, many unanswered questions remain, and a bizarre clip after the credits causes the audience to question if it truly is the final addition. Rumors are stirring that there is going to be a spin-off about Wolverine, which might be the reason the movie leaves portions of the story open-ended.
The famous comic book has come to the big screen three times, introducing people to the popular X-Men mutants. The characters are easy to fall in love with and easy to hate. The movies theme of prejudice and stereotyping is demonstrated through the lengths people will go to avoid those who are different. The strong message will hopefully impact moviegoers as they fall in love with Professor X’s students.
