Review roundup: "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Here's what folks are saying:

Christian Science Monitor: ...I think one reason the film series, as well as the "X-Men" Marvel Comics, are so popular with young people is because of its central metaphor. From Superman and Batman on down, quite a few superhero or antihero comic figures have led double lives, and this split appeals particularly to teenagers still experimenting with who they are. The mutants in "X-Men" are an exaggerated version of this split: Not only do they have superhuman powers, but they are vilified by humans for having them.

... suppose it's asking too much of Ratner to impart some kind of visionary flourish to the proceedings. But without it, these comic-book movies all tend to look the same. The "heart" of the story - the choice these mutants must make about their mutancy - rarely comes into play.


Miami Herald: The Last Stand doesn't play out as a grand final adventure (although, much like a Rolling Stones farewell tour, there's some doubt as to whether this really is the end). Instead, it's a disappointing chapter in what until now has been a highly entertaining, even thought-provoking series.

...Ratner seems incapable of infusing his overly busy story with nuance, depth or the wonderful wry humor that connected us so thoroughly to these characters in the first place, and so their sacrifices never register. Singer's films were peppered with small moments that felt epic. Ratner's film just feels awfully small.


Detroit Free Press: ...the rich theme gets lost in a mass of new characters and director Brett Ratner's preference for the visceral over the emotional.

Belfast Telegraph: X marks the spot... where director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) reduces the X-Men to a soulless, brainless clatter.

The third and final film in the series reduces the epic battle between good and evil to a barrage of computer-generated special effects and slow-motion trickery.


Washinton Post: Displaying none of Singer's finesse or judgment, the new director, Brett, aka "Ratner," makes a hash of the story and characters his predecessor brought to such complex, sympathetic life, delivering a pumped-up exercise in mayhem, carnage and blunt-force trauma.

The Guardian: Against the odds, this third X-Men movie (inevitably referred to as the last in the "trilogy", to torture completist-geeks into buying the DVD) turns out to be a lively and likeable picture - a fun summer blockbuster, which is capable of being scary and even rather affecting.

Knight Ridder: ...die-hard fans of the popular series...can forget the chat-room anxiety generated when their hero, Bryan Singer, director of the two previous ``X-Men'' movies, handed over the reins of the popular franchise to the more paint-by-numbers Brett Ratner (``Rush Hour''). (Singer moved on to just one lone guy in tights, directing ``Superman Returns.'')

True, Ratner is no Singer, but in ``The Last Stand'' he delivers the goods with gusto.


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