"When the air is still and the night has fallen, there's only one question you must answer: Whom will you stand with," asks Magneto (fiery Ian McKellen). "Last Stand" follows the events of "X2." Students of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters go about their lives and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) is still feared dead. Meanwhile, Magneto raises a mutant army when a cure for mutation is announced. Storm (Halle Berry) leads the X-Men in a bid to repel Magneto's rogue elements while Grey has mysteriously been resurrected, heralding an enigmatic new threat.
Hamming it up delightfully, is Kelsey Grammer--yes, "Frasier"--as Prof. Henry "Beast" McCoy. The fittingly low-key, pale turn of young Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde is similarly striking. And any chance to catch Brit hooligan Vinnie Jones ("Snatch") chewing scenery--as Juggernaut to boot--is welcome.
In his most remarkable work yet, Ratner approaches "The Last Stand" with workmanlike earnestness. The script fires one gambit after another, and while viewers may not have time to absorb the ramifications of one turn before another comes cannon-balling in, there is a multiplicity of clever reinvention here. Aside from the mutant-spotting, fans should not leave their seats until after the credits have finished. Consider yourselves warned.
The heavily expository dialogue aside, "Last Stand" is "Fantastic Four" done right, taking the super-powers seriously and making the Marvel Comics panels come to life. This is where the avalanche of seamless special effects really works, making the battles possible and indulging in requisite homage to the source material. More ambitious, though not as sophisticated as "X2," "X-Men: The Last Stand" is an unexpectedly muscular curtain call for the movie franchise that made superheroes super on screen again
I see six easter eggs in this article.
