X-Men Week Part 3

Hi everyone! Now we get to the third film in the series, “X-Men: The Last Stand”, released in 2006. A lot of people hate on this film, as they do on many threequels, but much like another often derided threequel “Alien 3,” it took a lot of risks.

Some people say it was bad because Bryan Singer left to do “Superman Returns,” but Brett Ratner is the director for this film, who is a good director, and had come off of making such films like the first two “Rush Hour” movies, “Red Dragon,” and the Nicolas Cage movie, “The Family Man.” I haven't seen “The Family Man” yet, but I hear it is much like “It's A Wonderful Life,” which I have seen movie knock-offs of, since “It’s A Wonderful Life” is one of my favorite Christmas specials.

It really does have continuity with the first two films, both story wise and thematically.

The plot again is really thick, dramatic clever, original, logical, and this time immensely epic. A cure is invented by using the powers of a certain mutant, which is really clever that a mutant’s powers can stop other mutant’s powers, which makes sense because a mutant’s powers can be anything. A father with a mutant son develops the cure, which I thought was brilliant, showing him try to help mutants and his son, while still seeing it as a disease. That is really believable, as nicer, strict people often see differences as diseases, but don`t feel as though this makes people evil. It simply makes them feel sad for them, and it is really original that people now accept mutants, not seeing them as evil, but still seeing them as a problem, and wanting a solution, showing a human combination of fear, selfishness, caring, and selflessness. This is fresh for the series and it is very believably, similar to how more modern, but still somewhat fundamentalist parents react to Christianity. That is how I even reacted to my son being against prosecuting the Eastern Orthodox. He was still my son. My daughter, on the other hand, that was a different story. The president now respects mutants, and has appointed a mutant in a high position, which creates a more ambiguous situation where the government understands the mutants and wants to help. It is troubled with how to, which really expands upon the ending of “X2” and organically fits the series, showing this film does have great continuity, and it makes sense as the President saw he needed to find away to create peace. He now became friends with Beast and appointed him in a high position and wanted him to help him find a peaceful solution. Beast is a mutant who is very wise and knows how to, and now Magneto is again the pure enemy, which is believable as he now hates the humans more, where Xavier sees a possibility for growth. That cleverly goes back to the conflict of the first film. Mystique tried to find out about this by sneaking in, which is clever, and makes sense. It is important for them to know the government’s plans, but she is captured, creating tension of what will happen, and when the cure is made public, many people desperately want it, but others start protesting. Many see it as a cure, but others think there is nothing to cure. They say mutants are the next step of evolution and this creates a really multilayered conflict. Mutants are a natural process and gifts since they make us unique, or are they a curse because they hurt us? This is believable as some people like being different where others hate it. Some want to be unique, and some think that the differences that are good depends on your point of view.

Then, what’s also really clever is that the government wants to make it voluntary, showing that the solution is allowing people to choose what makes them happy, yet Magneto and the mutants want to destroy the cure showing they are now terrorizing others. They want to force mutants to accept themselves, not chose who they want to be, and make the same mistake as the humans. Yeah Magneto, that is what the left winged is for....Look what else do you expect me to do here? Yeah ok, I am getting a little repetitive, but come on, what else does this material allow for?

He and many evil mutants fear it will be forced, and at the same time don`t want any mutants to be cured, so he wants to destroy it, but thereby forcing his opinion on others, which is a really clever idea. He recruited other fearful mutants, which makes for a really epic story with many mutants. It makes sense they would fear. It would be forced, as they are afraid. Humans will be intolerant like they were in the past. Filmmasteradam complains that, as they had a mutant in the cabinet, and a President who understands mutants, Magneto is acting to paranoid, wanting to fight the cure. Um…the cure is also possibly used to destroy all mutants. Again, Magneto has all the right to be paranoid after everything that happened in “X2.” Him getting tortured and all mutants almost being murdered, he wanted to commit genocide, remember? He criticizes Magneto for being too unlikeable, but that is the point of him growing worse, as part of the escalating conflict. Oh and uuum…he compares him to Hitler, again criticizing him for being too unlikable. Well, that is the point. He became what he was fighting. Oh, and also…um…yeah, he is a holocaust survivor. He is completely understandable in being too paranoid.

He uses the powers of one to sense mutants to free Mystique, but someone uses the cure as a weapon, hits Mystique, who saves Magneto, and becomes human. This is believable. A cure is the strongest weapon against mutants, so when you are being overwhelmed, you would use it to permanently make them no longer a threat. A mutant could have the powers to sense other mutants, which is clever.

Magneto leaves her because she is no longer a mutant, which is a really dramatic twist that someone has their powers taken, because it is their identity. Magneto abandons the women he loves because he prefers ideas over people. Magneto solely values mutants only and he only values the idea they are mutants, not how well he knows them. He gets stuck in ideas, and this is especially believable that he became so narrow minded after he was tortured in “X2” and saw humans indeed wanted to exterminate mutants, and as a result, wanted to kill all the humans. Filmmasteradam complained about this because it was inconsistent with the comics. Well, it is a movie with its own continuity. Adaptations mainly need to work on their own, and you watch adaptations without checking the source material. So there you go, hypocrite. I know what you are thinking…didn`t you often act hypocritical? Yes, but I am hypocritical about hypocrisy, and that is different. Why? Because I say so, and I am never wrong, except when…no, never!!! Confused Matthew complained about this saying it took away Magneto’s three-dimensionality by making Magneto not appreciate Mystique saved him. Well, because he doesn`t care if some humans are nice. He thinks all humans are insects. Remember “X2?” He mentions it was against Mystique’s will she became human. Umm…yeah, and so is it for all humans that are human against their will? Part of discrimination is not valuing choice. Also, he would not be that narrow about humans. Then why did he call them insects in “X2?” Because he was friends with Xavier, who was a collaborator, which would be worse, that really depends though. They betray your group. They still are your family, where humans are an evil kind, viewing collaborators as less horrible. Look at “The Prince Of Egypt,” with how Rameses reacted to Moses supporting the Jews. He was less mean to him then the Jews, and the Nazis treated Germanic war prisoners better then Slavish and Jewish prisoners. So, him being friends with Xavier could perfectly fit into this thinking, which is solidified by him treating all humans as evil after having been tortured by Stryker, calling them insects, and wanting to kill them all without exception, while not killing any of the X-Men, including the ones he barely knew. Remember, he and Mystique didn`t want to betray the X-Mansion. That is part of racial thinking. You value ideas over people and race over choice. He asks why Magneto is doing this, for if he doesn`t have any sympathy for the mutants that are victims of humans, well mutants that stay mutants. That is racial thinking. That is why if Germans got handicapped, Hitler wanted to have them killed, especially World War I and later World War II veterans. That is where Socialism gets you. Again, come on, I have little to work with here, seriously. I mean I am doing valuable things, but no wait…that is no excuse. Weakness cannot be allowed. I need a break. I am going to get a soda.

Also, he complains Magneto would therefore just be a bigot. Well, yes. He, like in “X2,” has become a full discriminator because he has grown to believe in superiority of mutants and hates the humans. That doesn`t mean he doesn`t care for anyone. He cares for those who are still mutants. However, he values the group over the individual, as he already did in the first film. This means he has now become as Hitler at his worst, which is a smart parallel, and fits what happened in “X2.” He grew worse and worse for deep reasons and became what he hated. Defensive bigotry became pure hatred. So becoming more absolutely evil fits a complex change in his character and is for logical reasons. He doesn`t just become more one dimensional, he gradually falls deeper, fitting the theme of escalation, and he still cares for the mutants preservation. This is still three-dimensional, so no, he isn`t just a villain for The X-Men to fight.

He uses this to garner more support and frees more mutants, now making for a really epic storyline. He now has an army and is enormously strong; really creating a lot of tension, and it is believable about mutants being forcefully turned human, which would make mutants more paranoid. Also, we have the Phoenix storyline. It is really dramatic that it turns out she is the stronger mutant there is, and that her powers saved her, but that she had an instinctive mental power based personality, which corrupted her. She saw herself as godlike, had no respect for others and endangered them.

Showing how dangerously corrupting powers can be is believable. Having such strong powers would make her see herself as godlike, and that Xavier tried to bury this personality against her will because she didn`t respect others and didn`t want to learn to become wiser and was a danger. This is believable, as he basically did the same many mental institutions as well. Forcing people to be helped so they don`t endanger themselves or others. This is smart and clever as indeed she would endanger herself and others. He wouldn`t voluntarily suppress her evil, so he would see little other choices, meaning he suppressed one person’s mind to protect many, and also maybe to protect the person herself.

Captain Logan complains it is morally reprehensible to suppress someone’s free will, especially when they are innocent. Yes, but Xavier did it out of compassion for mankind and was kind trying to help her, become wiser and not kill or drug her. He is wrong, but he is compassionate, caring, and it is a very human mistake because he was just really afraid she could destroy the world and herself. Yes, he causes the deaths of many people, but he tried to prevent that in a really difficult situation. He made a human mistake. It is indeed dark, but there isn`t anything wrong with that. It creates drama and tension, dark stories are good, and this was an ambiguously complex plot twist. Then we have the complaint that it would mean the Jean Grey we knew was an artificial construction created by Xavier to keep the world safe and the real Jean Grey is essentially an evil force of nature making her character very messed up. Well first of all, so what? That personality she developed might be artistically created, but was a real person with a real soul. She was still a deep complex character. Second, she had 2 personalities. Her evil side was her mutated personality, but she also had a real mind that was suppressed by her, so the good Jean Grey was a real natural person that was simply freed of the control of her other stronger side. Yes, it is dark. She is such a corrupted person, but again, what is the problem? Some films are dark. That creates more tension and more intensity. Where is the objective complaint? This is a really surprising plot twist, and is very tragic. Also, they at first take her to the mansion to help her, and then she becomes violent, breaking out, and fleeing to her old house, feeling lost, creating tension and drama, of that she doesn`t know where she belongs. This is believable. The Phoenix would flee, as it felt mistreated by Xavier. Then, we have Cyclops’ death. Captain Logan complains it comes out of nowhere. Well yes, it is surprising, and is depressing. Well yes, it is a dramatic death. This adds to our bond with the characters, and he complaints it happens so early on that it would be stronger near the end. Why? The part near the end the film is the most intense, but it then can be less impact on the story and it doesn`t become more meaningful. This is a meaningful death. Cyclops being killed by an evil Jean Grey is really dramatic that such a good person dies, and is killed by his lover that loves him who is so corrupted. Does every film need to follow a formula? This is like Redlettermedia complaining the prequels had no obvious main character or that in “Alien 3,” the characters died early on. It is narrowing down what a film can do and very subjective. Earlier on, death raise the stakes in the story by showing how dangerous Jean is and makes the X-Men tested more. Matthew said it would be better to just say he rode off. No, giving him some attention even when you say it is too little, it’s better than nothing. It removes his character believably. Oh, and he said the characters don`t care or talk about it. Um...Xavier did when talking to Jean, Wolverine questioned Jean about it while she was in control and this worried her. Also in "Blade," Whistler dies earlier on. Remember the guy early on in “Iron Man,” Yinsen? Look at the first “Alien,” with people complaining about “Alien 3,” or “Blade Runner.” Do I even need to elaborate Senator Kelly is a villain who died earlier? Deaths in the middle of a story add to the tension and help complicate the story. Killing helps creating depth.

This death also makes sense. It is believable Jean would kill Cyclops as she is instable, and it is also believable Magneto would try to recruit Jean as she is so powerful, and her hatred for Xavier could allow him to sway her. Now that he and the X-Men don`t work together anymore, he would have the mutants prevent them from getting in, and then they start fighting them to get in when the phoenix starts shaking up the house. It is smart they would then try to fight them as they would need to protect Xavier from the Phoenix, and be worried he is in danger. They manage to get in, which is believable, as they are strong warriors, so it is smart they could defeat them.

Also he mentions it helps establish how defeated Jean Grey is by the Phoenix and how deadly she is, but wouldn`t establishing that near the end when she will be defeated be too late to create this tension?

Then we have Xavier’s death. Captain Logan`s complaint is it’s painful he dies by being ripped apart, molecule by molecule, till finally he disintegrates in a giant explosion. That was really trippy mean and…huh, what? Well, yes it is very painful. This makes the story intense and makes it very emotional. He complains that it is so early on, making it more depressing. How does this make it more depressing? We get the time to get over it, and we still have many characters we love. He complains the film has too much comedy, making this awkward. Well aside from the few Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) one-liners, very few from Wolverine and Beast, and maybe one other, there wasn`t any comedy. This film doesn`t have more comedy. Then he complains this isn`t really a dark film, but more a film with a few dark scenes in it. Well, how does that make them more depressing? They are still developed, and this film is just as dark as “X2.” There are many dark scenes, Xavier dies, we see his funeral, we see The X-Men feeling hopeless, we see Mystique losing her powers and Magneto abandoning her, we see Wolverine killing Jean Grey, we see Rogue feel alone, we see Magneto being depressed. So this film is really dark, and therefore, this is very natural, deep drama.

So the plot is great, and I won`t spoil anything more, but it is a great ending to the trilogy.

The film is also fantastically thematically deep. They show that the President understands mutants, appoints a mutant in the cabinet, and respects mutant rights. This shows tolerance can grow because they try to understand mutants, and a key to that is being open to them. We see that even Xavier fears that times can change, and Magneto thinks talking is impossible. They just want to execute them, but they really want to help. The cure is actually only given to those who want it, and we see that the key to the growing of tolerance is the mutants of the X-Men helping them and protecting them, and everyone being able to make their own choice. We see the key to tolerance is being violent to cruel individuals and judging people for their choices. It is forgiving when possible, like when Angel saves his father as he is trying to do the right thing. We see it is intolerance that almost causes mutants to feel like they have no choice, that it can mainly come from trying to force someone to be something you want. This can come from any side.

This is a really wise theme as tolerance can come from many sides, including those mistreated, and that if we just allow others to be themselves, they can let us be ourselves as they have nothing to fear and we punish only the aggressive for their actions. We will suppress cruelty and allow for the creation of tolerance, and by forgiving people when possible, we can build mutual peace.

They show a cure being developed by a father who has a mutant son, who sees being a mutant as a disease and pities mutants. The people want to give the cure to help, they think mutants are sick but still people, and he doesn`t really want to force it on anyone. He wants to help people, showing as Nightcrawler said “Pitying people can also lead to kindness. Showing disgust doesn`t lead to hatred.” We see it isn`t rude to see people who are different as bad, though as it often makes them happy and enables them to help others, like the X-Men do with their powers. They can be happy as themselves, like Angel was, but trying to give people the option to be themselves is good. That is why Angel saves his father.

This was a wise and deep theme. Also, as anyone should be allowed to chose whether they want to be themselves, and being different often does give great talents, though not always. Often pitying people can cause us to be nice to them.

By many people taking it, they show that for some people being different is a curse. They show sometimes people do want to be normal, as you just want to be accepted, but also it is sometimes just nice to be yourself, as Beast mentioned. He shed on the couch, and felt very happy seeing himself as normal. Rogue still felt different from Bobby, although regular friends were closer to him, she takes the cure for herself and is happy she can now touch him. Jean’s powers greatly hurt her and make her go insane. Storm acts like they aren`t a disease, while she is simply very strong, where Rogue is unable to touch people, and she feels not understood, showing people often don`t understand some differences can be painful. That is why Rogue had a right to take the cure.

This is true. It is sometimes just distancing to be different. Sometimes we are just sensitive and need acceptance. If people don`t accept that venerability, we only feel more lonely. Sometimes differences are just burdensome handicaps, like having OCD.

We also see some mutants take the cure, like Rogue, and are happy with it, and feel like they can live a healthy life like Rogue. We see she really needed it and others pressuring her to be different, like Iceman, made her feel restricted and stressed. By the government making it optional, the X-Men can support them, and the innocent, like those at Worthington Labs, are accepted and protected, and peace can be made. Angel wanted to be normal for his father, but realizes he wants to be himself. When he refuses, this allows him to help his father. His father also wants to cure him for himself. This made him hurt in the first place, and this is what Magneto fears. If people are forced to be different or normal, this makes them unhappy, restricted and aggressive, but if everyone can make their own choice, people can feel happy and accepted. We can make people happy and reach our fullest potential.

This is a smart theme also, as indeed when people can choose for themselves, they can follow their own needs and be happy. If we try to force people to be like we want, they can quickly become violent and aggressive. It can restrict them, and if we can enjoy the virtues that really fit us, we can be happier and help others be happy.

Matthew says we rarely see the mutants who want the cure. That it is brought up a few times, but never explored, and we never get to the heart of the issue. Well, why is it only important to show why some people would want to be normal? It’s also important that the thinking behind trying to cure differences, and why making that option is good, which was deeply explored as I mentioned. Also, the film analyses how tolerance can be created, so the film has many deep themes. But that isn`t the only thing that matters, you are now focusing on what the film could have been. That isn`t that strong a criticism, and the film does have a lot of thematic depth, and again we see it isn`t just a threat for the X-Men, it is something Magneto sees as a threat. They realize how everyone should have their own choice in it. We see the thinking behind it, and also we do see how it is tough being different. Beast feels it is hard to fit in and mutated, we see it drives Jean Grey insane, but we also see how it is distant for Rogue. She is glad to have the cure, she is angry at Bobby, we see Wolverine tells her she can choose and she argues with Storm on it. They do more then have her get the cure, but as there are more people, she could have discussed it the cure itself with Bobby and Kitty, who she was jealous on. It apparently isn`t explored well, let me say this to that.

By Magneto and his friends trying to destroy the cure because they are afraid it will be forced, and because they believe mutants are superior, they show that sometimes our own fear of suppression can make us suppress others. This is really deep and smart. We see Magneto fear they want to suppress them as they hate them, but he hates the humans, feels superior to them and discards mutant turned humans, and threatens mutant’s choices to be themselves, threatens to kill people, and almost allows Jean Grey to destroy everyone. He commits genocide like Hitler, who he always hated, and becomes what he hates. Showing generalizing and making the choices for others make us what we are fighting.

This is a really smart theme, as indeed if we generalize other people for generalizing we are just as horrible.

Wolverine is happy, supportive, relaxed, brave, helpful, comforting, friendly, but worried, sad, stressed, and weak. He at first is still a self-minded team player, and he loves Jean Grey so much. He was angry at Xavier for blocking her inner personality, and at first was blind, giving into her lust, being naïve and impulsive, then he sees she isn`t herself. When they lose the professor, he tries to get Jean back, still not accepting that she will also destroy herself, and to help her, they might need to kill her because it would be better for her. Because she will kill many innocent people, he then comforts the X-Men, realizing they have to stand for Xavier’s legacy, now that Xavier is dead. Then he works better with them as a team, and for the sake of Jean. The people kill her, like I killed my wife as she was homeless, ok…Even though I am not under the influence. I admit that was an awful reference. (I just would like to apologize. I’m not the one talking about a wife, son and daughter, that’s reviewreviewer1. Watch his reviews to see the kind of jokes he makes. But I find them funny.)

Rogue is really deep in this film. She is sad, depressed, lonely, unconfident, unsure, angry, loving, stubborn, and whiney. She was already unhappy because she can’t touch people in the first film, especially the second, and now that she sees how others can touch Bobby, like Kitty Pride, who just needed to be saved, and was saved by Bobby, she becomes jealous, feeling as though she cannot be close to him. He defends himself about it, but she stays sad, and when she hears of the cure, she becomes very invested in it, and closed off from the other mutants, who hate it. Kitty Pride can touch him and his close to him, and he comforts her when she is sad, just as friends, although she is attracted to him. Rouge feels very jealous, even when Iceman is just cheering Kitty up. She feels very lonely as she again is separated from him, but she feels jealous because she can get friendlier with him that she can touch him. That is a really complex, deep love triangle. She feels really insecure, realizes how jealous she is, and how she cannot live that way. She is angry, frustrated, wants to take the cure, and worried of whether she does this for Bobby or herself. She leaves and Wolverine tells her she needs to choose for herself. She realizes she can make the choice, be happy with herself, eventually realizes she really wants it, takes the cure, becomes happy and relaxed. Captain Logan complains she should have realized her powers saved her life, but it is better to die soon then to live and never be able to touch people. Touching is the base of human bonds. You need it to be happy. Now reviewreviewer1 discussed this with him, and here is where subjectivity comes in. He explained that he thinks that made it seem, as he says in the review, that she only did it for Bobby, but she makes it clear she feels sad about not being able to touch people in general. She is jealous because she can`t touch him, and he complains that doesn`t make her thoughtful, but a stereotypical teenager. It is normal to be jealous that some girl can be friendlier with your boyfriend then you. He said the film just didn`t convince him of that. Reviewreviewer1 couldn`t convince him it was handled well. Well, that isn`t an argument. Reviewing is not a matter of seeing something a certain way, but logically analyzing, and it was demonstrated in the film that Rogue, by talking of her powers, as being terrible in general. She was just frustrated of her powers. This was why she was jealous, they didn`t just focus on the love triangle. That is just what was in the film, and it was established how they could have done it better beyond that you say so. Also, I mentioned she was still frustrated from her powers in the first 2 films. He said he didn`t trust the film to remember that because it felt like a different continuity all together, but it is the exact same issue which ended openly. The connection is obvious and saying you don`t trust the film to have continuity and therefore not accepting continuity, thereby not seeing the whole story is not accepting one element because you don`t accept another. That is a domino effect. His complaint in the review is it looked she was doing it for Bobby isn`t true. She simply doubted it a bit. She isn`t in denial and has grown. He also complained she didn`t consider the gifts of her power that she should have considered. Well, it is simply too painful to be an issue. Then, we have the issue of Bobby. She is supposed to be in the right, even though he doesn`t cheat on her. What he is presented as not flirting, they show her jealousy is understandable, not justified, because she takes the cure. She doesn`t break up with Bobby. He also complains love triangles are overused, but any elements in film are used many times. When something is deep, it is worth using any ties. He complains she doesn`t talk rationally with him before she does it. Well, because it is really private and it is really stressful. Some difficult choices we need to make on our own. Also, people complained it was wrong of her to take the cure. She had a special power that made her capable of special things. Yeah, and she couldn`t do the most basic thing of touching people because of it. That is horrible and someone said it was a bad example to show for kids. When you don`t like something about your body, you can change it. Um…she was handicapped. Her body was really abnormally functioning. It robbed her of the most basic form for human joys and bonds. That is what Medical Science is for. That was what the right to chose over your own body means. It is easy to judge someone with no disabilities, as someone with OCD. All I can say is shut up! You don`t know what it is like to be different your whole life, to be insulted and alone, and come on, those that cannot walk have operations, so they might be able to. If there was a means to cure blindness, you would have the right to take that.

Storm is this film is more worried, warmer, friendlier, sweeter, more optimistic, still tough and brave. Captain Logan complains it makes no sense that Xavier wants her to lead the mansion, and she becomes a control freak because of her acting. How someone sounds doesn`t decide who they are acting. It doesn`t define characters. Actions and words do. Throughout this and the first 2 films, she led many expeditions, gave good suggestions, and comforted people. She isn`t a control freak, but a good leader, and fitting to lead the mansion, how would you feel if I say you were a dumb critic because I don`t like your voice?

Ice Man is warm, helpful, friendly, caring, understanding, sad, brave and optimistic.

Kitty Pride is brave, thorough, helpful, friendly, sad, homesick, unconfident, and a bit love struck.

Cyclops is depressed, sad, and angry.

Pyro is violent, sadistic, loyal and arrogant.

Mystique is sadistic, playful, loyal, very vengeful, and disloyal when Magneto betrays her.

Jean Grey in this film is confused, lustful, playful, wild, intense, and grows to become destructive and insane. She is also angry and scared. She gives in to her destructiveness, killing Cyclops, and at first gets back in control, but she allows her power hungriness to take her over and gets convinced Xavier wants to control her instead of helping her. She wants to indulgence in pure destruction, including her own, and gets convinced no one loves her. Then she kills Xavier and joins Magneto, but still thinks she might care for Wolverine. At the battle when they shoot at her, she gets destructive, and then Wolverine makes her realize this only is hurting her. He cares for her and she allows him to stab her.

Magneto really completes his arc from the first 2 films. Now he hears of the cure, he becomes afraid humans want to force it on the mutants. He wants to act violent and take mutants right not to be mutants. He now becomes really arrogant, believing mutants to be gods, believing all humans to be insects and really suppressive, forcing mutants to stay mutants. He abandons Mystique when she is turned human, and then becomes overly ambitious when Jean seems to become very powerful. He looses Xavier, yet continues to become crueler, violent, dangerous and extreme, killing loads of innocent people and mutants, wanting to kill an innocent kid, creating terrorist attacks, and recruiting Jean, who destroys many people. He becomes abusive, using fellow weaker mutants as pawns in a chess game. He really becomes pure evil, then is taken out, and becomes depressed, but hopeful for the future, having his powers maybe back. So he really becomes what he fought, being prejudiced, cruel and oppressive. Then he sees himself being turned human and becomes even more depressed.

Beast is great. He is calm, caring, helpful, moralistic, cautious, jokey, brave, and straightforward.

Angel is insecure, and silent, yet also proactive, caring, and head strong. Matthew complained he did little. Yeah, he was a minor character who showed why the cure was made, and how it affected him, but characters are normal. Look at “Finding Nemo,” or the guy who blackmails Bruce in “The Dark Knight.”

Then we have the tone. Captain Logan complains it feels really different from the first 2 films so much, that it doesn`t seem to take place in the same universe. We still have a world of intolerance and division. We still have an ambiguous conflict, serious characters, dark death scenes, and he complains there are many underdevelopment mutants, but that is natural. It is a war now. There is a cure, so way more mutants are threatened, so it becomes a bigger conflict. He complains they get irritating one-liners, but only a few get a few, and they are over the top, but a few, and appropriately in action, exciting fun moments. He complains they don`t explain why there is “A Danger Room.” Well, because we can understand why it is. To train and we haven`t seen all parts of the school. Of course they build new things, such obvious things don`t need to be explained. They also didn`t explain in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” how they got such a big fleet or how they got Taun Taunts. He explains they don`t explain why there is a Sentinel in the Danger Room. Well, it is something they either fought or was an invented program so it isn`t important to know why. Yes, they haven`t used mutant cast systems before because they didn`t encounter such strong or so many mutants. The world changes and we don`t learn everything the first time. This is natural and it doesn`t require explanation. This film is a lot more epic, huge, more plot and theme driven, and less character driven then the first 2. It is a bit different, but in a natural way. It is different, not inconsistent, because the changes make sense. It’s fresh and it still has the mood of the seriousness, realism and ambiguity of the first 2 films. It is fresh and true to the roots of the series. It has a dark tone with some nice light touches, fitting the dark, but optimistic story.

It again combines many genres, political thriller, character drama, morality play, action, superhero, and science fiction. The film is very well paced, with always something new happening, while still having enough character development and especially themes. Also, having action, and a lot of drama, while taking it`s time to be funny.

When I first saw this film in the theater, I thought that Brett Ratner rushed the ending of the X-Men trilogy by killing off Jean, Cyclops, and Professor X. He also had Rouge, Mystique and Magneto lose their powers, and a bunch of X-Men were knocked out. However, all of the actors who portrayed the X-Men were great. These include Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Romijin, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ellen Page, and Kelsey Grammer to name a few.

Hugh Jackman is relaxed, warm, stubborn, witty, fluent, confused, stressed and worried.

Halle Berry is sweet, whiney, venerable, natural, and can really get the whiney voice as well as the somberness in the eyes across.

Ian McKellen is really charismatic, sadistic, arrogant, obnoxious, intense, and really gets the sadism across in the whispering voice, and can really also look sad and cold.

Patrick Stewart is wise, relaxed, and comforting.

Anna Paquin is sweet, intense, and sad, can really create insecure looks and look stressed.

Kelsey Grammer is sophisticated, nuanced and also intense and exciting. He would make a great duel with Wolverine. What, we are tolerant nowadays? Right, you saw the movie. Go away! To those saying reviewreviewer1 is a hypocrite Catholic, that’s a redundant phrase.

James Mardsen is sad and depressed.

Shawn Ashmore is warm, friendly, caring and sincere.

Also, the stakes were higher, the battle was well done, and it shows how everything is like a chess game, which is what Magneto always had shown. Also, it left certain things up in the air for future movies, like Cyclops possibly not being dead, Xavier alive and would come back (spoilers: in the post-credits scene, Moira MacTaggart checks on her comatose patient, who says hi to her in Xavier's voice, which leaves her startled), and all of the X-Men who lost their powers would have gotten them back. The action is intense, the drama is relate-able, and the story had a decent ending to this trilogy. However, the people who worked on it did a nice job, and I have grown more acceptable to the movie after I had seen it in the theaters.

The sets in Jean’s house were broken down and dirty, adding the stressed feeling of despair. The sets at the military base are grimy and dirty, adding to a hopeless and somber feeling. The film hereby adds an even more somber look to the film. The props are smooth, but flawed in The X-Mansion scenes, adding to the worry yet the warmth. The costumes are harsh for the evil mutants and disorganized, yet fluent on the nicer mutants, the direction fluent and dramatic using fluent moves to add to the warm emotional moments and complex fast moves to create great drama and stress. The sets-ups use complex formations to add complexity and intense close-ups for dramatic moments. The cinematography vibrant and sad in the scenes discussing if they should close the mansion with dark brown tones, and soft tones in the mansion scenes creating extra calmness before the fight with blue and green, and dark colors along with grey and blue during the battle, which are very unsaturated, like in the first two films, again creating a conflicted tone, being consistent with the first two films, but darker tones. The lighting is intense with dark, brooding lighting in the dark, in the church scenes, creating a feeling of aggression, and a setting sun, lighting in the discussion of closer, the mansion adding somberness. The editing is energetic, fluent and harmonious in warmer scenes, adding a feeling of comfort like in the first two films. It’s quick and sudden, adding adventurousness in more dramatic scenes, the sound poignant, sharper and more precise, adding to the even more intense story, but it is more fluent, adding to the emotion. The music is emotional, epic and stressful and a lot more energetic and operatic while still being serious, adding freshness, yet consistency to the series, and The Special Visual Effects amazing. They are realistic and vaster then in the first two films, being more dramatic yet still realistic. The stunts are really natural, The CGI is fantastic, the wind detailed, the lighting fluent, the morphing, seamless, the explosions rough, the disintegration three-dimensional, and the miniatures look completely like they have size and mass.

So “X-Men: The Last Stand” was a really great, as well as an underrated film, and fitting end to trilogy. It didn`t deserve the hatred it received. It gets a 9-.

Next we will be doing another really underrated X-Men Film, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine. See you then. Bye.

Also, make sure to check out reviewreviewer1’s reviews on the entire X-Men series on his channel, since he and I did this joint review.