movies: x-men: the last stand

I'll say this right off the bat... I like the X-Men movies... even though they screwed around with certain characters and reinvented certain things, I still like both the original X-Men and the sequel, X2... they're mostly fluff, but they're not bad fluff...

So I was hoping that with a new director on board they weren't going to make a big mess out of X-Men: The Last Stand... and fortunately, I don't believe they did...

Sure it had certain plot holes that you could drive a semi through (okay, to be fair, they're not actually plot holes... it's just certain elements of predictability), but its a movie where you just have to suspend disbelief, so I don't tend to worry about that too much until after I come out of the cinema... then I can bitch about it.

I will say, I'd actually been avoiding reading or hearing anything about the movie (which means that there are three or four of my fellow bloggers who commented on the movie that I need to go back and read now), so certain things definitely came as a shock to me... and I'm not sure where that leaves them if they want to do another movie...

As Ma said when the movie was over... "Questions, questions, so many questions!"...

This one was certainly an action packed outing though... but as always with these high action, ensemble cast movies, sometimes it would be nice to just stop and smell the proverbial roses... delve a little deeper... but alas, that's not the type of movie it is, so off we go again on another action scene...

Specifically what I would have liked to see more done with was the notion of a "cure" for mutation... while it underpins the motivation for the whole movie, it's not really explored in great depth. And as part of a gay audience I always find that the "mutant issues" can be tied very strongly back to gay issues... but I suppose a number of minorities would feel the same way... I just think given the way that the mutant universe it set up (thinking that you're the only one, having to hide what you are from your family, powers presenting themselves at puberty, being feared and despised for simply being who you are) resonates strongest with a gay and lesbian audience.

Interestingly I think this was really strongly portrayed by Cayden Boyd as the young Warren Worthington/Angel in his "origin" flashback at the beginning of the movie... going so far as self-harm to stop the visible signs of his "difference" from showing.

Having said that, Ben Foster as the grown-up Warren/Angel was just total hotness... blonde, shirtless, big white wings... and then the leather "wing-bondage" straps... yummy... it's just a shame that he was essentially completely underused in the movie.

That was actually one of my main bugbears with the plot... the X-Men need to go and make their "last stand", and instead of marshalling every mutant they can lay their hands on, Angel included, they just go with the handful of nice folks who already have uniforms (and training, which might have been the point)... if it had been me, I would have been rounding up every X-Kid and every mutant they just happened to know...

What was nice was to see some of the supporting cast from the second movie back again in this one... Bryce Hodgson (all grown up this time around) as Artie, the boy who can change teevee stations by blinking... Kea Wong as Jubilee... and a more "fleshed out" role for the very hot Daniel Cudmore as Colossus.

One thing that I do find interesting is that one of the characters, Kitty Pride (aka the girl who can walk through walls) has been played by a different actress in each of the three films... first it was Sumela Kay, then a much younger Katie Stuart... and finally Ellen Page in this film. But then I'm a massive movie trivia nerd...

The "regular" cast were all pretty much spot on with their characters again... which you would pretty much expect, since this is their third outing in those roles. Halle Berry (yet again under a different wig... thankfully her character has had about a billion different hairstyles, so they don't have to stick with any one thing) actually has something to get her teeth into this time around, but looks gorgeous no matter what she's doing (well, except maybe with the cape on her X-suit... it just looks a little silly)... and Hugh Jackman was actually looking the least attractive in his third incarnation as Wolverine... which is kind of a shame since we spend a large amount of the movie staring at him...

Oh... and if you haven't seen it yet, don't start packing up once the credits roll... there's a "post credit teaser"... definitely something that has to be seen...

yani's rating: 3 X-Genes out of 5