Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

X-Men: The Last Stand / X-Men 3
2006
**½
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Stewart

The mutant community is conflicted whether a vaccine that suppresses the special abilities is a threat or a possibility. Magneto's stance on the matter is clear, as he continues to wage war on humans. At the same time, Jean Grey, presumed dead in X-Men 2, returns as Phoenix, the most powerful and fearsome mutant of them all. For the third part, Brett Ratner takes over the directing duties from Brian Singer. Ratner is a workmanlike director without any personal stamp, so it comes as no surprise that this is the weakest part in the trilogy. Although the story comes to a somewhat satisfactory conclusion, with a few of the main players kicking the bucket, this mediocre superhero action movie offers very few memorable moments, unless you count one magnificently stupid CGI set piece towards the end. The series continues in prequels X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class.