Posted: 05/26/2006

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

(2006)

by Karen Petruska

There’s something strange about the third installment of the X-Men franchise—I can’t seem to figure out who wrote the movie. Now, I haven’t searched extensively, but a cursory glance at a few websites hasn’t cleared things up for me. The official website for the film lists Simon Kronberg (who wrote Mr. And Mrs. Smith) and Zak Penn (Elektra and Fantastic Four—ouch!) as the screenwriters, yet neither of their bios on IMDB lists X-Men: The Last Stand in their credits.

A fan, but not a devoted one, I didn’t track the course of this film’s production, but I’ve heard enough through the grapevine: three different directors attached, various script/development issues, and general concern about director Brett Ratner’s competence. Perhaps no one person can be credited with the screenplay because no single person wrote it: as in, maybe a committee wrote it. With so many cooks in the kitchen, the meaning of the film becomes diluted and therefore never reaches a boiling point. Quite simply, it levels out at tepid.

The story provides many opportunities for depth, even pathos. A pharmaceutical company has harnessed the power of a mutant child to create a “cure” for the mutant “problem.” Dispossessed mutants like Beast (who “sheds on the couch”) and Rogue (who is unable to touch anyone without killing them) understand the appeal of such a cure, offering the possibility of a normal life. But other mutants, like Magneto, use the threat of the cure to attract an army of rebellious mutants and set off to kill the child.

The cure is a potent threat, demanding questions about identity, power, and loyalty. Halle Berry’s Storm takes on a leadership role in this picture (finally earning the screen time her Oscar and agent demand). Storm questions the benevolence of this cure. But the screenplay only skims the surface with lines like “there’s nothing wrong with mutants. This isn’t a disease,” instead of delving into more poignant issues of vulnerability. As certain mutants suffer the results of the cure, one wishes Ratner would have taken a few moments to explore the implications of such a drastic alteration of a person’s nature. To touch audience’s emotions, Ratner needed to pause for a moment to let the characters think, speak, and touch. But he moves on too quickly to the next action scene.

X-Men: The Final Stand features the usual panoply of new mutant characters, including the aforementioned Beast (Kelsey Grammer,), Angel (Ben Foster), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), and Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones). With so many characters, though, including a whole new posse of leather clad baddies following Magneto around, Ratner barely has time to allow the characters to speak their name before he moves on to the next scene. Angel is a case in point. He stars in a brief flashback scene depicting him as a child trying to cut off his wings, but after that, he appears only three times. This sort of compact storytelling may be expedient, but it stifles emotional impact.

There’s a lot of death in this picture, yet these deaths feel cheap and wasted because the movie never achieves the heartbreak of the finale of X-Men 2. Hugh Jackman exudes passion, commitment, and intensity throughout the picture, and as with the first two films, much of the story focuses upon Wolverine. Yet despite his best efforts, he simply can’t infuse the movie with enough electricity to ignite it.

I don’t think I am giving anything away to say that Jean Grey returns as her alternate personality, Phoenix. Her power has grown threefold yet she sits on the sidelines for much of the picture for no clear reason. Perhaps Ratner meant for this to create suspense, but he doesn’t depict enough of her struggle (with herself, Wolverine, or Magneto) to support an increasing tension. At one point in the film, Wolverine follows Jean to the woods. When he finds her, however, it is Magneto that challenges him. Why? How does Jean feel about being on the sidelines? What does she think of Magneto’s actions towards Wolverine? She remains a cipher, and her mysteriousness undermines our connection to her.

As a summer picture, X-Men: The Final Stand provides a healthy dose of action and adventure. Brett Ratner keeps the film moving, and you won’t be bored watching it. Yet as the climax to a (supposedly completed) series, this film needed to top what came before. Unfortunately, it fails to achieve the poignancy of its forebear.

Karen Petruska is a film critic living in Chicago.

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