X-Men: The Last Stand Review

X-Men: The Last Stand

Release Date: 25th May 2006 - Australia

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

Marvel Entertainment
The Donners' Company

Ingenious Film Partners

(produced in association with)
Dune Entertainment (made

in association with)

Major Studio Partners

(made in association with)

Distribution
20th Century Fox Australia


Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 110 minutes


Budget: $210,000,000

Box Office Gross: $459,359,555 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

It has been a few months

since the X-Men put a stop

to William Stryker, which

costs the life of Jean Grey

as she sacrifices herself

to save them from a

collapsed reservoir. Still

mourning her loss is Scott

Summers (Cyclops). Once

he arrived at where Jean

Grey had given herself.

At that moment, Jean Grey

appeared right in front of

his eyes. However, Scott

seemed to have vanished

after that.

In the meantime, the rift

between the humans and

the mutants had finally

reached the boiling point.

The discovery of the

cause of human mutations

has led to the discovery

of a cure for them. Not

everyone was happy,

as this idea horrified

the X-Men. Before long,

news of it reached Magneto.

He plans to form an army

of mutants and wage war

on humanity. After that, it

became apparent that Jean

Grey had evolved into the

Phoenix, her mutant

powers so strong that she

could no longer control

her body.

Cast

Hugh Jackman - Logan/
Wolverine

Patrick Stewart - Charles 
Xavier/Professor X

James Marsden - Scott 

Summers/Cyclops

Famke Janssen - Jean 
Grey/Phoenix

Halle Berry - Ororo Munroe/

Storm

Ian McKellen - Erik 

Lehnsherr/Magneto

Anna Paquin - Marie/Rogue

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos - 

Raven Darkholme/Mystique

Shawn Ashmore - Bobby
Drake/Iceman
Ellen Page - Kitty Pryde/
Shadowcat
Kelsey Grammer - Dr. Hank
McCoy/Beast

Vinnie Jones - Juggernaut
Ben Foster - Warren 

Worthington III/Angel

Aaron Stanford - John

Allardyce/Pyro

Michael Murphy - Warren

Worthington II

Dania Ramirez - Callisto

Shohreh Aghdashloo - Dr. Kavita Rap

Josef Summer - President of the United States

Bill Duke - Secretary Trask

Cayden Boyd - Young Warren Worthington III

Haley Ramm - Young Jean Grey

Daniel Cudmore - Peter

Rasputin/Colossus

Eric Dane - James Madrox/

Multiple Man

Melling Melancon - Psylocke

Omahyra Mota - Arclight

Ken Leung - Kid Omega

Cameron Bright - Jimmy/Leech

Via Saleaumua - Phat

Richard Yee - Little Phat

Kea Wong - Jubilee

Shauna Kain - Siryn

Lance Gubson - Spike

Desiree Zurowski - Mrs. Grey

Adrian Hough - Mr. Grey

Bryce Hodgson - Artie (Uncredited)

Olivia Williams - Moria MacTaggert

(Uncredited)

Chris Claremont - Lawnmower Man (Cameo)

Stan Lee - Waterhose Man (Cameo)

Crew

Director - Brett Ratner

Writers - Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn

Script Supervisor: Second Unit - Jessica Clothier
Executive Producers - Kevin Feige,

Stan Lee and John Palermo
Producers - Lauren Shuler Donner,

Ralph Winter and Avi Arad

Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager - Ross Fanger
Co-Producer - Kurt Williams
Co-Producers/First Assistant Directors -

Lee Clearly and James M. Freitag
Production Designer - Ed Verreaux

Supervising Art Director - Geoff Hubbard

Art Directors - Chas S. Frey, Helen Jarvis,

and Sandi Tanaka

Set Decorator - Elizabeth Wilcox

Property Master - James H. Chow
Costume Designer - Judianna Makovsky
Co-Costume Designer - Lisa Tomczeszyn

Specialty Costume Supervisor: Spectral Motion,

Inc. - Linda Benavente-Notaro

Makeup Effects Supervisor: Spectral Motion,

Inc. - Mike Elizalde

Special Makeup Effects Consultant - Rick Baker

Prosthetic Supervisor: Spectral Motion, Inc. -

Roland Blancaflor

Key Prosthetics: Spectral Motion, Inc. -

Bart Mixon, Jayne Dancose and

Thom Floutz

Mold Department Supervisor: Spectral Motion,

Inc. - Brent Baker

Additional Mutant Prosthetics and Young Angel:

W.M. Creations, Inc. - Matthew W. Mungle,

Clinton Wayne, Ryan McDowell and

Kris Kobzina

Creature Effects "Angel" Wings Supervisor

Fabricator - Robin Dufay

Director of Photography - Dante Spinotti

Additional Director of Photography/

"A" Camera/Steadicam Operator - J. Michael Muro

"A" Camera/Steadicam Operator: Second Unit -

Jim Van Djik

2nd Unit Directors of Photography -

Jonathan Taylor and Paul Hughen

"A" First Assistant Camera: Second Unit -

Taylor Matheson

Location Manager - Ann Goobie

Production Supervisor - Jason McGatlin

First Assistant Directors: Second Unit -

Terry Madden and Richard Cowen

Second Assistant Director: Second Unit -

David Klohn

Additional Second Assistant Director: Second

Unit - Misha Bukowsko

Third Assistant Directors - Gary Hawes

and Katherine Keizer

Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator - Simon Crane
Stunt Coordinators - Wade Eastwood and
Mike Mitchell

Stunt Consultant - Conrad E. Palmisano
Special Effects Coordinator - Mike Vezina
Special Effects Coordinator: Second Unit -
Cameron Waldbauer
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: Weta Digital -
Joe Letteri

Visual Effects Supervisor - John Bruno

Visual Effects Supervisor: Framestore CFC - Craig Lyn
Visual Effects Supervisor: Weta Digital - Eric Saindon
Visual Effects Supervisor: MPC - Nicolas Aithadi
Visual Effects Supervisors: Cinesite Europe -

Sue Rowe, Thrain Shadbolt, Ben Shepherd

and Simon Stanley-Clamp

Visual Effects Supervisor: CIS Hollywood -

Bryan Hirota

Visual Effects Supervisors: Soho VFX -

Berj Bannayan and Allan Magled

Visual Effects Supervisor: Lola Visual Effects -

Edson Williams
Visual Effects Supervisor: New Deal Studios -

Ian Hunter

Visual Effects Supervisor: Hydraulx/Lead

Inferno Artist: Lola Visual Effects - Greg Strause

Visual Effects Supervisors: Hydraulx/2D

Technical Supervisor: Lola Visual Effects -

Colin Strause

Visual Effects Supervisor/Producer: Kleiser-

Walczak - Jeff Kleiser

Additional Visual Effects Supervisor - John 'D.J.' Des Jardin

Visual Effects Coordinators - Ryan Stafford,

Keith Hamakawa and Scott Shields

Visual Effects Producer: Weta Digital - Cyndi Ochs

Visual Effects Executive Producer: Weta Digital -

Eileen Moran

Visual Effects Consultant - Daniel J. Lombardo
Digital Effects Supervisor: Weta Digital - Guy Williams
Animation Supervisor: Weta Digital - Richard Frances-Moore

Animation Supervisor: Hydraulx - Joshua Cordes

CG Supervisors: Weta Digital - Jon Allitt,

Simon Clutterbuck, Christopher Horvath

and Mark Tait

2D Supervisor: Framestore CFC - Matthew Twyford

Miniature Supervisor - Pat McClung

Compositing Supervisor: Weta Digital -

Erik Winquist

Composite Supervisor: MPC - Charley Henley
Editors - Mark Goldblatt, Mark Helfrich
and Julia Wong

Supervising Sound Editor - John A. Larsen

Sound Designer - Craig Heinghan

Sound Mixers - David Husby,

Steve Maslow, Doug Hemphill and

Rick Kline

Additional Sound Mixer - James Bolt

Foley Artists - Alicia Stevenson

and Dawn Fintor

Music - John Powell

Music Recordist and Mixer - Shawn Murphy

Review

Bryan Singer has bravely proven himself in his grand design of the first two X-Men movies and now can hang up his hat in THE LAST STAND. Sadly, however, Singer hands over the title of director to an unworthy recipient, Brett Ratner. In a way, THE LAST STAND is subpar, and Ratner didn't follow Bryan's character-building and style. The film is by no means the best of the series; it leaves viewers disappointed when this movie comes off unfavourably compared to the first two hits. The plot comes off as deliberately rushed. It reflects a poor merging of a few story concepts. Some new mutants miss out on screen time due to the reliance on fighting action and comedy. Also, a few characters got reduced to minor roles, and they sealed their fate, such as Cyclops and Mystique.

It explains why a few actors are too busy doing other movies. Most notable is James Marsden, who went on to star in a supporting role in Superman Returns. It was a movie outside of Marvel adapted from the DC comics and directed by the old boy-wonder of X-Men. Had the third film not concluded with Singer's absence and Marsden's reduced role, this film could have been improved, along with the character Cyclops' portrayal. The character rivalry between him and Wolverine would progress to end their jealousy and differences. THE LAST STAND did, however, cut short the conflict they had with Jean Grey as their main romantic interest, but it too was rushed.

I blame the deficits of this movie on Ratner's poor direction. This film would have been better if it had a cohesive plot. The character depth and subplots need to align with the original storyline. Without Bryan Singer at the helm, the team can't do it. All hope of my liking the third instalment is gone. Being an X-Men fan, I remain optimistic about the next instalment. Kelsey Grammer respectfully plays Beast and is identical to this character. Another new choice of actor is Ellen Page, who receives the role of the ghosting mutant Shadowcat.

You should ignore the third movie and wait for Days of Future Past. Just keep waiting for the prequel X-Men: First Class, which the review will be in next week.

Star rating: (4/10) Below Average

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