X-MEN: THE LAST STAND REVIEW!!!

Initial release date: May 26, 2006

Studios: 20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment

Tagline: Take A Stand

Evolution will take a last stand

Plot: The discovery of a cure for mutations leads to a turning point for Mutants. They may now choose to give up their powers and become fully human or retain their uniqueness and remain isolated. War looms between the followers of Charles Xavier, who preaches tolerance, and those of Magneto, who advocates survival of the fittest.

Cast

Hugh Jackman - Logan/Wolverine

Halle Berry - Storm

Ian McKellen - Magneto

Patrick Stewart - Xavier/Professor X

Famke Janssen - Jean Grey/Phoenix

Anna Paquin - Rogue

Kelsey Grammer - Hank McCoy/Beast

James Marsden - Cyclops

Rebecca Romijn - Mystique

Shawn Ashmore - Iceman

Aaron Stanford - Pyro

Vinnie Jones - Juggernaut

Elliot Page - Kitty Page/Shadowcat (credited as Ellen Page)

Daniel Cudmore - Colossus

Ben Foster - Warren Worthington III/Angel

Michael Murphy - Warren Worthington II

Shohreh Aghdashloo - Dr. Kauita Rao

Writer(s): Simon Kinberg (The 355; Dark Phoenix; Apocalypse)

Zak Penn (Free Guy; Ready Player One)

Director: Brett Ratner

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content and language (104 minutes)

Finally got through the original X-Men trilogy (2000-2006) and checked out X-Men: The Last Stand. Unlike the first two movies, this was actually the first time watching this sequel. And, even though The Last Stand can be entertaining at times, this is the weakest of this trilogy.

The story lines of the character of Jean Grey and there being a cure for mutants are interesting but cramming both of them in a little over 100 minute movie was too much and would've worked better as two split movies.

Throughout both stories there are some intriguing ideas that really worked alright and can have a bit of an emotional impact, such as how the Jean Grey/Phoenix story wrapped up. There are also a few new characters (such as Angel) that are introduced, and sadly underdeveloped. While watching the movie, after awhile I forgot the Angel character was in the movie since the character is in and out of the movie.

Now, after thinking about it, if the filmmakers wanted both of these stories in one movie, they should've made the movie a lot longer. Some of the other major characters that were in the other movies have shortened roles and the short running time kinda ruined this trilogy-capper.

So, here is my ranking of the first X-Men trilogy:

1. X2: X-Men United (2003)

2. 2. X-Men (2000)

3. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Initially I was planning on going through the entire franchise. But, due to some constraints with the reviews I have planned for the Examiner (with the upcoming film festival, new releases, etc), I will only be checking out the recent X-Men prequels (First Class, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix - the latter two I have never seen).

Here are some tidbits for X-MEN: THE LAST STAND!

• Rebecca Romijn's and James Marsden's roles were reduced substantially when this movie was rushed into production, and the 2 cast members had prior scheduling conflicts.

• Budgeted at $210 million, this was, at the time, the most expensive movie ever made.

• When Bryan Singer was going to direct, he and his writers, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, wrote a treatment solely based on the X-Men storyline "The Dark Phoenix Saga."

• The Marvel introductory logo is composed entirely of X-Men images that pertain to the storylines in this movie.

• At the time of its release, this was the most financially successful of the movies. It was later surpassed by 2014s X-Men: Days of Future Past.

• When Famke Janssen was cast as Jean Grey in X-Men, she was excited at the prospect of doing the Dark Phoenix storyline. She wasn't happy about the way this was depicted in this movie.

• Prior to its release, a laptop containing a rough copy of the movie was reported stolen on the 20th Century Fox lot. While the footage was never leaked, all cars entering and exiting the studio were thoroughly searched for a week after the reported theft.

• First movie in the franchise to include a mid credit scene. All of the successive movies have a mid credits and/or post credits scene, with the exception of Logan.

• X-Men: The Last Stand premiered at an out of competition event of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2006. The movie was released in the US on May 26, 2006, in 3,690 theaters.

• The Last Stand earned $45.1 million on its opening day and went on to generate $102.7 million during its 3 day opening weekend, making it the 4th highest opening weekend of all time, behind Shrek 2, Revenge of the Sith and Spider-Man.

• It eventually grossed $234.4 million in the domestic box office and $225 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $459.4 million.

https://youtu.be/ZQ0v5dXbw7M?si=Cay67pJp2hIHI2HT