Director Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand opened Friday. I saw it at the Grauman's Chinese Theaters in Hollywood yesterday.Clearly, the screenwriters, Simon Kinberg (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, XXX)
and Zak Penn (X2, Elecktra), took the subtitle "The Last Stand" pretty seriously because the story makes profligate use with some beloved characters' lives and powers by making some permanent decisions about their futures. Usually this is a tactic which heightens suspense in a thrilling way (c.f. this season's 24) but if it is overused then it actually reduces narrative tension because then the audience expects the main character to not surivive (c.f. the series finale of Alias). Unfortunately, in The Last Stand the device is used enough times so that the results are more like the latter than the former.
Almost all the reviews of the film comment approvingly on the stunning visual effects of the film, but those are expected and de rigeur for any summer blockbuster in the post Lord of the Rings movie marketplace. No, what ultimately disappoints is the lack of emotional resonance of the plot.
REVIEW: B+
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