Review Roundup: X-Men: The Last Stand
Filed under: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Review Roundup
Pickings are a little slim in the new release department this weekend, evidently because everyone saw X-Men: The Last Stand coming and, quite wisely, headed for the hills. (Among those brave enough to challenge Wolverine and friends, incidentally, is Al Gore, whose An Inconvenient Truth opens on four -- Count 'em, four! -- screens today. Given the press assault the movie's makers have launched over the past two weeks, you'd have thought it was debuting in every multiplex on earth.)
- X-Men: The Last Stand: Give how much in agreement critics are about the movie's strengths and weaknesses (most of which Kim pointed out this morning), you'd think they would have been just as obvious to the studio and that they might have, you know, fixed some of the latter. But, sadly no. Because, as we all know, the movie will make buckets of money whether it has too many characters or not. And people will buy tickets no matter how irritating it is that the movie consistently neglects its interesting theme of outsidership for Giant! Action! Sequences!. Some critics (like the ever-charitable Roger Ebert) can overlook the nonsense and still enjoy the movie for the big, fluffy summer picture it is, while others (like Ryan, and my man Mick LaSalle) have had it up to here with the retreaded plot and its underdeveloped characters.
The Last Stand follows the pattern of the other X-Men films. There are a few terse conversations, followed by explosions, followed by Halle Berry causing a storm, followed by Hugh Jackman sprouting blades from his knuckles, followed by Famke Janssen killing people by thinking about it, etc. In between, we see Patrick Stewart looking worried.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-26-2006 @ 5:27PM
Sam Van Eerden said...
It will be an absolutely sensational drama to watch "Code" and "X-Men" duke it out for top box office rankings. Still, "The Last Stand" should easily claim the top box office this week. BUT...I don't know...next week "Da Vinci Code" could easily reclaim it; especially with the load of bad reviews "X-Men" is getting.
But then, bad reviews sure didn't hurt Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code," did it?!
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5-27-2006 @ 5:30PM
Guy Daley said...
The professional critics tear it down because they think that's there job and maybe because they were pissed they lost one or two of their favorite characters and were moved. Its embarrassing to be a professional critic and moved by this type of movie (the backlash is negativity). This episode of the X-Men was every bit as good as the last two except perhaps they tried to cram it into 1 hour 44. So certain interactions and developments were kind of brief. Otherwise it should get Oscars for makeup, special effects, a lot of the set locations were spectacular, the score was good and so on. A movies job is to churn emotions otherwise we'd stay home and look at the still life on the wall. The Last Stand did its job and then some.
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6-03-2006 @ 12:13PM
Michael said...
X-Men The Last Stand has great special effects & a lot of action along with good stunt work. That own its own is enough to see the movie along with some pretty hot women to look at but what can I say I am a guy and I like that sort of thing. In addition; it has an ok story line however it doesn't follow the comic book but that is ok. I thought the director(s) could have done more with the show but it has a good dramatic ending that was a good surprise. I recommend the movie but it is pretty much predictible but since it has great action, special effects, and women it gets a thumbs up-you will have a good time.
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