X-Men III: The Last Stand

Set in the not too distant future, the newest edition in the X-Men trilogy is entertaining, but not much more than a comic book war come to life on Hollywood’s silver screen.

 

X-Men III still has it’s original cast, but the movie doesn’t spend much time with character development or dialog, which left me feeling more indifferent to the movie and the storyline than I had to the previous two. 

 

The story brings up some heavy themes, but portrays them in a way that doesn’t make the audience think through them, or even truly care.  It’s heavy without the benefit of any real lessons or morals coming out to make it seem worth sitting through.       

 

To its credit the film does have a few short scenes in particular with impressive special effects that would be hard to appreciate on a smaller screen  (of course, nothing as fun as seeing little green Yoda whip a light saber around), but it still didn’t make up for the lack of characterization.    

 

I thought seeing Kelsey Grammar (from Frasier) dressed as a blue hairy mutant was funny.  The look is a comical combination between Cookie Monster and Bigfoot, and the result is a cheesy looking Halloween costume,  with Frasier’s inflections.  It isn’t worth seeing the movie though just to see Grammar as a blue who-knows-what.  His character is sort of irritating, but the costume alone was almost amusing.   

 

Impatient X-Men fans should probably see the movie, along with anyone up for a new action flick, or if you’re feeling the need to sit in a collapsible chair for a few hours with your sneakers stuck in some unknown gooey substance.  It’s not a bad choice, because the film is entertaining.  But if you’re not planning a trip to the theater just for the sake of going to the movies and don’t care whether or not you see the newest X-Men flick on the big screen or at home in your living room, I don’t see any need for you to hurry onto Fandango.

 

I had been anticipating the release of X-Men III for while, and I found it a bit of a letdown, but for a comic book war I enjoyed it for what it was.  I wasn’t bored while watching it, which is always a good sign, but that doesn’t mean the newest Marvel comic brought to life is going to bring home an Academy Award either.