X-Men: The Last Stand (May 24/06)

There's been a lot of pre-release hubbub swirling around the hiring of Brett Ratner for X-Men: The Last Stand's directorial duties, something that's due in no small part to Bryan Singer's bang-up job with the first two installments in this ongoing series. Both X-Men and its sequel, X2: X-Men United, stand as superb examples of summer films done right, though neither really holds up all that well in any other context (they're fun, sure, but that's about the extent of it).

X-Men: The Last Stand generally comes off as a natural extension of the world established by Singer, particularly in terms of the film's visuals; Ratner, infamous for his exceedingly bland sense of style, apes the look and feel of Singer's previous efforts within the series (it's entirely likely that certain viewers won't be aware of the change until the end credits). Ratner's inability to appropriately juggle the many, many characters and their respective plotlines results in a distinctly unfocused vibe, and it's that lack of cohesion that ultimately transforms X-Men: The Last Stand into an entertaining but thoroughly uneven piece of work.

The story revolves around the conflict that arises following the introduction of a drug that evidently cures mutants of their respective "defects," as Magneto (Ian McKellen) begins formulating a plan to violently protest the very existence of the medication. It's up to the X-Men, including Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), and Beast (Kelsey Grammer), to put a stop to Magneto's nefarious scheme.

If nothing else, viewers should be thankful that Ratner and screenwriters Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn have resisted the impulse to pack X-Men: The Last Stand with one overblown action sequence after another - which is especially impressive when you consider that the three are collectively responsible for some of the noisiest movies in recent years (ie Mr. & Mrs. Smith, XXX: State of the Union, Rush Hour 2, etc, etc). The epic battle that occupies the majority of the film's third act is, likewise, surprisingly engaging and fairly easy to follow - though Ratner does occasionally go overboard with the shaky camerawork.

But what sets X-Men: The Last Stand apart from its tedious summer brethren are the performances, which are almost uniformly excellent (Halle Berry is, as usual, the weakest link here). Returning actors such as Jackman, McKellen, and Aaron Stanford (as the fire-wielding Pyro) bring precisely the sort of depth that viewers have come to expect, while newcomers like Kelsey Grammer and Vinnie Jones infuse the film with sporadic bursts of energy and humor (something that's particularly true of Jones' scene-stealing turn as Juggernaut).

Though lacking in character development and anything even resembling emotional resonance (despite the deaths of several series veterans), X-Men: The Last Stand is an acceptable - albeit mindless - sequel that should placate fans of the series.