X-Men: The Last Stand

Overall the X-Men film franchise up to this point has been handled best of all the comic book adaptations, with the exception of Sin City. Sure there have been plenty of changes for purists to clamor and complain about, but the first two films, both helmed by Bryan Singer, stayed true to enough elements, and were treated seriously enough that even the long-time fans were happy, even if it was grudgingly. Now that Singer has departed the franchise to resurrect Superman the mantle falls to Brett Ratner, best known for the Rush Hour franchise. While Ratner is a competent director, he does not bring the same life to X-Men that Singer did.

The new X-Men introduced to the film are hardly used throughout the film, with few exceptions, and feel like they were included because they had to introduce new toys, not because the characters had anything to do to promote the storyline. If they felt the need to bring in new characters, perhaps they should have stopped to assess some of the still existing dead weight first; i.e. Halle Berry's cardboard performance as Storm. The only new introduction that felt important to the picture as a whole was Kelsey Grammer delivering a surprisingly well-cast appearance as Beast, outside of that we had to depend on the other member of the long-standing cast that survive to carry the picture.

The picture is not without merit, it makes for a very enjoyable popcorn flick, but one destined to