X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Swapping directors 2/3 into a trilogy seems strange. And when you replace one of Hollywood's greatest talents with a guy most known for very bad action-comedies and music videos for even worse artists... well, that seems reckless.

The start is ominous simply because it stars McKellen and Stewart, but brings nothing. Well, nothing is a bit strong, as it brings an exceptionally poor use of editing to try and pass the pair off as young. They look more like old ugly women who overspent on botox and plastic surgery. Particularly Stewart.

It gets worse though. Some of the fight scenes are filled with stupid and unnecessary uses of powers where a simple "duck" will do. There are some creative uses, though, but it's painstakingly clear that Singer is smarter than Ratner in most action sequences.

The casting is still good, though. no changes to key characters, and Kelsey Grammar as a blue monster/Secretary is brilliant. Kudos also Ben Foster who makes the most out of a part that doesn't get enough screentime to be particularly exciting. Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut is exceptionally misplaced though. By taking on new faces, many of the remaining suffer. Particularly Rogue, who is little more than a prop until the last 30 minutes, but also Wolverine. Though the manner in which his tragedy lives on is quite fantastic. But when you forget who the trilogy was about, this film feels bereft of anything close to a conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. Which is doubly ironic, considering its title.

Ratner does try to keep a bigger picture here and some social awareness alive, but it's not done particularly effective or with the necessary subtlety, making the immense McKellen come off as cartoon-version of a North-Korean leader.

There are still some good scenes where Ratner hits a very fine note, such as the early scene with Stewart and Berry. Actually, he uses Storm much better than Singer managed. Where Jean realizes Phoenix is also quite magnificent suspense-building. The huge highlight is the final stand-off between Xavier and Jean, though. A perfect blend of action, suspense, fine CGI and drama, all coupled with a fantastic theme from John Powell, in an otherwise unremarkable score. That's a good 45 minutes from the end, though.

As Ratner is a significantly poorer director than Singer, he never manages a real flow to the story developing. Most of the time it just feels like he's flinging characters and elements of a whole we're not permitted to understand towards us. So a few good scenes doesn't make up for the fact that Ratner is a third-rate storyteller. Not by a long shot. And it's such a pity. The pieces were there, but the director failed to assemble them.

5/10