REVIEWS
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“When an individual acquires great power, the use or misuse of that power is everything,
The movie did amazing well over the four day holiday weekend, setting a new Memorial Day weekend record. Although it appears, comic book fans did have their say. After taking in $45 million on Friday, word of mouth caused the second day take to fall to $31 million and it kept crashing. Overall from Friday to Monday the movie's performance fell close to 70%.
To see how this number compares to other summer hits and past “X-Men” films, check out The Flicks Four section at the end of the summer.
will it be used for the greater good or will it be used for personal or destructive ends?”
The X-Men franchise is of Fox's most profitable series. With the first one dating back to 2000, the mutant superheroes have netted a nice profit in Cineplex's. But like all good things, this to must come to an end. If a movie's subtitle has the words “final” or “last” in it, its fairly big clue that the end is near. With that said, Fox and Marvel knew that they needed to go out with a bang, but to some fans was it more of a whimper?
After Bryan Singer left the series to restart Warner Brothers “Superman” franchise, many in the industry had mixed reactions. How can you complete a vision of one director, with another at the helm? Well Fox and Marvel were about to find out! Director Brett Ratner, of “Rush Hour” fame, stepped in the coveted role. Although a lot of comic book fan were skeptical.
Many asked why Fox had to release the finale now, couldn't they have waited for Singer and shot for a '07 release date? Theoretically yes, but in actuality, no! 2007's summer slate is already filling up. Both “Spiderman” and “The Fantastic Four” has bookmarked release dates. It would be unwise for Marvel to make its core audience choose between three of its most profitable children. Not to mention it would be a huge gamble for Fox as well. The company is also trying to launch two spin-off franchises revolving around the characters of “Wolverine” and “Magneto.”
So it was all systems go with all of the original cast back for one go and a new director leading the charge. In fact, the franchise even was able to add in new elements, fans had been crying out for in past films. One was the inclusion of “The War Room.” This staple of comic book would be a costly addition as it is basically a holographic training room, which would require some expensive (but cool) special effects. The other addition were more characters. Kelsey Grammer signed on as Beast and Vinnie Jones assumed the mantle of Juggernaut. Both are popular characters from the comic, but weren't included in the first two movies.
The plot for the film also comes partially from the comics. Picking up a little bit after the last one left off, our friendly and not-so friendly neighborhood mutants are still reeling from the apparent death of Jean Grey (Framke Jannsen). But as every comic book fan knows, nobody ever really dies in the comics. Nine times out of ten these loved characters make a dramatic return. Grey is no different. She comes back, fittingly enough, as Phoenix, but something about her is different and not in a good way.
Most of the franchises best moments come from old friends turned rivals Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Eric “Magneto” Lensherr. It is the classic good vs. evil bad with a humane twist. The two continue to share amazing onscreen chemistry here in “The Last Stand.” The pair must try to convince Phoenix to fight along side them after a supposed cure is found by the government for their mutant abilities. Xavier looks at it reserved optimism while Magneto sees it as full on threat to their way of life. The result is an well conceived sequence that pits the two sides against each other, with “the cure” in the middle of it all.
While Ratner has done a fine job with the finale, there does seem to be some elements missing. Granted, I wasn't completely blown away by Singer's first two films either. I grew up reading DC Comics, not Marvel, so I was unaware of the painstaking effort Signer used to include the mythology of these characters. As uninformed as I was during the first films, I was that much more aware during this one; aware that a lot of it was missing. There are always certain elements you can't change in a movie based on a comic book, but here those changes are made.
The real test for a movie of this kind isn't how it does long term; it's how it does over the opening frame. If may make a lot of money, but look at how the numbers change from day to day. If the movies opens huge on Friday, but drops considerably over the rest of the weekend, that's the result of the fans voicing their opinions. This should be an interesting finish.
Overall, the “X-Men” movies are just what summer films are all about. They let you escape from the ordinary world for two hours. This one does it just as well as the previous two, but if you're a comic book fan, prepare for some twists.
UPDATE:
