X-Men: The Last Stand

2006, in theater

You should know

Sorry about the delay. I've been in Canada. Don't worry, trip-related reviews will follow in the near future.

So, I’m not a comic book person. I’ll skim a trade every now and then, but as much as I enjoy superheroes, I get mine from cartoons and movies. I’ve seen both previous X-Men movies, and I watched both the 1992 and 2000 cartoons from time to time, but I never read the comics. My friend Brian has probably seen fewer episodes of the cartoons than I have. My friend Dan, on the other hand, is a big comic fan and recently won big at a HeroClix tournament. He was also extensively “spoilered” as to the outcome of the movie.

So?

Lots of explosions, lots of fighting (including a few chick-fights), a little philosophy – in other words, a good summer movie. However, as in the case of all good summer movies, it’s important to not think too much. Brian and I both thought the ending felt wrong, somehow, and Dan could pinpoint every last detail that might have contributed to that feeling (“Juggernaut is not British!” is an example that should not spoil anything for you). So if you’re a hard-core X-Men fan, you may have a hard time ceasing to think.

Rating

See it if…
…You saw the two previous movies and/or like X-Men but can bite your tongue. If you haven’t seen the movies and don’t like the X-Men, you probably won’t know what’s going on (not that it’s all that complicated, but enough exposition was missing that having a background in the material helps). And if you’re a stickler for comic continuity, just don’t bother – your head will explode.

Even so, it was a fun movie. Dan told me afterward that he went in expecting to hate it, and actually kind of liked it. I liked it too, and you probably will as well.

UPDATE: I just wanted to add: make sure you stay through the credits. Too many people have left as soon as the credits rolled and then had to find out what happened online.

The rest of the Internet

Beware of Spoilers…
An X-Men fan site.
Rotten Tomatoes wasn’t thrilled.
DJ Coffman at Yirmumah reviewed the movie, and took issue with some of the language.
Awesomelord at House of Awesome seems to agree with me about the “don’t overthink” thing.
Jeff at Minutiae, as always, wrote up a great review, which sparked an intelligent conversation.

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