X-Men: The Last Stand

Starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan.
Directed by Brett Ratner

SUMMARY
The third installment of the comic book series that follows mutants with special powers as they battle oppressive humans and fellow mutants. In this film there has been a discovery of a "cure" for being a mutant. Some respond very positively to being cured, and others respond violently. Magneto (McKellan) leads an offensive against those who would use the cure, while the X-Men stand or protect humans. All the while, the presumed-dead Jean Grey re-appears as Dark Phoenix with frightening powers.

REVIEW
This film is not at all on par with the first two X-Men films (which were both excellent). It is not only that this story is darker. It is also that it is told in an inferior way. Interesting characters are not developed, and others are strangely left out. Battle scenes are decent, but the writing for the film is less than stellar. It seems contrived and formulaic. It is engaging enough if you have seen the first two, and if you are committed to the characters. Still, it would be better to pretend that there are only two X-Men movies (just as it is better to pretend there was only one Matrix movie).

QUESTION FOR THOUGHT
Not a lot to deal with here. The movie was lame. Okay, okay, I've got one. Why do we want to be normal? We say that all the time. "I just want to be normal." "I just want my child to have a normal life." How lame! But we still long for it. What is it we are really longing for, and are we cheating ourselves by pursuing normalcy?

OVERALL
Do you really need me to say it again. Don't see it. If you are an absolute X-Men fan, I guess you might want to see it, but prepare for an inferior installment. And also prepare yourself for a prolonged scene between Jean and Wolverine that made me think that the movie should have been 'R' instead of 'PG-13.' If you are not a fan, or have not seen the first two, I'll make it easy for you: Skip it.
Rating: 1.5 stars out of 5 possible.