Is It Really That Bad? X-Men: The Last Stand
Ten years ago, we had our first X-Men threequel. Then, we had our second X-Men threequel in Apocalypse. Soon, we’ll have our third X-Men threequel in that Wolverine series. If there is anything these movies have proven it’s how much no one is looking forward to the third movie in anything, good or bad. We like to say this started with The Last Stand, but is that totally fair? Could all the problems with the X-Men movies really be centered around a 104-minute movie that doesn’t even have time travel? No, in all honesty, we need to look back at this supposed blight in comic movies and look at it for what it is. Otherwise, we’re not going to be impressed by anything, and that may have already started.
Occasionally, we blame something without totally understanding why and ignore things that could be helpful going forward when judging these movies. For The Last Stand, that means focusing on the hero deaths, the shoe-horned love triangles, and the introductions of notable characters only to have them become meaningless. All of those things are valid criticisms, I’m not denying that, but plenty of those arguments miss the greater picture.
As I mentioned for another X threequel, there’s a difference between bad idea and bad execution. Retconning Uncle Ben’s killer to be the Sandman is a bad idea. The idea of a mutant cure or the Dark Phoenix Saga, both celebrated comic storylines, are not bad ideas. Putting them together in a movie less than two hours long is just bad execution. It’s important to realize the difference since we could very well someday end up with a movie featuring the House of M storyline combined with an Onslaught storyline without movie people thinking “maybe this time” or something. This world featured The Amazing Spider-Man 2 following the same problems of Spider-Man 3 with having too many villains, so, yes, it could happen.
Going back to the plot, the idea of a mutant cure is easily an interesting story. It’s the philosophical hero vs. hero argument that made up a bulk of Civil War and introduced the idea that maybe the ones we automatically follow may not be always right. Though it’s hard to see Professor X doing questionable things in suppressing Jean’s powers while Magneto has a point in fighting against a government that could easily turn on mutants, it’s a far greater and more interesting premise than the usual black-and-white depiction in mutants and society. While the Dark Phoenix storyline doesn’t add to that, it doesn’t take that impact away.
One can’t deny the action or the heroics that greatly surpassed the previous two films. Magneto lifted the Golden Gate bridge to create a path for his army of mutants to attack the military. No matter how the film turned out, The Last Stand will always be the movie where that happened. Even the standoff with a team of six X-Men against the army of the Brotherhood gives off that classic comic vibe of heroes using both powers and ingenuity to win. There were dozens of mutants with unique powers all featured in this movie whether for a second or half the movie. That’s the goal we should have for X-Men films in general.
Granted, I’d prefer if we’re introduced to characters like Angel, Callisto, or Juggernaut that they play a bigger part than just being there. It’s almost a testimony that they got the vague directions of these characters correct in the midst of two major plots moving around them. Again, this is less a case of bad ideas than it is of bad execution, best represented by the use of the line “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” Perhaps if there were at least twenty minutes more, and less emphasis on the love triangles (no defense for those), these things could have been improved as they were as well.
Moving onto the character deaths which, as of now…are actually pretty interesting. This movie willingly killed off Cyclops and Professor X and apparently thought it would be a good idea. It was used to further the lousy romance between Jean Grey and Wolverine (again no defense), but when are we going to see those kind of deaths again? Days of Future Past already undid those mistakes, guaranteeing they will never go that far again, but it’s almost a shame. With those two killed off, the comic book movies could have been places where even iconic characters aren’t safe. Now, we never give it a thought that Iron Man or Captain America will survive. It’s actually something that we should look back on and regret our complaints.
Finally, The Last Stand brings back a long-lost idea: an ending. It appears as the final part of Wolverine’s development as he accepts the work of the X-Men, until the next trilogy at least. It features in the mourning of deaths that comes from an ending. It even comes through the vague post-credit scene which appeared back when they weren’t a requirement if you can believe it. It’s nice when a movie can recognize where the story could and should end rather than demand a sequel. It may not be the best ending, but The Last Stand is one nevertheless.
The Last Stand still has its flaws that even I won’t defend, but I feel that in a world where we have two X-Men trilogies moving at the same time we should consider the real problems. When we see those, the positives of the movie are actually visible. Even if you don’t see the positives, you can at least see where the films even now can improve. Since Apocalypse featured some of the same problems, it might be a good idea. Besides, X-Men will be around for a while. There’s still plenty of time to find the worst one.
