X Men: The Last Stand

Hi All,
I'm not sure what's going on with the internals today, but I am so tired I can barely stay awake. WHY did I have to give up caffeine?? A life without caffeine is a sleepy life! haha So I hope my enthusiasm does not sound forced as I review this film. My goal is to get into Entertainment Weekly as the 'most obsessive movie reviewer' there is. haha I should send them every review I write, until they get really sick of me and decide to finally make me a staff member (it's my Dream Job, folks, next to being an independent author).
*Spoiler Alert*
*If you haven't seen this film, you might not want to read this review. I try to stay spoiler-free, but in this case, that will be difficult.

First things first: I've never read an X Men comic in my life. I've never seen the cartoon. My knowledge of X Men exists entirely in the film incarnations. Having said that, let me say: This third (and most likely final, with the exception of 'Wolverine' spin-offs) film was the best in the trilogy.

I'm a visual learner, and I'm very much in love with visual effects in films. Thank You, George Lucas and ILM for that. From the first time I ever saw a special effect, I saw the best that film has to offer. So I'm amazed when artists today can still overwhelm me. A company called Spectral Motion did the effects on this film, and they did an incredible job. It was a joy to watch every scene, very much alive with vivid colors and really cool 'mutant' effects.

I love the scenes in Professor X's school for mutants: It's like in the Harry Potter films where you want to take in the background as much as the main action because cool things are happening there, too. My favorite was when a mutant walks by, casually carrying what must be a 50 inch TV under his arm.

The plot was engaging from the start: Magneto, the self-appointed leader of the revolutionary mutants, is forming an army to fight against a 'cure' that the government has developed. The idea is, being different (and thus a mutant) is bad, so we'd like to cure you. Professor X runs a school to harbor and help develop mutants, and he also houses The X Men, a group that does not share Magneto's need for violent revolution. But in the timeline of this film, most of The X Men are either leaving to be cured (I can't blame Rogue; she cannot touch another human being or she will zap all of their lifeforce from them. I'd go berzerk if I could not touch people.) or are about to become victims of The Dark Phoenix (formerly Jean Grey).

And about Jean Grey...I said before that she's one of my favorite Super Hero characters. I stand by that! I loved her as her 'good' personality, Jean, and her 'bad' personality, The Phoenix. The split personality trick is one device I really like in sci-fi. I think for some reason I liked The Phoenix MORE than Jean. I love a great villain, and she really was. She was finally passionate with Wolverine (nice!), and she's got A LOT of anger in there. Plus, she was portrayed by one of my favorite overlooked actresses, Famke Janssen. I love the Phoenix myth; it's one of my favorites. Coming back from the ashes, indeed. I didn't like that Phoenix was responsible for the death of one of my favorite X Men, but the sheer agony of her knowing she killed people she truly loved was awesome. I love it when you really FEEL something from a film, and you really felt the emotions of the characters in this one. But what I loved most about Phoenix: As mayhem erupts toward the end of the movie, we see the government army fighting Magento's army, with the remaining X Men joining the mix. But Phoenix just stands there, waiting. I've hardly seen a villain look so...powerful. She looks like a goddess standing there, just waiting, with a look of eerie calm on her face. When she gets angry, forget it. And when she does act, it's all over. Unless Wolverine can stop her.

Other things I liked?
1) Patrick Stewart-A great actor. I'll watch him in anything.
2) Ian McKellan-also a great actor. Slightly creepy since I saw 'Gods and Monsters,' but still a great actor.
3) Halle Berry and Dania Ramirez in the best all-female fight scene since Syd took out Evil Francie on 'Alias.'
4) Kelsey Grammer as Beast. A nice addition to the team.
5) Ben Foster as Angel. I want a husband who looks identical to Ben. Someone make that happen. (haha)
6) Rebecca Romijn. Great as Mystique. Sad to see her lose her powers.

I haven't been that entertained in a movie since...'Superman Returns.'
Thank Goodness for Super Heros, eh?

Grade: A+
Very entertaining from start to finish, and visually stunning.

Next up: Hopefully, 'A Scanner Darkly.'

Have a great day!