Dangerous "X-"pectations

Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, Joe Kubert, Andy Kubert, Adam Kubert, John Cassaday and Joss Whedon. These men have been crucial in the development of the "X-Men" empire, being the writers and illustrators behind the "X-Men" comic. It is hard to determine which man was the most important in the realm of mutants, but one thing is certain. The high expectations created by these gentlemen are more dangerous than Magneto.

Those seven listed names most likely mean nothing to general public, but to an avid "X-Men" fan, like myself, they are the heart and soul of the mutant magic. I watched the film with expectations of grandeur and it was inevitable that I would experience some form of disappointment for trivial reasons, like Gambit was not in the film and the Dark Phoenix saga was not accurately represented. However, the film was anything but bad — it just was not as good as I expected.

"The Last Stand" mixes the Dark Phoenix story, where Jean Gray (Famke Janssen) is taken over by a dangerous entity known as the Phoenix, with the story arc about a cure to mutations. Other plots ensue mainly concerning villain Magneto (Ian McKellen) and the Brotherhood of Mutants, who believe that mutants are superior.

First and foremost, "The Last Stand" is an action film, so the script is at some points very weak. Fortunately, when the script fails, the acting and action sequences pull through, making the movie progress in a smooth fashion.

The action was worthy of the hype and it also included what fans felt the two previous films lacked. Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Angel (Ben Foster) finally joined the X-Men, completing the original five X-Men. The film also included Danger Room exercises, which is a room in Xaviar's school that allows the X-Men to practice fight simulations. Best of all, the film included two Fastball Specials when a metallic Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) throws an angry Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) at the enemy.

One undeniable flaw of the movie was that too many mutants were included. While it was nice to see Shadowcat (Ellen Page), a personal favorite, it was nuisance to see every single mutant created like Toad, Quill, Psylocke, Jubilee and Artie.

While it is expected that McKellen will do well in any performance, his skill level, just like the number of mutants in the film, increased dramatically. While undeniably evil, he has fears and dreams that are evident in every scene that he is in. Even the last scene that McKellen is in, the traditional chess scene that appears at the end of every film, is unprecedented in acting skill. Audiences beware; do not take your eyes off the scene for a second.

In fact, the only obvious and correctable flaw with the movie was that my expectations were too high. If not for my unreasonable expectations, I would have found the film brilliant. Just like Wolverine is the best at what he does, killing, the people who contributed to the film are the best at what they do: creating the final installment of a memorable trilogy.