X-Men: The Last Stand 2006

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Ratner seems incapable of infusing his overly busy story with nuance, depth or the wonderful wry humor that connected us so thoroughly to these characters in the first place, and so their sacrifices never register. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: X-Men: The Last Stand is spectacular but alienating: a high-flying high-tech product that impresses but fails to move you. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: ... a fast and enjoyable B-movie ... Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Despite all the grand gestures of climax and resolution, there's a pronounced sense of autopilot; the only person who seems to be having a good time is Ian McKellen as the scheming Magneto. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: X-Men: The Last Stand has shifted the shape of the franchise from pretty good, if uninspired, to terrifically entertaining. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The Last Stand, though the weakest in the franchise, is often a kick to watch; you keep wanting more of these characters. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: It does work on both levels. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The big action scenes are well-staged -- especially the climactic battle royale in which Jean/Phoenix strides through the chaos like Carrie at her prom. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The X-Men have survived mutation, persecution, and supervillainous foes hell-bent on their destruction. But can they survive Brett Ratner? Well, no. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: But can the series hold together for another sequel? Given the final few scenes, I'd say it's not quite time to X out the X-Men. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The battle sequences, always the least exciting, most obligatory feature of the first two movies, seem to have something at stake -- namely the lives of the characters. My heart goes out to heroes who believe a summer movie is worth dying for. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: Action- and issue-packed. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Oppressive overkill can suck the life from any hallowed institution. Even, dare say it, the X-Men. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: I suppose it's asking too much of Ratner to impart some kind of visionary flourish to the proceedings. But without it, these comic-book movies all tend to look the same. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: The three-quel is a talky D(N)a Vinci Code, devoid of pacing and rife with inside jokes. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: [A] thoroughly enjoyable mutant-palooza conclusion to the X-Men series. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: This is interesting stuff. So why does The Last Stand feel driven to dumb itself down, as if embarrassed by its own ideas? Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: The cleverness of the basic idea, stitched together by credited writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg from story arcs in the comics, gets lost in all the commotion, while the characters get reduced to, well, cartoon versions of their former selves. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The spectacles linger in the imagination, but the rest is pretty easy to forget. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: [The Last Stand is] by far the daftest of the lot, and the one in which the stars' contractual fatigue is evident in the number of major characters who meet their demise before the first couple of reels are up. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: The nuance and complexity of character that made the first two X-Men movies more compelling than the typically mindless summer blockbuster are gone in X-Men: The Last Stand. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: X-Men: The Last Stand more or less stands on its own legs, but the degree to which one is engaged really depends on one's familiarity with the first two films. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Sillier than the Singer versions, Ratner's movie is also -- for this less-than-reverent X-Men fan -- more satisfying. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: For a movie that promotes unity, it is awfully splintered in its storytelling. It lacks a core plot to link the set pieces and create a sense of momentum. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Taking over from the more cerebral Bryan Singer, Ratner is unable to maintain the emotional intensity that has made this series so deeply epic. But he sure knows how to put on a show. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: [I] found myself strangely moved by the sense of relationships, friendly and unfriendly, coming to an end in a dull return to normality in the world of humans and mutants. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The Last Stand moves, it amuses a while, and it ends. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: X-Men: The Last Stand is the first blockbuster of the 2006 summer season that hasn't caused me to shake my head with disappointment. It delivers pretty much what's expected. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I liked the action, I liked the absurdity, I liked the incongruous use and misuse of mutant powers, and I especially liked the way it introduces all of those political issues and lets them fight it out with the special effects. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: The Last Stand is a hugely ambitious picture, and it would have been far more successful if Ratner had scaled it down to focus more on the interaction between the characters. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: This is the third film in the series, which means that on three occasions now we've been presented with the same story, featuring the same conflict, leading to the same false resolution, a smiley-happy joining of hands at the edge of an abyss. Read more

Michael Agger, Slate: X-Men: The Last Stand is an uninspired hodgepodge. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Without the first films' textured relationships, the story becomes just another episode of Orange Fireball Cinema. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Though this third film, directed by the ham-handed Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), slides into overstuffed narrative complication and self-parodying quippiness, the pop mythology remains intact, even vital. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: To anyone more discerning, and certainly to those fans who cherished the way the first two movies took pains to honour what made the X-Men such special mutants, the final blowout will seem like a blown opportunity. Read more

Ben Walters, Time Out: Aa tighter focus might have enhanced the set-up's latent allegorical powers, and its emotional resonance. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: X-Men: The Last Stand expands on the themes of discrimination and alienation explored in the first two films, and still retains the franchise's signature kick-butt action features. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: A wham-bam sequel noticeably lacking in the pop gravitas, moody atmospherics and emotional weight that made the first two Marvel comicbook adaptations so rousingly successful. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: ... thanks to lowered expectations ... and in a season of economically disastrous disaster movies, the mere fact that this Memorial Day juggernaut is not a catastrophe should spell good news for a depressed industry. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: [Director] Ratner makes a hash of the story and characters his predecessor brought to such complex, sympathetic life, delivering a pumped-up exercise in mayhem, carnage and blunt-force trauma. Read more