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X-Men: The Last Stand
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

X-Men: The Last Stand reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 58 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.1 out of 10
based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 284 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13

Starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, and Rebecca Romijn

In the climax of the X-Men trilogy, a "cure" for mutancy threatens to alter the course of history. For the first time, mutants have a choice: retain their uniqueness, though it isolates and alienates them, or give up their powers and become human. (20th Century Fox)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Fantasy  |  Sci-fi  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Zak Penn
Simon Kinberg
 
DIRECTED BY: Brett Ratner  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 3, 2006 
Theatrical: May 26, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 103 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Also known as "X-Men 3"

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Surprise, surprise. X-Men: The Last Stand, the third big-screen convocation of mutant shape shifters, weather changers, ice makers, energy suckers, healers and telepaths from Marvel Comics, has shifted the shape of the franchise from pretty good, if uninspired, to terrifically entertaining.
75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
It delivers pretty much what's expected.
Read Full Review
75
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
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.
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75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Love it or hate it, X-III packs more action and razzle-dazzle visuals into its 104-minute running time than "Mission: Impossible III," "Poseidon" and "The Da Vinci Code" combined.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The happiest news about the third (and final?) X-Men movie is actually quite sad: headstones. Yes, The Last Stand brings the lamentable deaths of several major characters.
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75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
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.
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70
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
If this really is the last stand, it's a stylish farewell indeed.
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70
The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Though the picture is not without its wow-inducing, SFX-driven moments, that potent X-factor is considerably diminished in Singer's absence.
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70
New York Magazine David Edelstein
It's a fast and enjoyable B-movie, though, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine brings some good stormy drama to the proceedings.
Read Full Review
70
Variety Justin Chang
The result, though it delivers only in fits and starts, is still sharper and more inventive than most comicbook-adapted fare, and eventually gets the job done as far as action buffs are concerned.
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70
Village Voice Dennis Lim
If little else, the third and supposedly final entry in the X-Men mega-franchise suggests that some movies -- or at any rate some formulas -- are not just critic-proof, they might even be director-proof.
Read Full Review
70
Newsweek David Ansen
Ratner's version is friskier, shallower-and more fun.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Ratner seems to have found a theme that he can relate to: A terrifying trio of angry, undomesticated women who all but run away with the movie.
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67
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Whether the entry is good, great or (in this case) indifferent, it's always stimulating to return to the high-flying X-Men series.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
This is interesting stuff. So why does The Last Stand feel driven to dumb itself down, as if embarrassed by its own ideas?
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67
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
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.
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63
USA Today Claudia Puig
Has a couple of emotionally resonant scenes that build on the first two story lines. But it lacks the intriguing moody quality of the previous films. The mutants are more pumped up and angry this time, rather than misunderstood and conflicted.
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63
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Disappointingly, X-Men: The Last Stand slides back between the first two episodes. It's not stuporous, and it's not super.
Read Full Review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
With more superheroes, more action and more stuff blowing up than ever before, X-Men: The Last Stand has the climactic oomph that suggests a finale, though not the gravitas to suggest a resolution.
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63
Premiere Ethan Alter
Comic-book enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief: Brett Ratner hasn't completely ruined the X-Men series a.k.a. "The Franchise that Bryan Singer Built."
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63
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
While I didn't love it, I enjoyed The Last Stand because it made me imagine the mutant powers I want to develop. I'm thinking along the lines of merging Rogue's suction abilities with Storm's controlled-rain skills.
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63
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
But for all the sound, fury and spectacle, the film feels vaguely hollow and unsatisfying.
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63
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Mostly about extending a Hollywood franchise with ever-diminishing returns.
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63
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Director Brett Ratner can't make chicken a la king out of chicken droppings, and that's what writers Simon Kinberg ("XXX: State of the Union") and Zak Penn ("Elektra") supply.
Read Full Review
60
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Only half a mess -- and even with all its flaws, it's an enjoyable diversion that shows both respect and affection for the formidable legacy of the "X-Men" comics.
Read Full Review
60
Empire Dan Jolin
Singer's absence is felt but not fatal. By adding too much new blood Ratner loses some of the original DNA, but with its nifty set-pieces and a few nasty surprises, X3's still a worthy enough sequel to ensure it’s no Last Stand.
Read Full Review
58
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Following two superior entries, Ratner's slick placeholder of a sequel lacks that crucial X-factor called inspiration.
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50
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Mostly, as so often with these types of empty entertainments, you are left to wonder why companies that hire so many fine actors to run around under latex and foam and have the best technological wizardry money can buy seem to spend so little attention to the screenplay.
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50
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Almost as mindless as "Fantastic Four," but more annoying in that this one has philosophical pretensions.
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50
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
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.
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50
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
There's much to enjoy here – Ratner's pacing is fluid and fast and the film rushes along its busy, cluttered way with something approaching melodramatic snarkiness – but it's also terribly busy and cluttered.
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50
Slate Michael Agger
An uninspired hodgepodge.
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50
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
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.
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50
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Last stand? My ass. Billed as the climax of a trilogy, the third and weakest chapter in the X-Men series is a blatant attempt to prove there is still life in the franchise.
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50
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
It's a disappointing chapter in what until now has been a highly entertaining, even thought-provoking series.
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40
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Has a few high points, but feels far too disjointed and slapdash to favorably compare to what came before.
Read Full Review
40
The New Yorker David Denby
What a comedown, after the weirdly beautiful things Singer and his technicians did in the first two movies.
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40
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Long before the movie's climax, in which Magneto (Ian McKellen) turns smashed-up automobiles into fiery projectiles to be hurled at his enemies, those in the audience will know what it means to behold a flaming hunk of junk.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 284 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Scott C. gave it a0:
This is a horrible movie. It is souless, for one, and the only way a person would enjoy it at all is if they were a mindless comic book fan - making it already a different type of movie from the previous X-mens, which had heart and characters who were real people. When you have major characters being killed off one by one, and as an audience member (and avid comic book fan, to boot) you could literally care less, I think that's a sign someone screwed up. This is to the X-men franchise what Batman & Robin was to the Batman franchise, in terms of jumping the shark. The only difference is superficial - the latter drove it into the ground by being campy, but Ratner drives this into the ground by being pretentiously "serious". I hated this. Don't see it.

Andy gave it a4:
The mystery and intrigue from the first two films is replaced with a dumbed-down storyline and mawkish jokes. The politics and character development are sent to the background while the over-produced special effects are brought to the foreground. Basically, everything good Singer brought to the first two films is what Ratner leaves out in the third.

Cyclops 1987 gave it a1:
Belive me I can write at least two best selling books about how much this movie sucks. As a true X-men lover I was devestated after watching this movie and went into coma for a week. Such a pathetic story it seems Ratner was completely unware of X-men comics, cartoons and previous movies. [***SPOILER***] I am one of biggest fan of Cyclops and the fate he met in the movie was toally disgusting. It would have been better ending if Pheonix had killed Cyclops in the end and Jean angered by watching her lover die took control of her power and Pheonix just like professor was saying when he was dying. Summing it all up it was not X-men 3 it was Wolverine 3.

ByungSuk gave it a5:
I liked it at first but then I realized they totally destroyed the X-Men Lore. [***SPOILER***] I'm so sad that Professor X died. When I saw him explode in the theater, I was like "WHAT!! They can't do that" but then I realized that I was still in the movie theater.

Ben S. gave it a6:
I liked the other X-Men, but this was a real disappointment to me. The action was good, and the movie on a whole was pretty good, but it just didn't gel together as a movie. Worth a look for fans, but people who haven't seen the others, don't bother. Big shame, too, because I love the actors - the directing must have really stunk to have brought such a good cast down so low.

Zix M. gave it a4:
Like the Jean - Pheonix conflict it presents, this movies is so uncontrolled and raw that in the end it just asks to be killed. What happened to the atmosphere, the drama, and overall, the characterization? On its own merits, this movie cannot stand alone, and is merely hitching a ride on its predecessors.

Nick H. gave it a7:
Enertaining with great effects, but not as good quality-wise as its predecessors. Worth seeing.

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