Film Review

In spite of the fact that even die-hard fans of the movies say that this final installment of the X-Men movies is not up to par with the previous two, it has done boffo box-office, streaking past the other supposedly big summer movies, Mission: Impossible 3 and The Da Vinci Code, to make one of the highest first weekend grosses ever.

Why is that?

Well it is pretty much a given that movies based on comic books (Spiderman, Superman etc.) make for great opportunities to show off special effects, which movie-goers of a certain ilk love to see. The latest installment of X-Men is no exception. The usual characters (plus a couple of new ones including The Beast, a ?furry blue? character played by Kelsey Grammer, late of Frasier), return for another round of superhuman action and CGI illusions.

If you are keeping up with the plotline and looking for a metanarrative then perhaps the theme for this film could be resurrection. Nobody stays dead (or worse) for too long before they are right back into the action.

The drama this time is that the humans have found a cure for mutants ? our times are marked by the search for cures for abnormalities, DNA and genetics experimentation, so it is no wonder it found its way into the film! As expected not everyone is onboard with this politically correct option and an unholy war begins. Others have mentioned the subtle fear of the female that runs throughout the plot but that seems perhaps like trying to read too much into this movie, I?ll have to think about that one.

Overall it is a one trick pony of sorts without many points of true suspense or drama, as I said earlier, special effects drive this one?but it put bums in movie seats and for a film company concerned with capitalizing on the end of a franchise that is their greatest concern?so goes the movie biz.