XMEN III: The Last Stand is the latest (and considering the amount of money it made, probably not the
last) installment in the XMEN saga. The film continues the storyline that has been playing out over the
first two movies, and many of the events which have been foreshadowed in those productions are explored and
(more or less) resolved.
Visually, this movie is impressive. The digital graphics are so well integrated into the
background that most of the action scenes (even the shots that defy the laws of physics) seem very realistic
and lifelike. (The scene in which Magneto faces down the convoy is a prime example of this.) While some of
the larger scale graphics still seem a bit contrived, most of the smaller scale work is well executed and
quite believable (which is actually pretty amazing, especially when you consider that it has taken over a
century for movies to attain this level of realism).
The large ensemble cast only adds to this feast for the eyes. The usual suspects are all
back, along with some interesting new additions. Despite the size of the cast, everybody puts in a solid
performance, tempering their characters to go just far enough over the top that they're believable, but not
so far that they become caricatures. Anyone who has even of basic grasp of what acting is like will
appreciate the level of this accomplishment. (If you'd like to know more on this subject, then check out the
article entitled "A Matter of Perspective" at the BSG website www.battlestargalactica.com and I think you'll see what I mean.)
That being said.. there is something missing from this movie. And it is something that has
been missing from many of the releases put out during the last three years: A sense of first person
involvement; the feeling that you, the viewer, are part of the movie, and that you're experiencing it along
with the actors on the screen. This emotional component, the ability of the film maker to draw the viewer
into the story, has been a mainstay of movies since the days of the nickelodeon. And yet, this primordial
element has been absent in most recent films. So, we must then ask ourselves, is this omission a good thing,
or a bad thing, or does it really even matter? Perhaps looking at another creative field may provide us with
some insight.
Roughly a century ago, artists tired of painting portraits and landscapes over and over
again. No matter how many ways they tried to approach their work, they still found them-selves painting and
repainting endless variations on the same repetitive themes. So they decided to try a new tack. They said
that the canvas was no longer a window into another world, it was just a piece of canvas, and from now on
that was how they were going to treat it. Suddenly, the focus was on color and composition; and merging them
in such a way as to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Even if the response turned out to be
something along the lines of, "Your parrot is very prolific, you must have fed him well," as far as the
artists were concerned they had still won, because their artwork had actually elicited a reaction, even if
that reaction was only mild distaste or amusement.
Now producers and directors seem to be attempting to reinterpret movies in much the same
way. It's as though they are saying that the medium is just film and light and sound. You are not a
participant in this story, but merely an observer, so don't get too involved. After all, it's only a movie.
As painters demonstrated during the previous century, such artistic statements are not only valid, but can
also be very lucrative, as well. Still, whether or not these films are portents of things to come, or merely
a passing fad, remains unclear at this juncture.
XMEN III: The Last Stand is definitely worth seeing in the theater, since (like Star
Wars) this is where the large scale special effects scenes can best be appreciated. Just don't be surprised,
though, if you walk out with more questions about the storyline than you had when you went in. X3 is just
that kind of movie. Check it out and see if you agree.
