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Reviews
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
The ruin of a great series
First let me say that if this had been a generic action film instead of being associated with the X-Men (and the two great films that precede it) then I may have scored it slightly higher. As all of the elements are there: decent action, dodgy one liners and some interesting characters.
However, even for those people who know nothing of X-men other than the previous films this should come as a major disappointment. The series started off by grounding the X-men in the real world and the stories came across being gritty and imaginative, as they were presented in a way that made you believe mutants could live among us. The interaction between mutants and humans was spot on. In this film that is removed as the makers seem to have gone down the same all out comic book style that the Batman films started to suffer from.
Gone is any meaningful character development, as all of the new characters are woefully underused and seem like they've been tacked onto the film for no reason. Whereas Storm, who was the weakest character in the previous films, has suddenly been thrust into the limelight and simply comes across as very annoying. The fact that Halle Berry demanded more lines is no excuse, especially when it came at the expense of Nightcrawler who made such a great impact in the second film. As if people go to see an X-men movie for Halle Berry anyway, if anyone should have been dropped it should have been Storm as her character just didn't translate from the page to the screen.
The unbelievable leaps the story takes also grate. As even a casual viewer would know that the likelihood of Jean going on a killing spree (especially including Scott and Charles) is slim. So she can't stop herself killing the man she loves and her oldest mentor, but manages to restrain herself from blitzing Wolverine? Any dedicated fan will no doubt realise that major characters tend not to stay dead for long, but that's no help to people approaching the X-men universe for the first time and it just means they would have to create a ludicrous explanation to dig themselves out of a hole they should never have been in.
This film suffers from having far too many ideas and characters thrown at it in the hopes they would stick. The script isn't the greatest and the whole thing feels like it his been dumbed down into just another brainless action film. I just got the feeling that unlike the first two films it was made be people who didn't share the viewers passion for the comics and films that had gone before.
I recommend re-watching the first two films and pretending this one never happened.
Evil Aliens (2005)
Coming soon to a bargain bin near you.
This film was made on a budget but, as far as I know, writing talent doesn't cost a penny. This film is meant to be a horror spoof but fails in every area, as it's not funny or scary. It tries to make up for this by putting in over the top gore and violence but frankly it just comes across as totally forced.
The one moment of genius comes via the admittedly hilarious combine harvester scene, but even that will mean little to anyone outside of the UK and certainly isn't enough to redeem the rest of this dire offering. Everything here has been done before to a much higher standard and the script and acting is nowhere near good enough considering the comparisons this film is getting to much better fare.
I find it insulting that this has been compared to the FAR superior Shaun of the Dead as it isn't in the same league. Avoid at all costs.
War of the Worlds (2005)
What a shame
I had such high hopes for this film and they were dashed spectacularly. The insistence to end the film in an overtly happy way was both predictable and unnecessary. I have nothing against such endings per se but this one was asking you to defy belief. I'm not going to tread over old ground and point out the numerous flaws and mistakes, as a lot of people have done that already, but for me it could have been so much more.
The special effects were superb, as were a number of the more personal scenes between the family, but the whole story seemed trite and even when it looked like a character might die you knew they wouldn't because even at the very beginning you could see that it was all being set up for a typical happy ending. For once I would like to see Spielberg show that not everything can always work out perfectly.
The acting was passable at best. Cruise did a good job but you were never in any doubt he would rise to the moment, even when the film tried to portray him badly. People also say what a good actress Dakota Fanning is, which is true, but she is not good at portraying children. Every character she plays does not act like a child that age would, they are always wise beyond their years and far too knowledgeable. Not once did she cry, which is what a child would be more likely to do under such pressure, rather than scream constantly. She portrayed her character as if she was a 30 year old playing the part. His son was the typical rebel cliché and the fact he is around to see the end at all made the whole film lose a sense of reality. The tagged on ending came as no surprise to me, and it won't surprise anyone else.
However, this film seems to polarise opinion. You'll either love it or hate it, and for that reason alone it will never be considered a classic. Considering the recent high quality of films such as Sin City or Batman, then anyone who savoured those films will be hard pressed to swallow this and if you have not seen them then you would be advised to put them ahead of this film in your priorities.