The Last Stand
After X2 ended with Jean Grey dead and a phoenix potentially rising from the remains of Alkali Lake, everyone was excited by the possibility of Phoenix. It was the Nick Fury Moment before Nick Fury was a thing, and the Phoenix Saga is one of the most iconic comic book arcs that Marvel has ever put to print. How could anything go wrong?
As it turns out, a lot. Brett Ratner, of Rush Hour fame, took over directing chops from Bryan Singer, and his direction and ideas are just bad. The action is poorly directed, it’s poorly written, and nobody save for Wolverine and Rogue speak like normal humans do things that are consistent with what they’ve done in the past. They somehow managed to turn actual Holocaust survivor Magneto into a mutant Nazi who declares that his race is the cure. Several characters just show up and are just there to be there, like Angel and Mystique.
If you grew up seeing or reading the Phoenix Saga as a kid, this movie does not do it justice. While Famke Janssen tries her best to give this new Jean Grey some tragic mishandling of her new power, those moments are few and far in between, and all she’s ultimately left to do is stand around in a red corset giving death glares. It’s just a shame that those death glares weren’t directed at Ratner.
