X marks the spot . . . where director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) reduces the X-Men to a soulless, brainless clatter. The third and final film in the series X-Men: The Last Stand reduces the epic battle between good and evil to a barrage of computer-generated special effects and slow motion trickery. While the first X-Men film and its sequel, elegantly directed by Bryan Singer, compelled us to care about the mutants in their struggle against mankind's ignorance and prejudice, X-Men: The Last Stand has no interest in emotion or character development. This is a big budget spectacle with no heart.
A number of X-Men shift their mutant coil in this; others are badly wounded, and not once do we shed a tear or care in the slightest for their welfare. Leave the cinema early, either in boredom or disappointment, and you'll forego a post-credits scene, which intimates that this might not be the last of the X-Men after all. Hugh Jackman, in his guise as the hirsute and brooding Wolverine, looks decidedly mangy and is forced to share the limelight with Halle Berry's redundant wind-breaker, Storm. Perhaps she is responsible for the dark cloud that hangs over the film? Some of the digital effects jar with the live action elements and Simon Kinsberg and Zak Penn's screenplay is distintly unintelligent.
Style vanquishes substance from the opening flashbacks, introducing the young Jean Grey and young Warren Worthington aka Angel who tries in vain to hide his rapidly emerging wings from his father. We jump forward ten years to the not too distant future. Prof Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his students continue to mourn Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who died protecting the other X-Men at Alkali Lake. Wolverine roams aimlessly about Xavier's mansion, while her heartbroken lover Cyclops (James Marsden) heads for the hills to contend with his grief.
The gloom lifts momentarily with news that the US government has a cure for mutancy. With one simple injection, the outcasts can relinquish their special powers and live among the general populace. Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his trouble-seeking brethren, including Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Callisto (Dania Ramirez) and Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones), respond by declaring war on the humans.
Xavier mounts a defence, aided by Wolverine, Storm, Rogue (Anna Paquin), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Shadowcat (Ellen Page) among others. The good guys must surely triumph . . . except Magneto has a secret weapon: Jean Grey's vengeful alter ego Dark Phoenix (Janssen again).
X-Men: The Last Stand should be the most involving film of the trilogy. Unfortunately, all of the internal conflict comes to naught; we're completely unmoved. Occasionally the script hits the right tone, like comical banter between Wolverine and Dr Hank McCoy (Kelsey Grammer) aka Beast. "I hear you're quite an animal," quips McCoy; "Look who's talking!" smirks his razor-clawed rival. R.I.P. The X-Men.
In a summer blockbuster marketplace saturated with big name Hollywood stars and explosive special effects, The Thief Lord is going to struggle to steal a slice of the UK box office. Adapted from Cornelia Funke's prize-winning novel of the same name, Richard Claus's family-oriented adventure relies on a cast of virtually unknown young actors to carry the action, and places the emphasis on storytelling over pizzazz. The pacing could certainly be brisker and the centre-piece sequence involving a magical carousel is an anti-climax, but the film's heart is in the right place.
Cinematographer David Slama and production designer Matthias Kammermeier make the most of the gorgeous architecture and labyrinthine alleyways of Venice, conjuring an air of mystery and magic in the ancient city. However, director Claus can't quite bring all of the various elements together.
When their mother dies, 12-year-old Prosper (Aaron Johnson) and five-year-old Bo Hartlieb (Jasper Harris) are placed in the care of their wicked aunt Esther (Carole Boyd) and uncle Max (Bob Goody). When they decide that they only wish to adopt the younger, the boys run away to Venice the city of their late mother's dreams. With no food or money and only their wits to protect them, Prosper and Bo are glad to meet 15-year-old ruffian Scipio (Rollo Weeks) aka the Thief Lord who steals to buy food and clothing.
Scipio takes the runaways to his lair, an abandoned cinema, which is also home to three other young orphans and pickpockets: Hornet (Alice Connor), Riccio (George MacKay) and Mosca (Lathaniel Dyer). Prosper and Bo quickly settle in to their new surroundings, unaware that their aunt and uncle have hired private detective Victor (Jim Carter) to track them down.
When Scipio is hired to steal the final piece of a magical wooden carousel, rumoured to alter the flow of time, Prosper and Bo find themselves on the most exhilarating and enchanting journey of their young lives.
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