• Tag Archives Sir Ian McKellen
  • Canister X Movie Review #99: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

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    X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
    Written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn
    Directed by Brett Ratner
    Runtime 104 min.
    3.5 out of 5

    When a cure is developed to rid mutants of their unusual abilities, the mutant community is torn in two, with some more than happy to get rid of what they view as a curse, while others are vehemently against it. Outraged at this development, Magneto makes war on the humans for trying to rid the world of mutantkind and the X-Men stand in the gap to stop him.

     

    This movie has a lot going on and seems to serve as an ending to the previous two movies, bringing to fruition a major confrontation between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. These two teams, while having skirmished in the other movies, never had an all-out battle and this flick shows that. It also brings to pass a version of the Dark Phoenix storyline with Jean Grey returning from the dead as the Phoenix and working for the bad guys.

    From an action standpoint, this movie has tons of it and it’s really cool. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) kicks butt as usual, while having the Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) running around and smashing into things makes you cheer. Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) ups the metal-controlling ante in this—I mean, lifting a bridge? Flipping semis? Awesome!—and even having Beast (Kelsey Grammer) beasting it up adds a level of excitement that makes this comic-book-come-to-life a thrill. And when Jean Grey lets loose and destroys her childhood home while a bunch of X-Men and Brotherhood folks are fighting inside it? That was some jaw-dropping stuff!

    From a story standpoint, it kind of falters. In a general sense—the overall story, I mean—it’s fine as is. That is, the “what it’s about.” The delivery, however, seems to suffer from the same thing Spider-Man 3 did: too much going on and not enough time to tell it in. Had this third X-Men movie either been part one of two or even the first in a trilogy where the mutant cure is introduced, a war brews, there’s a big battle, some people die, etc. then that would’ve been fine. But it didn’t happen that way. I don’t know if that’s because of a change in hands of directors or what.

    The other thing that I didn’t like—but could’ve worked had the story justified it/been expanded into another movie or two—was everyone dying. We lost some major people in this movie and for seemingly no good reason. I have no trouble with killing off major characters. It can definitely add to the story . . . when done right. In this flick, there didn’t seem any justification for it.

    What’s amazing is thanks to the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014, depending on how that plays out, there’s a chance of undoing some of the stuff that fell short in this outing and bringing back some people from the dead. After all, isn’t that what time travel’s for?

    In the meantime, yeah, if you want a fun superhero movie, I’d still recommend X-Men: The Last Stand.


  • Canister X Movie Review #66: The Shadow (1994)

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    The Shadow (1994)
    Written by David Koepp
    Directed by Russell Mulcahy
    Runtime 108 min.
    3.5 out of 5

    An avenging force for good and a terror of the criminal underworld, the Shadow operates in New York after dark, but when Shiwan Khan—last descendent of Genghis Khan—comes to the city and plans on world domination, the Shadow must defend the Big Apple from him. When the Shadow refuses to join forces with Khan, the two battle it out with the fate of the city hanging in the balance.

     

    This flick was my first exposure to the pulp superhero when I was younger. With loads of shadows, gothic ambience, an exciting soundtrack and a hero with the biggest cape I’d ever seen, the Shadow quickly became one of my favorites growing up. I mean, he was kind of like Batman, but had a superpower—he could get into your mind, control you, make you see things that weren’t there and thus become a “shadow.”

    Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston totally worked. He had the cool rough voice, the playboy debonair down to a T, and had an air of mystery about him that suited the character well. Good stuff.

    Action-wise, no complaints. Nothing over-the-top or extremely spectacular, but enough to get the job done. I will say those shots of the Shadow materializing and dematerializing out of view as he fights is especially cool and spooky. I mean, how do you fight what you can’t see?

    The plotline was well thought out, especially because you’re dealing with a hero and villain with mental powers, which isn’t always easy to show people. It all takes place in the head, after all, so depicting the manifestation of these mental powers was well done.

    This movie really had that old radio drama feel to it, which I’m sure was something the filmmakers were going for as The Shadow used to be a radio drama back in the day.

    Some recognizable names in this flick, too: Sir Ian McKellen, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry.

    The Shadow is an excellent foray into the “realistic fantastic” and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for pulpy heroic goodness.