X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

May 24, 2006 (US) • Adventure, Action, Science Fiction • 104m

Overview

When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men led by Professor Charles Xavier, and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants.

Director

Hugh Jackman

Keywords

superhero mutant based on comic superhuman beast cyclops aftercreditsstinger dramatic

Where to watch

Free / Included

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle

Stunts

Collection

X-Men Collection

X-Men

X2

X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men: First Class

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Apocalypse

Dark Phoenix

Reviews

tmdb44006625

⭐ 2/10

March 9, 2019

X3 is a complete disaster. Worst X-Men movie ever. See rant below:

Not only is the Phoenix storyline butchered, but the script rewrites the personalities of its key characters. Since when were Cyclops, Xavier, and Magneto such assholes? Halle Berry's demand for more screentime basically means she shows up in more scenes. Her character has no arc and often says lines that contradict what she said in previous scenes. Rogue has also turned into a… read the rest.

Wuchak

⭐ 7/10

June 5, 2019

***A good finale to the original trilogy***

I think the X-Men films have been so popular because the X-Men dare to be different. The concept of the X-Men strays far from superhero conventions. If you approach the X-Men films thinking you're getting something akin to Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, forget it.

The unique concept of the X-Men is that humanity is starting to evolve to the next level and humans all over the globe are starting to manifest superhuman powers from the mutant "X" gene. Two mutant leaders, who are also old friends, take highly contrasting positions. Charles Xavier starts a school for mutant youths in upstate New York. His attitude is positive and his goal benign. Eric Lensherr or Magneto, on the other hand, is fed up with the paranoia of non-mutants. He starts a "Brotherhood of Mutants" with a clear attitude of superiority. And, as they say, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

You could say that Xavier takes the approach of Martin Luther King Jr. while Magneto goes the route of Malcolm X, an interesting comparison.

Although everybody has their favorite, I feel all three films in the original trilogy are of the same general quality - "X-Men" (2000), "X2: X-Men United" (2003) and "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006).

"X-Men: The Last Stand" is generally well-regarded but has a very vocal segment of fans who revile it. This makes little sense since, despite having a new director, the film has the same tone and principle actors as the previous two and brings to culmination the ideas presented therein. Aside from the final fight between Magneto's Brotherhood and Xavier's X-Men we get the resurrection of Jean Grey and her struggle with the dark side of her psyche.

Some complain of the deaths of two prominent characters, but how often are characters resurrected in comics? Isn't one significant character resurrected in this very film? Others complain about the supposed short runtime and lack of depth but X3 has the exact same runtime as the first film (104 minutes) and there's plenty of depth to mine, take Rogue's dilemma over taking a cure in order to have human intimacy, Phoenix's incredible inner conflict symbolizing the universal clash of flesh and spirit (id and super-ego), Cyclop's grief and astonishing discovery, Pyro's moral degeneration, Mystique's plight after getting kicked out of the Brotherhood and Wolverine's struggle to do the right thing despite his deep love, to name just six.

On the downside, the big clash on Alcatraz Island feels routine and dull. They should’ve kept the focus on the Dark Phoenix, but the producers probably felt this would take away from the other characters, plus they wanted the clichéd big battle sequence. Nevertheless, there’s enough good here to appreciate.

GRADE: B+

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r96sk

⭐ 7/10

May 20, 2021

I'm surprised to see a big drop in average rating for this.

I enjoyed <em>'X-Men: The Last Stand'</em> to be honest. Taking a quick look at some other reviews and it seems to main gripe is how it treats certain characters from the comics, which is fair enough for sure but that doesn't come into play for me as I'm not a comic reader.

I can only judge it as a film and as one I found it suitably entertaining. Hugh Jackman remains the top dog, … read the rest.

CinemaSerf

⭐ 6/10

November 28, 2022

After a brief respite in "X2" (2003) we have reverted to the rather procedural and unexciting format for this third instalment of malevolent mutant-mayhem. This time "Magneto" (Sir Ian McKellen) is outraged when the human government develops a top secret cure for mutants. On the face of it, this is going to lead to another simple battle royal between the forces of our man-metal and his eternal nemesis "Xavier" (Patrick Stewart) and his army of fa… read the rest.

CertifiedHuman

⭐ 4/10

April 3, 2025

You know, the first 30 minutes or so actually aren't so bad, despite Ratner's obvious downgrade in direction ability and Scott's unneeded death. But sadly, it's all downhill from there. With Ratner as director, everything here is just slightly worse. The writing is worse, the direction is less creative, and the social commentary aspect is even more watered down than before.
I actually don't mind that Charles dies, nor do I mind how he dies. It m… read the rest.