When news broke that Bryan Singer would be returning to the fold for X-Men: Days Of Future Past, much to the delight of mutant fan-peoples, the director sweetened the deal even further with a promise. "There will be some fixing," he said, hinting that his third X-flick (after X-Men and X2) would address perceived problems with X-Men: The Last Stand, aka the threequel Singer dumped in favour of Superman Returns.
Here's the thing: X-Men: The Last Stand didn't need fixing. In a world where movie threequels often topple promising trilogies, it stands out as a fun, action-packed, stakes-raising gambit that features some of the trilogy's boldest set pieces and more than a few gob-smacking twists. Picking up months after X2's downbeat, watery climax, we find the X-Men mourning the death of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) even as Worthington Labs announce they've found a mutant cure. Needless to say this divides the mutants, with Magneto (Ian McKellen) planning all-out war in opposition.
Considering the behind-the-scenes drama, it's a miracle X3 came out as well as it did. Singer left the project in 2004 after creating a partial story treatment, finding more excitement in the prospect of re-launching the Man of Steel than sewing up his mutant trilogy. He even took X2 screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty with him, leaving X3 bereft of a creative team beyond series producer Lauren Donner.
That's perhaps the main reason behind X-Men: The Last Stand's occasionally muddled focus. With Fox committed to a 2006 release date, the studio hired two writers to tackle the script. Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days Of Future Past) favoured the Dark Phoenix plot, in which Jean Grey transforms into a vengeful force of fiery destruction, while Zak Penn (X2) constructed his screenplay around the 'mutant cure' storyline from Joss Whedon's comic Gifted. Fox preferred the latter, but Kinberg fought for the Phoenix plot, resulting in a shooting script that ultimately combined both.
The result is surprisingly coherent, if somewhat lacking in the depth of the previous outing. Comic fans bemoaned the fact that the Dark Phoenix story wasn't done proper justice, but by counter-balancing it with the cure plot we get a double helping of emotion and a story that pretty much screams "all bets are off!" from the moment Jean reappears at Alkili Lake. Giving all she's got, Janssen works miracles with admittedly limited material, switching effortlessly between confusion and uncapped rage to deliver something searingly unpredictable.
And how about this? X3's finest set piece is so fantastic that Rian Johnson lifted it wholesale and plonked it into his critically lauded Looper. We're talking about the moment in which the X-Men and the Brotherhood descend on Jean Grey's childhood home, only for her to turn gravity on its head, tear the entire house from its foundations and then – GOBSMACK – obliterate Professor X (Patrick Stewart).
What to Read Next
It's a powerhouse moment for the franchise. Beautifully shot (that eerie blood-orange Phoenix lighting) with a soaring score that never fails to induce goosebumps, it's one of the few moments in X3 where every key mutant is involved – and gets his or her moment. It's an action scene that mixes serious emotional punches in with the actual physical punching; if you don't squeeze out a tear at Magneto's fearful "CHARLES!" you're one cold-hearted homosapien.
Admittedly, there are elements that speak to the film's wobbly pre-production. Vinnie Jones' Juggernaut should really have been BAMFed off to some remote rock in the middle of the ocean (he was cast by temporary director Michael Vaughn), and Ben Foster's Angel has little to do beyond glower prettily and flash his pectorals. Meanwhile, poor Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) is reduced to a traitorous turn-tail for no reason other than to push the plot along – a particularly painful kick in the teeth considering how fantastic she was in X2.
Still, X3 has heft where it counts. Where Singer plumbed mutants for 'outsider' metaphors in his two X outings (see X2's brilliant 'coming out' scene), The Last Stand takes the analogy to its natural conclusion as humanity attempts to enforce conformity on a scale that makes anti-gay movements look like garden tea parties. "They can't cure us," huffs Storm (Halle Berry, still uninspiring). "You want to know why? Because there's nothing to cure." Amid the clashing mutant powers and Golden Gate Bridge shenanigans, X3 dovetails beautifully into the themes established by the previous films.
There's no denying that part threes are tricky. Scream 3 whimpered. Spider-Man 3 spun itself into a muddle. Even Back To The Future Part III felt like it was going at 8.8mph. In the grand scheme of threequels, though, The Last Stand is reassuringly robust thanks to its memorable action, committed key players (were McKellen and Stewart ever more devastating?) and willingness to seriously shake things up.
Even Singer with all his "fixing" has never slated the film. "Parts of it, I liked," he said. "I wasn't happy with so many people dying, but then there were some really sweet moments with the cure kid." It seems most audience members agreed. X3 held the honour of being the highest-grossing X-Men film (£286m worldwide) for eight years before Days Of Future Past beat it in 2014 ($746m). And, let's face it, even if it never reaches the heady heights of X2, X-Men: The Last Stand is still leagues ahead of rubbish like X-Men: Origins – Wolverine. Now, there's a stinker...
X-Men: Days of Future Past is out now on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
