The third X-Men film is a very mixed bag. The action is fast and frenetic, as it seems the production was.

As the story goes, Worthington Labs, a large pharmacutical company has used a mutant boy named Jimmy (Leech in the comics and cartoons) to create a cure for mutant-kind. This leads to the Last Stand in the title, as Magneto assembles an army to destroy the cure, and the homo-sapien world.

The film is rife with problems. Loads of new characters are introduced in the film, ranging from fan-favourites in the comics like Shadowcat, Angel and Beast, to the Morloks and some characters invented by the film's writers. Unfortunately, none of the characters get a great deal of time dedicated them. Angel, featured prominently in the trailers, is barely in the film at all.

Beast has more time, and Kelsey Grammar does a great job, but the costume... oh, the costume. For most of the film, he's not beastly at all. He's a man in a furry blue suit. Luckily, when it comes to the action, he's a true Beast.

The visuals are another mixed bag. There is some truly horrible wire-work, especially obvious with Storm and Beast. Colossus is a bit dodgy, he looked better in his cameo in X2. I was very surprised there was never a Phoenix special effect. At the end of X2 they hinted at the power of the Phoenix with the fire under the water, but that's not continued at all.

All these problems are countered though, by some very good performances, some great action scenes and a good story. They've changed the Phoenix quite a bit, but it works well in the context of the film.

Overall, it's an addition to the franchise that is worthy of the previous films. The fact that it was rushed through production far to fast means it's not as slick as the second film, but perhaps that's part of it's charm. The X-Men are a rough and ready group, not slick like the Fantastic Four. And it works. Well worth a watch.