X Men: The Last Stand

B

Those who say that superhero movies are in their death throes should have seen the recent entries coming. Batman Begins was superb. Fantastic 4 was watchable. I can't wait for Superman Returns. But now the series that started it all in 1997, X Men, have come to an end with trilogy's final installment. I'm not sure when the series ended as being a trilogy, but even if I couldn't say that X Men ended with a loud resounding BANG!, X Men: The Last Stand is worthy follow-up and conclusion to the series.

X3 begins right after X2 ended. The new world in the "not so distant future" had witnessed the wrath of mutants and an uneasy truce was maintained by both the humans and the mutants. It would not be for long. Magneto (Ian Mckellen) and his henchmen are scowring for fighters to wage a war against humans. All he needs is something to garner momentum for his cause. He got his chance when a "cure" is invented and used to turn mutants into normal human beings. Meanwhile, the X Men have found Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who miraculously survived her watery near-death, though Professor Xavier (Patrick Steward) voices his fears that Jean has been dominated by her dual personaily alter ego, Phoenix. Most mutants are back to fight for both sides, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Rogue (Anna Paquin); as well as some new ones, most notably Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones).

Just like the other X Men movies, this one places more emphasis on the unfolding of the plot rather than the characters. X3 covered many grounds, the rise of Magneto's army, the arch in the government's position in dealing with mutants, Jean Grey's transformation to Phoenix, and the X Men who are stuck in the middle. In amazing how in 2 hours, we are presented with a well-developed storyline as well as a few nice characters that we can root for. Though I still think they could have fleshed out the movie even more, or maybe make it a quadrilogy instead.

Indeed, considering the rich plot of the combined story of the X Men trilogy, the overall experience pales, to a very considerable extent, in comparison to other trilogies such as The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. This might be because when the first X Men movie was made, the movie's success was questionable without mentioning the possibility of a franchise; and I think X Men was not intended to be a trilogy. Watching X3, one has the feeling that, seen as a whole, the movies do not gel so well. Furthermore, considering the intended scope of X3 - the final battle between good mutants and bad mutants - one cannot help but to feel that the payoff wasn't as climatic as could be expected. For a movie that shows the Golden Gate Bridge being ripped out, its epic fight scene is lazy.

Although this is the end of the X-Men series, most definitely it will!, there are talks for spin-offs. Wolverine is probably the one with the most potential of seeing the light of day, though I'm not too sure how good (or bad) that can get. Either way, I can savely say that Brett Ratner did a good job, taking over from X1 & X2 helmer Brian Singer, in maintaining the quality of the last of the X Men movies. It was a jolly fun ride indeed.
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The Unbelievable Truth

B

I'm not a big fan of offbeat dramedies because they tend to be a little quirky or bleak or both. Though I haven't seen many, Hall Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth is definitely one of the most offbeat ones I've seen.

Josh (Robert Burke) returns home to Long Island after doing a long stint in prison. His arrival sparked the small town criers chattering over the reason he was convicted. They knew for sure that he had something to do with the death of Pearl's (Julia McNeal) father and sister many years ago. Josh managed to find work for a local mechanic, Victor (Christopher Cooke), alongside Pearl's boyfriend, Mike (Mark Bailey). Things became heated up when Victor's brilliant but impossibly cynical daughter, Audry (Adrienne Shelley), falls in love with Josh.

Experiencing The Unbelievable Truth was unique. It wasn't a powerful movie, or at any rate influencial, but it did have its original moments. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but some of the characters talked like they were on stage rather than in a movie. There were slightly excessive gesturing and exaggerated tones of voices. Performances were solid all round, with Shelley, Burke and Cooke standing out.

Writer, director and editor Hal Hartley did a good job balancing between the dark elements of the movie without them becoming too biting. Sex and death were discussed alot, but Hartley wisely sidestepped the temptation of actually showing any of them on screen.

Intolerable Cruelty

B+

Seeing Intolerable Cruelty the first time, a year ago, I failed to appreciate the little gem the Coen Brothers crafted. This is a comedy that's high on wit and wisely lean on sentimentality - basically what James L. Brooks can't do. It throws a number of wild curves, some of which would leave the audience lost, which is why a second viewing, where all the plot twists matter less, is necessary to reveal what this diamond in the rough has to offer.

Intolerable Cruelty is about the degrading value of matrimony wrapped around an unlikely love story between Miles Massey (George Clooney) and Marylin Rothchild (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The former is a brilliant but eccentric divorce attorney with an abundant preoccupation with his teeth. The latter is the golddigger ex-wife of a real estate billionaire, who despite "indemonstrable infidelity" on his part, was left without a single cent, thanks to Massey. Romance came to Miles' town when Marylin appears a short time later, soon to be married again to an oil tycoon (Billy Bob Thornton), and solicited Miles' services.

Aside from the hilarious screenplay, the movie's strength lies on its two leads, especially Clooney who nailed Miles Massey in a one-of-a-kind quirky, charming and real way. Zeta-Jones, though less funny, exudes enigmatic beauty which is exactly the stuff that the all-too-smooth Massey fall head-over-heels for ("You fascinate me," hissed Miles at Marylin). Other big name actors are present to fill in the supporting roles, including Geoffrey Rush and Cedric the Entertainer.

The 2nd half of Intorelable Cruelty is where the plot swerve around. The initial slow pace, which allowed more character development and humorous one-liners, quickened and created an episodic feel towards the proceedings. The movie clocks in at a short 1 hour 40 minutes. Although that's a good way to go, one wouldn't complain if 10 more minutes is spent to beef-up the last 40 minutes, to smoothen the transition and allow a smoother plot development.
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