Twentieth Century Fox "X-Men: The Last Stand" features agonized soul-searching, heart-pounding action and Halle Berry, as Storm. Click photo for larger image

By Sharon Eberson
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

What would you give to finally fit in, to shed what you hate about yourself, to finally touch your boyfriend without fear of killing him? OK, the last one would happen only if you were a mutant in the "X" universe. But seriously, how fast would you jump at the chance?

		"X-Men: The Last Stand" Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexual content and language. Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart. Director: Brett Ratner. Post-Gazette Family Film Guide review of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' "X-Men: The Last Stand" Web site Related articles Latest 'X-Men' movie is ready to fire up its fans again Dispatches from 'X-Men' universe

That is the life-altering question at the heart of "X-Men: The Last Stand," No. 3 in a series that culminates with its heart in the right place: Agonized soul-searching and heart-pounding action are at an equally heightened state, and the pace barely allows for a breath. At an hour and 43 minutes, it builds in momentum and never lets up.

So forget all of the Net-chat drama over director Bryan Singer dropping out of the series and Brett Ratner coming aboard. Ratner ("Rush Hour" I and II, "Red Dragon") gets it, and the final installment in the trilogy -- at least, that's what everyone involved is saying -- proves to have been placed in respectful, even reverential hands.

The story line is adapted from sources throughout the X-Men's 40-year comic-book history. From 2004's "Astonishing X-Men," we get the concept of a "cure" that reverses the mutant gene; its discovery is bankrolled by the wealthy Warren Worthington, whose little Angel has wings, literally.

The announcement that the cure is available throws the always dangerous Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) into a rage, and he rallies like-minded mutants -- the Brotherhood -- to his side. Never mind that taking the treatment is supposed to be voluntary; he sees the potential for the "inevitable genocide." With mutants being rounded up and vials of the cure immediately put to use as bullets, his rhetoric becomes a magnet to the anti-cure cause.

Meanwhile, back at Xavier's School for Gifted Students, the X-Men's haven for more tolerant mutants, there's more of a debate about the cure.

"Since when did we become a disease?" asks the lovely Storm (Halle Berry). Easy for you to say, counters fuzzy blue Beast. "You don't shed on the furniture."

That's Kelsey Grammer under all that blue makeup and fur, and his "Frasier" voice proves perfect for Beast, the intellectual diplomat who can't hide in a crowd.

Kirsty Wigglesworth, Associated Press Director Brett Ratner, left, actor Patrick Stewart, center, and actor Ian McKellen pose during a photo call for the film "X-Men: The Last Stand," at the 59th International film festival in Cannes earlier this week. Click photo for larger image. The Interviews Director Brett Ratner acknowledges he was a controversial choice to take the helm of "X-Men: The Last Stand" after Bryan Singer left to helm "Superman Returns." Brett Ratner explains why his cast describes him as the "Energizer Bunny" on the set. Patrick Stewart, who portrays Professor Xavier and who starred as the Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," answers the question: Which fans are harder to please: Trekkies or "X" fans?

Also among newcomers to the franchise are Angel (Ben Foster), Callisto (Dania Ramirez), Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and a more substantial role for the girl who can walk through walls, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page). And there are many more in Ratner's juggling act, with some paying off better than others.

While tensions mount about whether to cure or not to cure, the X-Men have other problems to contend with: Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) is back, but she's not the Jean who appeared to have died in "X-II." She's risen like a phoenix, dressed in bad-girl scarlet and sporting massive destructive powers that are overtaking her ability to suppress them. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) is compelled to confess that he has been controlling her behavior, a revelation that culminates in a mind-blowing confrontation.

Wolverine's still smoldering love for Jean boils over in a steamy scene and is tested mightily as the battle rages for mutant supremacy. He's wrestling with his place among X-Men, whether to claw his way to a leadership role or remain an interested outsider.

His young friend Rogue (Anna Paquin) has troubles of her own. Her power to absorb other mutants' powers with a touch, draining them of life as well, was front-and-center in the first film. Among all the X-Men, Rogue is most conflicted about using the cure. Her choice, like Angel's, comes to a satisfying climax.

This film is truly a piece in a series, and just as "The Return of the King" relied on viewings of the previous "Lord of the Rings" movies, you'd be advised to catch up on your X-Men lore before taking in "The Last Stand."

So, if it's deep character development you crave, head for the hills of Sundance, because this script rewards a knowledgeable audience. And at such a fast clip and with so many characters, some are bound to get short shrift. For fans of Berry's Storm, her more substantial role will be a crowd-pleaser, while James Marsden's Cyclops gets barely a blip on the radar.

Yet in an era of overstuffed, overlong action films, it's hard to take this film to task for paring down and keeping up the pace,

Ratner keeps the focus on the big questions: Which mutants would consider taking the cure and changing what makes them unique? What does it mean to a society in which the mutant minority holds all the super power? While the X-Men grapple over issues among themselves, they do agree on opposing the Brotherhood and its violent path to destroying the cure -- and the mutant boy at its source.

Battle training in the Danger Room (think "Star Trek's" holodeck) and showdowns on the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island take the cinematic franchise to new heights of spectacle: A bridge changes direction, people and cars take flight and walls come tumbling down in a death match of super power vs. super power.

So much happens as "The Last Stand" draws to a close that telling more would spoil the fun, although it's hard to ignore a melodramatic moment that I wish had been shot differently -- a quibble, perhaps, but it's a big moment.

And one word of advice: Don't dare leave before the seemingly endless credits finally do end, as most people did at a recent screening. They missed a scene that hints of mutant happenings to come.