Third Time's the Harm

Forget the sophomore slump. When it comes to movie franchises, it's all about the junior jinx. Think "The Godfather Part III," "Superman 3," "Batman Forever" and "The Matrix Revolutions," and you'll have an idea of what you're in for with "X-Men: The Last Stand."

That this is the final "X-Men" movie I don't quite buy - the ending leaves a fourth movie pretty much guaranteed - but if this is the way the cinematic iteration of the mutant heroes goes down, it will be an ugly death indeed. Everything that worked in the first two films fails this time around. This is a third rate copy of a copy, with a scattershot story that makes no sense and absolutley no emotional punch. You could blame director Brett Ratner, but the real fault should fall to the screenwriters, who gave the Rat absolutely nothing to work with. Even the big special effects set piece, in which Magneto rips up and elevates the Golden Gate Bridge (Haven't I seen David Copperfield do that before?) falls flat. I'm such a big fan of the previous "X-Men" flicks that if I weren't a critic, I'd pay to see the threequel no matter how many poor reviews I read. I'm not expecting many converts here, but still I warn you. See this one at your own peril.