The third installment of the popular X-Men movie series was highly enjoyable and worthy sequel to the previous two X-movies. One particularly better aspects of The Last Stand was the film's score which, in my opinion, was far superior to Michael Kamen's and John Ottman's compositions.

John Powell simply delivered with his grand orchestral score to The Last Stand. The X-Men are identified with a theme that is very heroic, bold, vigorous and yet quite simple but certainly suitable for a superhero movie. It is first heard in the second track named "Bathroom Titles" and it does get its fullest performance in the last track "The Last Stand". I consider it one of the best - if not the best - heroic theme ever written to the motion picture.

But the score is so much more than just the main theme... There are other themes as well for some key characters of the story. Magneto gets his own brassy and percussive march (for example in tracks "The Church of Magneto, Raven is My Slave Name", "Magneto Plots" and "Building Bridges"), Angel has a soaring and flying theme and then there is the movie's second major theme, the one written for Dark Phoenix and heard in such tracks as "Whirlpool of Love" and very choral "Dark Phoenix Awakes" & "Phoenix Rises". Phoenix's theme functions also as a sort of love theme for the movie and it also is one of Powell's best compositions along with the main theme.

In sum John Powell's X-Men score is a wonderful leitmotivic adventure full of thematic development and choral beauty. If I want my music big, bold, beautiful and heroic this is the score I listen. Quite excellent!