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“He That Hath Wings”. That’s the name of a short story which first appeared in pulp magazine Weird Tales in July 1938. Written by a sci-fi/fantasy author named Edmond Hamilton, it focused on a boy who felt like an outcast because he had wings. Big Pegasus jobbies, if you will. The boy grows up deeply ashamed of his physical difference. And when he finally understands the beauty and power of his gift, it is too late.

The image of a human under natural flight has always resounded in our imaginations. Whereas the above story echoes the ultimate failure of Icarus, a winged human named Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand represents hope, change, and going by the plot for the latest film, gay pride.

The plot and character development of the first two films gives way here to a reshuffling of core characters and a big old Marvel beat-em-up, but not before a quick set-up, involving a potential “cure” for mutants.

It opens with a flashback to Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Eric/Magneto (Ian McKellen) witnessing a young Jean Grey exercising her telekinetic powers on a street full of cars.

Back to the present day and Jean (Famke Janssen), who died in the last film, mysteriously arrives back as the super-evolved Dark Phoenix, a brooding, lust-filled dominatrix of a deity who unceremoniously dispatches Scott Summers/Cyclops.

Stepping up to the plate as leaders of the X-Men this time are Ororo/Storm (Halle Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Beast (Kelsey Grammer).

Bubbling away in the background is the plot: A “cure” has been discovered that can take away a mutant’s special powers and return them to a normal life. Angel – or Warren Worthington III (played by Ben Foster from TV’s Six Feet Under) – is shown in his pubescent years, filing his wings off with a rasp and trying to hide his “terrible secret” from his father.

Warren eventually agrees to take the cure. But at the last minute he makes a bid for freedom, smashing his way through the glass of the high-rise and soaring off into the distance. This is one of the most powerful images in the movie.

Rogue (Anna Paquin) takes a different attitude toward the cure. She wants a normal life with her beau Bobby/Iceman.

The all-out battle of the flying mutants end-piece is fun and straight out of the comics, complete with Stan Lee-inspired asides and wisecracks. The battle is strangely reminiscent of the penultimate film in the old Apes saga, Conquest For The Planet of the Apes (1972).

There’s no Nightcrawler this time, but Kelsey Grammer makes a memorable addition to the team as the blue-furred Hank McCoy/Beast, and Vinnie Jones gets a few laughs as the bulldozing Juggernaut.

X-Men: the Last Stand is supposed to be the last in the series, but not the franchise, apparently. Wolverine is set to spin off in 2007, hopefully with a plot resembling the ninja-soaked Chris Claremont/Frank Miller comic miniseries. Hugh Jackman does so well at bringing the essence of Sergio Leone-era Clint Eastwood to this role (I know, it’s just the squinting) that it should be a worthwhile successor to this trilogy.

Verdict: Good fisticuffs, cool effects, and Famke Janssen is hot.