An entertaining, professional effort by Brett Ratner, but still suffers from the same problem that the first two X-Men films suffered from.

Rating: 6/10 (2 June 2006)

Plot in a nutshell: Picking up not long after #2, a supposed "cure" is found for the mutant factor, stirring up tempers on both sides of the mutant and human front, pitting noble mutant savior Charles Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) heroic, S&M leather clad X-Men against anti-hero terrorist with a heart of gold Magneto (Ian McKellan) and his rag tag Brotherhood of mutants once again. The unexpected and uncontrollable factor - the resurrected Jean Grey, AKA: Phoenix (Famke Janssen).
I must confess I've had a love/hate relationship with the X-Men films for some time now. While they are generally well made, they make the mistake of placing too much emphasis on Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and not enough emphasis on the other X-Men, which is truly sad because the X-Men is meant to be an ensemble piece, not a showcase for Wolverine with the X-Men as his supporting cast. All three movies made the mistake of working it around how the X-Men figure into Wolverine's life; it should be how Wolverine fits into the X-Men's existence, not the other way around. Cyclops (James Marsden) in particular, such an important character in the X-Men comics, has always been mistreated in the film adaptations, and he is similarly mistreated here, killed off within the first 15 minutes of the film by his one true love, the resurrected Jean Grey, now possessed by her demi-goddess alter ego the Phoenix, who then dispatches a slightly more callous than usual Xavier. Cyclops deserved better. Another character long mistreated by the films would be Rogue, still played by a miscast Anna Pacquin, though she gets considerably less screen time here.
Another slight problem is the way it handles new characters. This film finally introduces Beast/Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy, well played by Cheers/Frasier veteran Kelsey Grammar, but Angel/Warren Worthington III, played by Ben Foster, is treated as little more than angelic eye candy, as if his only purpose is to look pretty while soaring through the sky with heavenly music. Colossus, again played by the powerfully built Daniel Cudmore, serves little more than as an action figure, though it is great to see him for what few minutes he gets.
Which is not to say the film is terrible. While not quite as smooth/slick as the first two films by Bryan Singer, who abandoned the franchise to helm "Superman Returns" (which doesn't look promising), the much maligned Brett Ratner still churns out a professional summer roller coaster effort. In addition to the eye popping violence, there is a very sweet, tender scene following Xavier's funeral where Bobby "Iceman" Drake (Shawn Ashmore) takes shy, sensitive, soft spoken Kitty Pryde (here played by the yummy little Ellen Page) ice skating, much to the aggravation of Rogue. There is also a scene both arousing and heart-breaking for Mystique/Raven Darkholme, played by Rebecca Romijn, where a guard tries to shoot Magneto with a cure loaded dart, and she takes it to save him. Mystique then collapses, trembling violently as her scaly blue skin gives way to pale human skin, her slick red hair becomes silky black and her yellow eyes become blue, and she is just laying there completely naked while Magneto stares at her in shock, and then leaves her there, completely naked and helpless, informing her that she no longer one of them, but now one with the enemy. And the look of betrayal on the naked Mystique's face is heart-breaking because it is not only a forced rebirth, but she looks violated, for Mystique now looks like a rape victim, a virgin who lost her innocence against her will, for the mutant power that she had come to take pride in has been stripped away from her, and she is left alone, a weak, frail, fragile naked human, yet she does not belong on either side now, and her sacrifice goes unappreciated by the very man she had come to believe in, who merely shrugs it off and abandons Mystique in her naked vulnerability just when she needs him the most. Thus Mystique's loss of her mutant powers along with her loss of faith in Magneto serves as a symbolic rape or violation, and she is left alone, powerless, helpless and naked, but vengeful. Iceman's tender moment with Kitty, along with the struggle he and Rogue both feel to maintain their relationship, combined with the metaphorical, symbolic rape of Mystique, the innocence of a character like Kitty VS the loss of innocence of Mystique, and Magneto's reaction to the death of Xavier, help to remind the audience of the humanity within the characters as they try to persevere and suffer in the world.
Jackman is fine as usual in his neo-Han Solo way, but many of those emotional scenes for him, both regarding Xavier and Jean, should have been played out by Cyclops. Famke Janssen seems to enjoy being the bad Jean, and Ian McKellan is dependable as usual as Magneto, as is Patrick Stewart as Xavier, though Stewart seemed a bit tired. Halle Berry is alright as Storm, finally given an opportunity to whip some ass.