All in all, very entertaining

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2006)

I went into the cinema tonight expecting a different type of X-Men movie from the 2 previous. The reason being obvious. New director and screenwriters. Brett Ratner, whilst meaning him no disrespect is no Brian Singer, who is a master craftsman when it comes to his movies (just watch the Usual Suspects). What Ratner does do, is let his strong sense of action direction guide him. Big, brash and very loud action sequences are his forte, and X3 has them all in spades. He also has the job of killing off 3 major characters, something that I never once expected, and something that I do think that he carried off well. There are some strong leads, but as previously pointed out, an awful lot weaker characters. Vinnie Jones is totally miscast as Juggernaut, and his make-up looks fake. I was disappointed with the lack of development of Rogues' character, which was pushed aside without examining the real reasons for the choice she made. The same can be said for the apparent abandonment of Mystique by Magneto after her change of circumstance. Why did he just abandon her? A lot has been made of the screen time of Wolverine and Storm, but they to me are integral to the X-Men movies. Wolverine, don't forget, was the basis of the story for the first two movies, and as for Storm, we finally get to see some strength from her. (plus she now flies!!). All in all though, I really enjoyed this movie, as did my 6 year old daughter. Brett Ratner has performed an admirable job in the face of adversity. I remember when his name was mentioned, people groaned but I think he has done a good job, but why oh why did they have that ending??? Eric Lensherr looked completely believable as a forlorn, lonely old man, until the chess board appeared!! ENJOY.