Far from a disaster

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2011)

Brett Ratner's 3rd (and final) instalment in the (original) X-Men trilogy has come in for a lot of vitriol, and it's my job to say that much of it is undeserved. That's not to say that it isn't without its bad points, but I'll get to those.
Within the wider sweep of deepening tensions between the mutant / militant mutant / humankind factions, the love triangle between Jean Grey, Wolverine and Cyclops reaches its tragic conclusion in a plot thread loosely adapted from the dark Phoenix saga, hinted at in the very final moments of X-Men 2. The development of both plots is well handled, and the last half hour or so is both spectacular and emotional.
The good points? Kelsey Grammar as Beast is note perfect, and I defy any comic fan not to come over all funny when he says "Oh my stars and garters." The final battle, a full-on battle between two groups of super-powered mutants, is strikingly well done. And the resolution of the Dark Phoenix problem, as tragically inevitable as it is, is never overpowered by the spectacular destruction taking place behind it thanks to heart-breakingly passionate and honest performances from Famke Janssen and Hugh Jackman.
There are some negatives, though, and the main one - in my book - is the sidelining of Cyclops. Scott Summers, as the long-time leader of the X-Men in the comics, and also the leader in the previous films, deserved better than to be casually killed off screen. His death should have had a major emotional impact (as a major emotional character and also as jean's notional first love), and it had none.
Apart from that, I enjoyed this film a lot, and I return to it more often than I do to its predecessors.