very visual. entertaining, too. and really bad.

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2006)

Xmen 3 is entertaining. It's a film about comic book characters. So it's not hard to be entertained.
The story as a comic book idea is basically a good one. A potential cure for the mutant 'disease' has been found in a young mutant's blood. Anti-mutant supporters are rallying mutants to join the ranks of normal society by volunteering to receive treatment. But Magneto and his brotherhood see this as a weapon to eliminate the mutant identity completely. Xavier and his students stand as the mediators between the hard line mutants and the humans. Sounds good. And it is.
What this film fails at is bringing in a truth to the characters, a sense believability in characters and what they are doing. One could say, this is a film based on a comic where people can shoot lasers out of their eyes, have adamantium claws in their hands, and walk through walls, so therefore disbelief should be somewhat suspended. Sure. And if X-Men was left to exist in the comic book medium or even as a cartoon I would maybe be less critical. But the suits and ties have decided to ride this comic movie wave and capitalize on the X-Men franchise, consequently choosing to elevate these characters and stories to a human level with live actors. And the third film in this trilogy failed to understand this, resulting in fake characters, cheap dialogue, overly sentimental situations.
The film struggles with the amount of characters introduced. This is a challenge considering the amount of mutants existing in the X-Men universe and so on some level I will accept the difficultly in doing this successfully in a film shy of two hours. Yet, as von Brusak, from metroactive.com wrote in his X-Men 3 review, someone (the director) with a more careful hand could have done this more successfully. With this in mind the film tends to feel sloppy and rushed.
For instance, Angel is having trouble accepting his mutant-ness. His rich father suggests the cure. Angel is hesitant, and just before he takes the cure injection he burst out of the straps and is suddenly proud to be a mutant. He flys around a little in the film. At the end he saves his rich father from amidst the chaos of the war between magneto and the humans.
And more. Hank McCoy, The Beast, is also introduced in the film. He is a diplomat, working in the government for the betterment of the mutant cause. He talks about diplomacy. He is rational and smart. He reads, and does it upside down. He is against unnecessary violence. But by the end of the film he flips a switch, and fights a bloody fight side by side with Wolverine and the other X-Men, killing and smashing all those bad mutants.
Other characters work simply as cutouts in the film. Juggernaut smashes through walls because Magneto says so. Colossus carries a large TV with one hand down the halls of the X-Men mansion. That's about the extent of their character development.
The love story in the film exists between Jean Grey, who has returned as the all powerful Dark Phoenix who now works with Magneto, and Wolverine. Wolverine knows Jean Grey is trapped in the evil mask and that it's a matter of getting through to her. At the end of the film, when Phoenix is disintegrating mutants and humans and buildings with her power, Wolverine approaches her despite the possibility of being disintegrated, and tries to level with her, convince her to stop the destruction. She says, you would die for them? He says, no, I would die for you. And Wolverine kills her with his adamantium claws. The saying, love conquers all, comes to mind. Wolverine's love over humanity conquers the love for a woman. No comment.
One thing this film does successfully is entertain. There is constant action and even suspense. As an early summer blockbuster this film hits its marks more or less. Maybe it did so even better than I can grasp. Near the end of the film, when the good have won, and the bad are defeated (this shouldn't count as a spoiler) I looked over at my buddy sitting next to me, and to my surprise, he was fighting back tears. I though maybe it's because of allergy season, or he was chocking on popcorn. I was concerned. Later he told me it was an epic ending, so powerful. I guess this is what entertainment is about.
So for what it is, I'll give it a 7 out of 10. Why not.