X Men- The worst stand

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2006)

I went to the theater with high hopes. With the first two movies being so good, there's not much Brett Rattner could do to screw up the franchise. With a lot of buzz building up on the movie, about the Dark Phoenix's resurrection, and a great opening at the US box office, my expectations, obviously were very high.
The story is essentially simple. The Human race(aka the government) had come up with a solution to the mutant problem (as they call it). Magneto again on the opposite side to Charles Xavier, with the all powerful Dark Phoenix on his side, and Charles Xavier's forces depleted, both fighting the govt. though in different ways.
It looks as if the story was written to accommodate the special effects, and not the other way round as it should have been. The movie is essentially building up to reach the last scene, with things added to reach there. The story lacks the depth and the moments that the first two movies had in abundance. Considering the X-Men movie has been credited much with reinventing the super hero genre, the third movie fails to hold on to the promise. It is a huge let down.
It has a few plus points though. Though the special effects are special. Sir Ian McKellen as always is brilliant. He makes the movie worth watching and re-emphasizes the fact that he is one of the best actors of his generation and probably has made Magneto one of the greatest screen villains of all time. Sir Patrick Stewart as always is dependable. Famke Janssen, Hugh Jackmen are good. One of the new characters, Kelsey Grammar as the beast gets a meaningful role and performs well. the other new character 'Angel' has a minuscule rule, and same is the case with Vinnie Jones aka 'The Juggernaut'. An actor of Vinnie Jones caliber is wasted in his oh so small role. Mystique- one of the big attractions of this Francisee has a very small role.
On the whole, Brett Ratner disappoints big time and he should stick to his Rush Hour movies. Hopefully Fox wont make the mistake of coming up with a new sequel or even a spin off (read 'Wolverine' or 'Magneto').