X3 The Last Stand stands tall...

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2006)

Bryan Singer has abandoned the X Men to tackle Superman instead so Brett Ratner stepped in and took the helm. Ironically Rattner was once up for this year's Superman so it's funny that he and Singer have traded films in a manner of speaking.
Contrary to initial fears and rumors X3 is not trashy but has loads of action a good, solid storyline with all your favorite X Men back and a plot packed with some surprising turns of events. The basic story premise is that the government has found a way to eliminate in other words "cure" the mutant X gene thus eliminating mutants from society by turning them into regular human beings. Although humans and mutants have now learned to coexist this newly propagated cure is reason for Magneto (Ian McKellen) to mount an offensive and wage a war on humans in "a fury the world has never seen.."
Rattner has improved on the pacing which in my opinion was but the only fault of X2 keeping a steady balance between character exposition, action and humor. The production quality such as special effects, camera and sound mix is first rate; aside from the established cast Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Hugh Jackman and Anna Paquin there are some new mutant entries Kelsey Grammar as "The Beast" aka secretary for mutant affairs, Vinnie Jones as "The Juggernaut" and Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, a young girl who can walk through walls and serves as Rogue's rival love interest for Bobby.
The best acting, however, belongs to Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and most of all to Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto). McKellen who happened to be the best part of this year's abysmal DaVinci Code is quite the scene stealer in X3 portraying a smart, calm yet lethal villain, who happens to come across quite sympathetic.
In a nutshell: finally a nice, solid good summer blockbuster - good entertainment!