Solid action, solid characters, stop ya cryin!

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2006)

Come on, this is an above average comic book and also action movie. It brings back a little humour, which has been missing from some adaptions lately, while still keeping the action fast paced and slick. Character development is better than X2, not as good as X1 but they have a crack at it and it turns out better than expected. X2 featured characterisations and performances that felt wooden and more like action figure clichÃ©s than actual mutants dealing with extraordinary events. In Xmen:TLS, at least we get a sense of how these people feel when amongst their own kind but also the normal humans. All I'm reading on hear and hearing are some fan boys who cant let go of the comic and would have cried out no matter who directed this. Ratner does a good enough job, he may not be well liked for whatever reason but he nails this and in my opinion it can sit next to red dragon as something to be proud of. This is above all a popcorn movie, something in the realm of fantasy that transports us to another place for two hours and tells us an incredible story. Its pure entertainment that succeeds in combining a slew of characters that are all given importance to the story, something hard considering the amount of talent on show here. Plus, the crew have done their homework, did anyone else hear the name of the doctor friend who sent Xavier the case file tape for his students? Any true x-fan would have noticed this and realised it a wink to past x-history and also future x-events. All in all, it was good, it was entertainment and it was fun. Don't let the haters detract from this success. Go see it.