It's worth the admission price

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2006)

If you've enjoyed the first two movies, this one will come as quite a jolt to you. A lot happens in the movie that is totally unexpected, but that's not necessarily a good thing. In order to keep the movie turning on its axis, the script and direction of the movie doesn't actually build a lot of momentum because it pulls itself in too many directions. The main plot centers around a "cure" for mutants. This cure creates quite a stir in both the mutant and human society. Some mutants are thrilled at the idea, but just as many are offended at the idea of being considered a "disease." But whereas Rogue, who because of her powers can never be touched, should be paramount to the plot, is only a passing interest. The cure serves only to set a target for a large scale battle further on with Magneto and his Brotherhood.
The movie sidesteps itself too much to cover the resurrected Jean without much story fed into it. Granted most of the comic book fans like myself will understand everything, but the layperson might not fully understand WHY Jean is back. Suffice to say the effort of saving the other X-Men at the end of X2 took a psychological toll on Jean. She no longer has control of her inhibitions. She's like a little girl: she wants to have fun and throws tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. Professor Xavier is actually very cold in parts of the film and this puts him at the top of Jean's list. Among this crossweave of plot, Magneto tries to use Jean to help him destroy the facility where the cure is made. There is a terrific battle seen, most notable is Juggernaut chasing Kitty Pryde through walls. Kelsey Grammar's role of Beast plays perfectly and is one of the largest roles in the film. Wolverine is still the center of the film, but he's more into the team in this movie and far less the renegade he was in the first two films. Storm also has more screen time and we see her start taking charge of the school.
For all my trashing of the movie, it is still a pretty good movie and its worth six dollars to see, or at least to rent. My largest gripe actually is that the movie is far, far too rushed. For everything that went into it, it could easily have been an hour longer. This would have added a lot of key points and helped pace the film. Angel, Mystique, and Rogue were barely in the movie.
If you see it in the theatre: WATCH THE CLIP AFTER THE CREDITS. It's just a short epilogue, but its worth it.