Well, sure, it's *fun*

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2009)

I base this on the Collector's Edition DVD. You may already know what the events around this one were... in any case, since they're on the Trivia page, I won't put them here. It should be noted that this isn't all bad. At its best, this really has some interesting things to offer, much of which is in line with the first ones. The same/similar themes are explored, in a different way, through a device new to the movies. The tone and the realistic approach is kept relatively intact, if this gets pretty grand. There are strong women in this, too. It's can also be fairly dramatic. The effects are excellent. The score is quite impeccable. The cast is fantastic at its best... Grammar is spot-on. Stanford makes a great Pyro, again. Foster does marvelous with very little time. The returning players are as good as before(well, Berry is better). This has the problem of the others, to boot... too many characters, and an immense abundance of mutants. It's worse than ever before in this. They try to fit in so many, to make fights and such possible, for example, and most don't even get a hint of personality. A specific occurrence is the easy way out(you shouldn't know it if you haven't already watched this). Rather than writing out, or working around, abilities, this sometimes ignores them, hopes the audience doesn't think about why they aren't used. At the same time, there is power use that is just gratuitous(not to mention that one bit of sensuality). The action is genuinely awesome, if it doesn't always come off entirely right. It certainly is the biggest of these, and it is never this central to an entry in the film-series in the others. Why the couple of intense/exciting sequences that... go absolutely nowhere? For advertising purposes? This is complex at points, but it's the only of the trilogy where the words "stupid" and "superficial" can be used about portions of it without immediately being dismissed. The dialog varies. The pace is uneven(well, it's not boring, nor does it entirely overwhelm the viewer), and this is one of the major issues with this one. You can take this as a Summer blockbuster flick, a smart piece of science fiction or a healthy mix of those, however, it can't be genuinely denied that this is rushed, and that it is in a hurry throughout. The R. Lee Ermey bit, literally, shouts "come on, we have to keep moving", and is unintentionally laughable. The editing is well-done, and the cinematography is, at times, stunning. This has something that borders on sexuality, and infrequent language, almost invariably reasonably mild. The violence, whilst plentiful, is similarly children-friendly, though there are disturbing visuals. The disc comes with several alternate endings and plenty of deleted/extended scenes(ranging in quality), about ten minutes worth, with Ratner, Kinberg and Penn sharing their thoughts. That's it for extras, apart from trailers, two color schemes, and a commentary track with Arad, Donner and Winter as well as one of the director, Simon and Zak(they're both worth a listen, but this one is more humorous). Well, that's not entirely accurate... it comes with a comic book, featuring Stan Lee's favorite three stories(including the origin, #1) and a new one(that's four in all, a total of 60 pages). I recommend this to any fan of the graphic novels, the franchise, and/or the silver screen efforts preceding this. 7/10