Good for moviegoers but disappointing for comic fanatics!

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2006)

There's so much to say about a movie that has the biggest weekend opening in the history of cinema, especially one that has two predecessors and is based on the most popular Marvel comic book franchise. The first impression of X3: The Last Stand is a fairly good one. It starts off strong and creates much suspense, introduces new exciting characters and cleverly backtracks a few of the character's past lives. And although the movie is very fast-paced and incredibly cinematic, that's all the movie really has going for it.
Had I walked into the theater being a small fan, or not a fan at all, of the X-Men comic books and TV show, I would have thoroughly been impressed. However, that was my big disadvantage; I already knew everything there is to know about X-men. The movie makes almost no attempt to pay homage to the original comic books. Yes, we have all the same characters and all the superheroes, but that's about it. Strange and shocking twists make the movie almost disappointing to any big X-men fan. And maybe the intention of the writer/director was to make X3 the very last movie, they left almost no room for a continuing storyline. Wouldn't we all be very shocked and disappointed if some crazy money grubbing freak made a Batman movie in which Batman himself dies? I know I'd be disappointed.
But having said that, the movie makes up for what seems to be a disjointed plot. We're exposed to endless action and pretty interesting and strong special effects. For me to rate a movie high, it has to achieve something extraordinary. Once I sunk my mind into the movie and forgot that it's based on a comic book, I began to enjoy it. Enjoy? I really liked it! Countless incredibly action-packed scenes followed by surprisingly clever humor was enough for me to be entertained. Of course, seeing my favorite X-men character, Angel, come to life was incredible.
The acting in the movie is mediocre at best. Even Sir Ian McKellen seems very stiff and uninspired as the vicious Magneto, while Halle Berry made me wonder why she ever won an Oscar. Hugh Jackman delivers a somewhat raw performance but quickly recovers when his more sentimental scenes are shown. The only performance worth writing about is that of Famke Janssen, who captures Jean (Phoenix) Gray and adds some fire to it. She enthusiastically portrays a creepy anti-hero and yet we still feel sympathetic. As she struggles between two "worlds" she brilliantly sways us into different powerful emotions. The rest of the cast is quickly forgotten. Even Kelsey Grammar as Beast fails to convince us. There is almost nothing inspiring about the acting and absolutely no motivation is shown for their actions.
Overall, X3: The Last Stand is your typical blockbuster flick. Once you learn to let go of the whole "it doesn't stay true to the comic books" ideal, you realize that it's actually quite entertaining. Sometimes though it's hard to get rid of a grudge, and I'd say I'm being generous for giving the movie a 6/10, but I'm a huge fan of anything X-men and was quite impressed with the technical achievements of the movie. I guess when it comes down to it, if you're a regular moviegoer and can handle just about any kind of movie, you'll love it, but if you just cannot stand movies that go in the opposite direction from what the original story should be, then you may find yourself regretting you ever paid 12$ for it.