Mildly frustrating but still a good conclusion for the X-Men

Rating: 8/10 (29 September 2007)

So, Bryan Singer ducked out of this one, which is a shame. He was doing so well with the franchise. Brett Ratner jumps in to pick up the slack this time around, concluding the X-Men trilogy. Though I have to admit, I hate to think of it as the end of the series. I'm hoping the studios decide to continue, or maybe switch gears and jump on with X-Force or X-Calibur. I don't plan on going in to too much detail but I will say that by the end of this movie, they had FUBAR'd their chances to continue the story of the existing X-Men team. When I first saw this movie on opening night, the story ticked me off. In my opinion, there are too many casualties/losses for me to feel that it had any sort of happy ending. But it's been done now, and I hope the series won't suffer for it.
We get the usual awesome performances out of the main cast (Stewart, McKellan, Jackman, Janssen, etc.). Once again, we get to look forward to the introduction of more characters. Ben Foster impressed me with his minor role as Angel (a major change from the role he played in 'The Punisher'). The best part of this whole movie? The introduction of two of the coolest characters in the X-Men series (in my opinion, anyways): Beast & Juggernaut. I wish they had both had slightly larger roles, particularly Juggernaut. Kelsey Grammar was the perfect choice for Beast (think Fraiser, with blue fur). As for Juggernaut, Vinnie Jones does a great job with the little bit he is given.
The only newly-introduced character I had a problem with was Kitty Pride. I didn't mind that she was brought into the story, but I didn't like her place in it. I thought the whole Iceman-Rogue-Kitty triangle was unnecessary; it didn't really add anything to the plot. Not to mention, it was just weird seeing Iceman flirting with her (the girl looks like she's 15!). I think the only reason I'm biased against Kitty in this movie is because one line...a single line of dialogue: her line at the end of the Juggernaut chase sequence at the end. Those who have seen the movie know which line. It makes her sound even younger and more immature than she looks and it sounds completely out of place in this movie.
I still ended up giving this movie a decent rating because, even with all of the little things that bothered me, it was still a good movie. The final stand-off between the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood makes for a great battle. It's definitely not as good as 'X2' but this movie still manages to do its job and entertain. It makes for a satisfying end, but leaves you with hope (especially after the credits) that there may yet be more to come...