Worth seeing...

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2006)

X-Men: The Last Stand, or more commonly known as X3, is the last movie in the X-Men Trilogy. There are rumours of there being an X4 and X5, with Magneto and Wolverine spin-offs, but for now this is the concluding movie... although the last scene after the credits leaves it open for X4.
The story begins a flashback to twenty years ago when Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Erik/Magneto (Ian McKellen) recruits a young Jean Grey to join their school. As most of you may already know, Erik soon leaves Xavier, and forms the Brotherhood, a group bent on exterminating the human race and establishing mutants as the dominant species.
Flash forward to today, and Scott Summers/Cyclops (James Marsden, in a limited role) is still reeling from the death of Jean in X2. He proceeds to visit Alkali Lake, and a resurrected Jean Grey/Phoenix kills him. Xavier senses Cyclops' mortal danger and Jean Grey's psychic powers and sends Ororo Munroe/Storm (Halle Berry) and Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to investigate. They recover an unconscious Jean and bring her back to the X-Mansion.
Meanwhile, Worthington Pharmaceutical Comany has invented a "cure" for the mutant race, derived from the blood of another mutant called Jimmy/Leech. Among the first to receive the injection is Worthington II's son, Warren Worthington III/Angel (Ben Foster) but he refuses and escapes to the X-Mansion.
Back at the X-Mansion, Jean Grey loses control and escapes from the X-Mansion. Magneto, with newly recruited mutants Cain Marko/Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones), Callisto (Dania Ramirez), Arclight (Omahyra Mota), Kid Omega (Nelson Leung), Multiple Man (Eric Dane), John Allerdyce/Pyro (Aaron Stanford), and Raven Darkholme/Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) recruits Jean and proceeds to storm Worthington Pharmaceuticals and kill Leech. Wolverin and Storm, with the help of Piotr Rasputin/Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Bobby Drake/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat (Ellen Page), and Hank McCoy/Beast (Kelsey Grammar) prepare to take the last stand and defend the humans.
First off, I have to say hats off to Brett Ratner. The feel of X3 is very similar if not the same as X1 and X2. There were tense emotional moments, great dialogue, and fantastic action sequences. However, the downfall of the movie comes in the editing. The movie, while having the most complicated plot, is rather short, at a little bit over an hour and a half. With so many new mutants, subplots, and mutant-mutant relationships to explore, it almost lets the audience down simply because it could've been so much more. Directing 9/10, Editing 7/10
The special effects was fantastic. Using new sphere technology, they were able to make Xavier and Magneto look twenty years younger. Although it almost gives them a near plastic/computer generated feel, it was as good as any I've ever seen without using makeup. 10/10
The acting was again, fantastic, and I dare say the best out of all the comic book movies out there. Eric Bana in Hulk and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man come second and third. Ian McKellen is menacing as usual, Wolverine is back with a snarl, and newcomers Vinnie Jones and Kelsey Grammar played their roles to a T. The only characters that were mildly disappointing were Colossus and Psylocke, but only because they had very small roles due to time constraints. 10/10
Don't let the critics fool you - this is not the best installment, but it's definitely worth the price of admission. Longtime fans may be let down because of the inaccuracies of the characters and plot, but for the average moviegoer it's really minor. Personally, I'm hoping for a Director's Cut of the movie, with new footage.
Overall 9/10
Easter eggs: - Classic showdowns: Pyro vs. Iceman, Xavier vs. Phoenix, Callisto vs. Storm, Juggernaut vs. Wolverine - Iceman in his full ice form - bonus scene after the credits