Almost as good as the first 2 installments

Rating: 6/10 (26 May 2006)

X-men 3 will leave you amazed with its effects, new characters and departure of old beloved ones...
To be honest X2 was superior - fewer characters, better storyline and focus on characters (and especially Wolverine's dark past) made it a great movie. X3 is equal to X1, which had the burden of introducing the characters.
X3 is a bit of a shallow entertainer - unlike its predecessors. It actually benefits a bit that those movies (X1, X2) where good movies as they setup a more solid premise for this installment. From the new characters - Kelsey Gramer's Beast is great but Angel is like a useless extra on the background of the film.
Some flaws are that the departure of the above mentioned "beloved" characters (don't worry I won't put spoilers) could have been done with a bit more emotional weight... but then again its a comic book movie...
I believe it is a bit unfair to compare it with its predecessors with so much passion and anger other people do... Lets not forget that usually 3rd installments are ill-conceived, shallow films clearly illustrating that the're filmmakers have run out of ideas and that they are made only to make more money using the proved recipes and stars of the previous movies... X3 at least has the complex and rich mythology of the comic books - clearly showing that the filmmakers did not want to re-create the previous films but build on the characters and mythos of X-men...
To sum up this movie is highly recommendable by me - entertaining and enjoyable but not unforgettable..