The End?

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2006)

Anyone who's watched this film knows that the door has been left open for another film. Personally, I'm desperate to know what becomes of Eric/Magneto after the titanic events of "X-Men: The Last Stand".
Magneto has been one of the stand-out characters in the X-Men series of movies, partly because of his portrayal by the talented actor Sir Ian McKellen and partly because of his 'back-story'. Traumatised by his experience of the Holocaust as a Jew and stigmatised because his mutant super-powers, Magneto is a very human villain. He is capable of warmth and empathy at one moment and cold-blooded ruthlessness the next. As the end titles of "X3" rolled, I sat in my seat and wondered 'What is Magneto going to do now?' I don't want to spoil the film for anyone who hasn't seen it, so let's just say that the script crams in a lot of personal turmoil and upheaval for most of the central characters, along with some amazing special effects. The script rattles along with the brevity of a TV production, compressing a quite a few character-driven plot lines into the main story. Yes, it's a bit too brief in places but there are no boring longeurs or pointless expositions. Everything in this film is building momentum toward the epic climax, only slowed by the rather choppy back-and-forth nature of the storyline.
My criticisms amount to Magneto's mutant army being composed mainly of Goths (Goths just WANT you to think that they're dispossessed) and WHERE WAS ALAN CUMMING? I know that we got Kelsey Grammar in a blue fur suit instead, but after his introduction in "X2" I was hoping that Alan Cumming would be back as the NightCrawler.
If I had to rate the 3 films I'd say 'X2, X1, X3'. "X-Men: The Last Stand" is a good film but it suffers from creating so many loose ends, then trying to tidy them all up before the fat lady sings. Having said that, if there's another X-Men movie I WOULD like to know the result of Eric Lensherr's chess game...