Loosely Hangs from the Rope..... But Makes It Through

Rating: 6/10 (26 May 2006)

The night of yesterday my friends and I went to watch the premier of X-Men III in my country at my local theater. I really did have expectations for the film, but after coming through the cinema screening I have mixed feelings that the last X-Men delivery on the silver screen substantially fell flat on one end of the spectrum, though it accomplished several production values.
WARNING!! Spoilers ahead. Do not keep on reading past this point, unless you have already seen the movie.
The basic problem I have to churn the plot was the lack of confrontation between human and mutant points of view in respect to intolerance and discriminatory species-ism towards each other. The first film established the mutant's community animosity and frustration against human society plagued of hatred, fear, and jealousy, while the second delivery complimented well to portray human's inhumanity and indifference upon confused and withdrawn mutant kin. This is what the second sequel lacks that both sides propose their positive and negative stances on the issue. The humans are depicted one-sided and mostly morally good while divided loyalties centered around the cure separate the mutants into terrorist and conservative factions.
Magneto was mostly fundamentalist of his views and manners of action. The scriptwriters flawed him on the Last Stand, as his character opted for brute force and incendiary action, than tactics and ever present conspiracy politics that characterized him in the previous movies.
The idea for Phoenix is excellent but poorly executed in X-MEN 3. There's no pacing whatsoever on how Jean gradually transitions into her dark ego or how Phoenix came to be. Phoenix is portrayed as Jean's total loss of control over her powers for attaching herself to desire and only wakes when Jean breaks under severe distress or life-threatening situations.
My only complain I have for the CGI effects was that the crew went over the top with Magneto's incident at the Golden Gate. That's much I could not swallow.
Despite the film's serious flaws, I applaud the production for having developed the key characters with enough screen time and best visual plus make-up effects in shooting every action sequence. The three characters that out stand the most were Storm, Wolverine, and Beast, and awards should be given to Berry, Jackman, and Grammar to congratulate their respective performances.
For the third delivery, Storm was turned into the leader squad for the X-Men team replacing Cyclops. Her attitude changed to take the seriousness of her role and is the first one to voice protest against the cure, defending that mutancy forms part of every mutant's identity. We got to witness the better and temperamental of her in glorious CGI effects and choreographic battles, yet delivering convincing drama during the most obscure times of the movie. She's transformed into the elder sister to guide the young generation of mutants, teaching them to stand fighting, and taking full devotion of the side she chose to stand with.
No other actor would be best suited for Wolverine than Jackman himself. The guy assimilates and exudes the wild, feral side of the best known X-Man in Marvel's history and carves it on film with his trademark style. I can feel for Wolverine, as the film portrays his personal tribulations and sense of blame due to Jean's apparent death in the previous film. Yet, Logan strives not to be influenced on which path he chooses to believe is the one right for him. At the end, his character comes face to face between his wild passions and human compassion to make a lifetime choice that will forever scar him. The adamantium rage grows as this sequel progresses; Wolverine fans won't be disappointed as they will be going to see for themselves the full extent of his instinct fury.
Kudos I give to Kelsey Grammar whose performance brought to life one of the most charismatic X-Men to my preference, Dr. Hank McCoy or known as the Beast. If Mr. Grammar never ever read the comics his whole life, indeed the man did his homework on the character with an A+. Beast is mannered on his quirks and exudes finesse, always remaining composed. He's a knowledgeable scholar on arts and politics. He's versatile both as a diplomat and as a ring fighter undergoing the stunning acrobatics for which is famous, the same manner that I recalled him from the 1992 animated series. Plus a special thanks goes to the visual department for the coolerrific make-up they apply on Mr. Grammar to transform him into Hank McCoy; this is a Beast that will make fans behold with proud eyes.
END of SPOILERS.
At first, I thought for blaming Brett Ratner for the lack of plot substance and loose coherence in the film. However, it was the studio that put pressure to stay on schedule and cut short funds for Ratner to pour resources at reworking scenes that went missing plot development. Indeed, this X-MEN was short in comparison to the previous installments, and I think it needed 20-30 minutes of film to properly mature the other characters that held potential and fix the gaping holes in the storyline. Nevertheless, Ratner found the way to pull the movie in one piece without falling apart, though it was shaking due to the loose plot.