X-Cellent

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2006)

Superhero/comic book character movies. Those two words used to mean a light, action adventure with some off-the-wall special effects. Movies like Batman, Daredevil, Electra, and The Hulk were poor excuses for movies and were made to just show the character in action. A new form of comic book hero exploded onto the screen when the first Blade was made. The script was more mature than people were accustomed to and it set the stage for more depth in screen writing for comic book adaption. Spiderman was the first to break the mold with a superhero and Batman Begins continued the development of a superhero movie to an intelligent, thoughtful adventure with dialog and characters you could care about. In the past, only Richard Donner's Superman made an attempt to rise above the normal comic book/superhero formula. The third X-Men movie continues the maturation of superhero films. The script is well written, the direction is very good and there is actually acting on the screen. None of that paper macho Electra and Daredevil acting we have seen in the last couple of movies. Because this is the third X-Men movie, audiences have bonded with some of the characters. Comic book fans will be more deeply involved with these characters and what happens will effect comic fans more than the movie fans. Main characters die. Yes, I know that does not happen in a superhero film---but main characters die in this movie. Not just one. I do not want to give much away---so I will only say that this is a good movie and a great start to the summer movie season. This is a definite film to watch on the big screen. One final note---there is an important scene after the credits. I do not like when movies do that since 90% (estimated) of the people never see those clips.