X-men 3: The Good, The Bad, The what could have beens...

Rating: 6/10 (26 May 2006)

I have just returned from X-men 3, and I am left feeling happy and yet very disappointed.
First the good... 1. Wolverine, Jean Grey, Magneto, Beast, what parts Mystique did have, Iceman, and somewhat Kitty. Huge never fails to amaze with his great portrayal of the beloved Wolverine. The last scene of him and Jean was just like New X-men. The great chemistry between him in Jean in the lab was great. Along with the Jean Grey's house scenes with Magneto, Jean, and Xavier. I loved Mystique even if her part was short-lived is was very memorable. While his part was too small Ashmore's portrayal of Iceman was very true to the character. The action sequences were all pretty good, loved the Kitty-Jauggernaut scene, the Danger room sequence, and the final battle. Wolvie needed a little more berserker fury, but otherwise he was great. The Phoenix story was simplified, but sensible except for her killing Scott...
Now the bad... 2. Halle Berry is so not believable as a strong African Goddess that my beloved Storm should be. She sounds like a weak pathetic baby, with too much perk in her voice. She also likely ruined the movie by demanding more screen time and requiring a large paycheck. That money would have been better spent on a better Storm actor, and additions like Emma Frost, Gambit, or Psylocke. 3. I also could not stand the killing off of Cyclops, I hope he is not dead, because they never really showed a death scene. I missed him and Wolvie's love-hate relationship. Those are the main two things that ruined this movie for me! 4. Also disappointing were the small non-Russian accent part of Colossus (good looking actor, but underused). I also really hope that purple haired girl was not supposed to be Psylocke, because they really screwed that one up, no strong British accent and the girl couldn't hold a candle to the Betsy Braddock of the comics.
Now the what could/should have beens... 1. They should have brought in Gambit, Rogue could have been running off, but went to a café/bar and there she runs into our Rajin Cajun, and he convinces her not to get the cure and instead be with him... 2. Emma Frost, she picks up an injured Scott Summers (not dead) and nurses him back to health; either that or the Brotherhood joins forces with the Hellfire Club (I mean they had the Worthington's why not the Hellfire Club too?) 3. Betsy Braddock the English ninja, joins up with the X-men (not the Brotherhood, what was that about) and perhaps a scene with her and Angel, who was very underused. 4. I wish Nightcrawler had been back, because his has the most fun persona and could make any scene fantastic
I know they do not have time/money for all of this, but just one of these scenes would have made the movie so much better (maybe if they had cut out the Halle Berry crap scenes and added something the true X-fans would enjoy, I would want to see this movie more than one time in the theater). I do not want to bash Halle Berry, but I can't stand actors who don't just feel privileged to be a part of something as powerful as the X-men, and instead of graciously accepting the roll have to make great demands.
I could ramble for about 24 more hours of what could have made this movie epic, but I will just have to hope that a fourth movie will come and redeem this bad apple in the trilogy.