An enjoyable film marred by the high expectations of loyal comic book fans.

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2006)

As my summary indicates, I quite enjoyed this film. Personally, I think it is quite a shame that so many feel the need to trash it with one-star ratings, although it is perfectly understandable why they feel the need to do so.
X-men is different from other comic books. It does not focus on a single hero, or even necessarily a small group of heroes. Instead, there are numerous characters that have played the heroic lead throughout the course of the series, most of whom have been developed to a large degree and have developed considerable fan bases. It would be nigh impossible to appeal to every fan of the series, as there simply is not enough time to develop every character and plot in a movie format! It is thus impossible to appease all the fans of the comic series. There is not enough time in a movie format to develop all characters adequately and make them fit properly into a plot that can incorporate them all. Thus, some characters are toned down a bit and moved more towards the background. Others characters, like Gambit, as absolutely awesome as they might be, are left out completely because there is little way to tie them into the plot and pay them proper justice.
And some are killed off in ways that run fundamentally contrary to the source material, perhaps in ways that do not pay proper respect to the characters in question (I do believe that could have been handled better). Yet such things are at times necessary to advance the plot of what is ultimately an action movie.
X-men 3 is an action movie. Comic book fans come to see their favorite characters and plots played out on the big screen. Average viewers, on the other hand, that are not particularly devoted to the comic book series come to see an action film. If time was taken to include all of the major characters of the X-men series, develop them properly, and place them in a plot faithful to the comics, the movies would all run about three hours long, contain very little action, and would most likely ultimately bore the average viewer. Now, as a fan, you might blame the studio, the writers, the director, and the producers for taking the average viewer into slightly higher consideration than devoted comic fans... but the fact of the matter is that without attracting and entertaining average viewers, enough money will not be made to cover the expenses of producing the movie, a profit will not be made, and the entire incentive of the studio to put out the movie in the first place will thus be entirely defeated. Films, just like any other product, aren't put out for the sake of altruism. They are put out to make a profit.
*SPOILERS FOLLOW*
This means that the movie must fit into the action format. Action film goers don't necessarily want to see a movie that runs two hours long. This film was the same length as the first, which honestly felt a bit right. The second film was a bit over two hours which, while it worked for that film, it would have made this one drag. The length was just right for the plot, which in turn was just right for the genre.
With all of that in mind, the plot was great for an action movie. It was entertaining, well casted, and the actors did a reasonable job, with some delivering stronger performances than others. I did feel that the ending was a bit on the weak side. In addition, I fully agree that the death of Cyclops could have been handled in a much better fashion.
At the risk of upsetting some readers, however, I will point out that I do believe his death was necessary to the flow of the plot. The story, as it was written for the movie, did not need both Wolverine and Cyclops. Their feeling for Jean Grey would have ultimately been redundant, and the conflict between the two, while potentially highly interesting if developed and tied in properly, more likely might have been disruptive to the flow of the plot the third time around. Wolverine was the more strongly developed of the two heroes, leaving him out would have done harm to the film, and thus Cyclops' absence really was for the best. Killing him off made more sense than merely putting him in a coma or having him go missing, as it would have put unnecessary attention on him that would have distracted from the overall plot. Thus, it was a good decision that could have been handled better (and, after all... there are ALWAYS ways to bring people back for a sequel, if necessary).
*END SPOILERS*
Overall, I found X-Men 3 to be an enjoyable comic-based action film. It would not have made sense for this trilogy to have been done in the fashion of Lord of the Rings due to the fact that they are two different genres (action vs. fantasy) and their source materials are dramatically different. The director, writers, and producers obviously did what they could to make this an enjoyable MOVIE, which, again, due to its format, makes it rather impossible for it to be absolutely loyal to a source the magnitude of the X-Men Universe. All of the characters cannot be developed, emphasized, or even included, and it would be quite impossible to maintain the integrity of the plot from the comics.
If you see this film because you want to see your favorite X-Men characters and story lines on the big screen, you will be sorely disappointed. Film simply is not the right format for a project of that magnitude. If you'd like to see a great action movie that attempts to capture much of the ESSENCE of the X-Men, however, you will enjoy this film.