Too much in too little time

Rating: 6/10 (1 June 2006)

This was an entertaining movie and no one has to be ashamed about it. But there happened too much in too little time. Being nearly half an hour shorter than the second installment, all of the character development had to take a backseat in favor of the big set pieces and FX sequences. There are a lot of new characters but they are only receiving a third rate treatment. They rush by with such a speed that I don't even remember most of their names which is a pity because some of them have much potential, like Ben Foster's "Angel". So this is the rare movie where less running time is the biggest problem. In most cases, whether it's a sequel or a stand alone movie it's just the opposite. The most recent example for an excessive running time is Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code", which easily could have been trimmed to 125 minutes. Where that one has to much exposition and explanation, this third X-Men movie has way too little. All in all it's a good and entertaining movie with some major flaws.