The best and the worst of the trilogy

Rating: 4/10 (19 June 2006)

X men 3: The best and the worst of the trilogy. The film begins better than the others with a lot of potential and a strong emotional charge, which leads you to believe that the second act will be nail bitingly intriguing and the finale explosive. But as the dreadful storyline, which deviates from the cartoon and comic immensely, unfolds, we are left as bewildered and unsatisfied as a diner who has been able to smell the gourmet meal from the kitchen, but is served 'Jellied eels and a pint'.
I feel that Ratner was a little out of his genre on this one. There was no real character development for any of our mutant heroes, who seemed to just pop in and out of the story whenever a fight scene was to commence, to the point where some of our favourite X men were just cameos. And hardly any of the social, humanitarian issues, which are paramount to the concept of the X men, are delved into.
Jean Grey is found alive, though neither she nor Professor X are able to control her extraordinarily powerful alter ego, The Phoenix. The obvious opportunity doesn't escape Magneto's attention who steps in to make The Phoenix the newest addition to his mutant militants. The government have concocted a 'cure' for the mutant gene and now with The Phoenix on his side, Magneto and his cohorts endeavour to destroy this so called cure, which he believes the government are using to wipe out mutants everywhere. Wolverine defiantly goes after The Phoenix to rescue Jean from her dominance. All the conflicting factors come to a head when Magneto unleashes his evil forces on the government establishment holding the 'cure'. The X men regroup and set out to thwart Magneto. An all out action packed rumble between the military, Magneto's mutants and the X men set up the final showdown.
If you are not a die hard fan of the comic or cartoon you may enjoy certain plot twists, the variety of new and exciting mutants and some of the excellent action scenes, but will feel let down by the anti-climatic ending; overall for a non-fan it's a good watch. For a true fan of the X men, you will be bitterly disappointed at the fact that the film makes no attempt to stay true to its origin. (The opposite being one of the reasons why Spiderman is such a success). This, supposed last, of the X men films substitutes the amazing storyline of morals, ethics and action which Stan Lee weaved together, for a incoherent, unfulfilling sequence of events which would raise bile to the throat of anyone who actually read more than two of the comics or watched any of the cartoons. Also Jugernaught is as bad as he looks! Best scene: When Wolverine is being chased through the woods by a mutant who can produce wooden dangers from his body and throw them with acute accuracy.
Should have been called 'The Y Men', as nothing about this film resembles our comic book heroes, and nobody knows why.